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FAQ
Answers to questions that come up before, during, and after buying NyxScope.
- License + activation
- Privacy + network behavior
- Supported protocols
- Hardware compatibility
- System requirements + performance
- Updates
What editions are there?
Free and Licensed. The Licensed edition is for both personal and commercial use. The license is bound to a hardware fingerprint and transferable on request. See eula.md for the legal text.
Is there a trial?
Yes — a full-feature trial starts automatically on first install. No card required. When the trial expires, the app drops to Free-tier features until you activate a Licensed key.
How long does the trial last?
The trial period is set on the server when the key is issued. Check the License dialog in-app for the exact expiry on your install.
Can I move my license to a new computer?
Yes — license keys are transferable. Contact support and we'll move the binding. There's no per-move fee.
What happens if I go offline?
The app runs indefinitely offline. The license is validated entirely from the signed key file (no network required). The periodic heartbeat is informational only — it refreshes the cached revocation list and checks for updates. There is no "phone home or shut down" rule. See License heartbeat below for specifics.
Can the company revoke my license?
In theory yes — there's a revocation list system. In practice, revocation only happens for refund cases, chargebacks, or proven license-key abuse (sharing). If your key is revoked while you're offline, the next time the app talks to the license server it picks up the revocation. Revoked-state persists across restarts.
Refund policy?
See the EULA and the i-c.biz refund page. Generally: within 30 days, full refund if the app doesn't work for you. After 30 days, case-by-case.
Can I use the Free edition commercially?
No — Free edition is for personal evaluation and non-commercial use. The Licensed edition covers both personal and commercial use.
How often does the app check in?
Every 6 hours when running and online. If the app is closed, no heartbeat fires.
What does the heartbeat send?
- License key ID (the numeric ID, not the full key)
- A hashed hardware fingerprint
- The current app version + build hash
What does NOT get sent?
- Audio
- IQ data
- Decoded messages (pages, sensors, aircraft positions, talkgroup IDs, etc.)
- Recorded files or transcripts
- Anything about what you're listening to
What does the heartbeat receive?
- An updated revocation list (signed) — applied to the cached list on disk
- The latest available app version + release notes
- A flag indicating whether your specific key has been revoked
Can I disable the heartbeat?
The Free tier doesn't heartbeat (no key to send). For Licensed installs, there's no UI toggle to disable it — but blocking i-c.biz at the firewall has the same effect, and the app continues to run normally.
Does NyxScope send my audio anywhere?
No. Audio stays on your machine, full stop. There is no remote-audio feature, no cloud upload, no transcription-by-default-to-OpenAI.
What about Whisper transcription?
Local Whisper runs fully offline — the model is on disk, audio is transcribed locally, transcripts stay local. Cloud-based transcription (OpenAI, AssemblyAI) is opt-in per channel — you have to explicitly enable it for a specific recording or VFO. The app never auto-uploads audio.
What about crash reports?
Opt-in. After a panic, the next launch shows the full crash report inline with Send / Dismiss buttons. Nothing is sent unless you click Send. Reports are double-redacted (license keys, tokens, IPs, home paths replaced) before transmission.
What outbound connections does NyxScope make on its own?
Three, all to i-c.biz:
- License heartbeat (every 6 hours when running) — see above.
- FCC lookup when you right-click a frequency and choose Lookup. Sends only the frequency range; nothing about what's on the frequency.
- Aircraft metadata lookup when an ADS-B target with an ICAO hex code appears AND auto-enrich is enabled. Sends only the ICAO hex; nothing about position, callsign, or flight status.
Both lookups are gated to Trial/Licensed tiers. The endpoint URL is configurable — point it at your own mirror or disable lookups entirely.
Where can I read the full privacy policy?
privacy.md in the repo, or https://i-c.biz/policies/privacy.php for the online version.
P25 Phase 1 and Phase 2? Yes — both, with native voice decoders. See Trunking-Configuration.
DMR? Yes, via dsd-neo. Voice + data.
NXDN48 / NXDN96? Yes — native CC decoder; voice via dsd-neo.
EDACS Standard + EA? Yes — native CC decoder. ProVoice digital voice via dsd-neo if enabled.
TETRA? Not natively. You can configure an external decoder and route audio in, but there's no first-class TETRA support.
ADS-B 1090? Yes — native decoder + live map. Uses the bundled dump1090-equivalent integrated into NyxScope.
