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adswill edited this page Oct 18, 2026 · 3 revisions

Step-by-step pages. Each one takes a mode from first start to a decoded signal; every tutorial can be tried with the built-in test signal first. The Guides at the end explain features of the app.

TV and broadcast

  • ATSC 1.0 (8-VSB): ATSC 1.0 is the digital television standard of North America and South Korea (8VSB modulation, 6 MHz channels, MPEG-2 transport stream)
  • ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV): ATSC 3.0, also called NextGen TV, is the IP-based successor to ATSC 1.0 with OFDM modulation, LDPC error correction and HEVC video
  • Analog TV (PAL, SECAM, NTSC): Analogue television (PAL, SECAM, NTSC and their regional variants) is switched off in many countries but still exists on cable, in test
  • CDR (China Digital Radio): CDR (China Digital Radio, GY/T 268) is an OFDM digital radio standard that sits in the FM band (about 87 to 108 MHz)
  • DAB and DAB+ digital radio: DAB and DAB+ are the digital radio standards of Europe, Australia and other regions. One ensemble carries many stations, with text
  • DRM (DRM30 and DRM+): Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) is a digital radio standard for long, medium and short wave, with near-FM quality over large distances
  • DTMB (China, Hong Kong, Macau, Cuba): DTMB is the digital terrestrial television standard of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