UAT 978? Yes — dump978 sidecar.
AIS 162? Yes — native decoder + AIS-catcher sidecar.
ACARS / VDL2? Yes — acarsdec + dumpvdl2 sidecars.
APRS? Yes — direwolf sidecar plus native AFSK1200 / AFSK2400 / FSK9600.
POCSAG / FLEX? Yes — native in-process decoders (no multimon-ng subprocess).
rtl_433 sensors? Yes — 200+ ISM device types via the rtl_433 sidecar.
HD Radio (NRSC-5)? Yes — nrsc5 sidecar with NyxScope's native host-side resampler. See HD-Radio-Setup.
LoRa? Yes — native CSS PHY decoder supporting nine regional plans (US915, EU868, EU433, AU915, AS923, CN470, IN865, KR920, RU864) with LoRaWAN MAC parsing.
Radiosondes? Yes — RS41, RS92, DFM, M10/M20 on 400–406 MHz via rs41mod.
D-STAR / Yaesu System Fusion / M17? Yes via dsd-neo (digital voice).
CTCSS / DCS detection? Native, on every VFO. 50 CTCSS tones, 83 DCS codes.
RDS? Yes — for any WFM lock. Station name, RadioText, PTY, TP/TA.
Morse / CW? Native decoder with on-card readout.
Signal classification? Yes — AMC labels FSK / GFSK / OOK / OFDM and other modulation types from IQ alone.
EAS / SAME alerts? Yes — via multimon-ng.
Caller ID / FMS? Yes — caller ID (CLIP) and German FMS (fire/ambulance).
Will my RTL-SDR work?
Almost certainly. Any RTL2832U-based dongle with a compatible tuner (R820T2, R860, FC0013, etc.) works. NESDR, RTL-SDR Blog v3/v4, generic dongles — all fine.
HackRF, Airspy, SDRplay, LimeSDR, PlutoSDR, Fobos, bladeRF?
All supported via SoapySDR or native drivers. See Hardware-Setup for per-device install steps.
What about [obscure SDR X]?
If it has a SoapySDR module, install the module and NyxScope should pick it up automatically. If it doesn't have a Soapy module, no.
Network SDRs?
rtl_tcp-compatible servers are auto-discovered on the LAN via mDNS. Manual entry by IP+port also works.
Multiple SDRs at once?
Backend support is in place (SdrRegistry, slot-aware events, PlutoSDR dual-RX). The tabbed multi-SDR UI is in preview as of 1.25.0 — not officially shipped. Single-SDR is the supported configuration today.
Will it work on Mac or Linux?
NyxScope is Windows-only as a packaged install today. The core code is cross-platform Rust + Tauri, so a port would be possible but isn't shipping.
Minimum specs?
- 64-bit Windows 10 or 11
- 4 GB RAM
- A USB 2.0 port for the SDR
- ~500 MB disk for the app
Recommended for heavy use (16 VFOs + transcription)?
- 8 GB RAM or more
- 8+ CPU threads
- USB 3.0 port for the SDR
- 5+ GB disk if you'll be recording
Why 16 VFOs?
It's the max concurrent demodulators NyxScope supports. The actual achievable count depends on your CPU — 16 simultaneous NFM channels at 4.8 MHz is real work even on a fast machine.
Will it run on a Raspberry Pi?
Not the Windows installer (Pi is ARM Linux). The Rust core compiles for ARM Linux but there's no packaged ARM build today.
How do I update?
Settings → About → Check for updates. If a newer version is available, you'll see release notes and a download link. The app also auto-checks at startup and on every license heartbeat.
Automatic updates?
No silent auto-update. You decide when to install.
How are updates delivered?
A signed .exe installer from github.com/ICBizLabs/NyxScope/releases. The in-app update button just opens that page.
Will I lose my settings on update?
No. Config lives in %APPDATA%\sdr-scanner\config.toml (or ~/Library/Application Support/sdr-scanner/ on macOS if you've built from source). Settings, channel banks, trunking systems, and the blacklist all persist across versions. The format is forward-compatible — older configs read fine on newer versions; newer fields get sensible defaults.
What's the release cadence?
Releases happen when there's something worth shipping — bug fixes, new protocol support, performance work. No fixed schedule. Watch the GitHub repo for notifications.
Didn't find your question? Check Troubleshooting for issue-specific guidance, or open an issue.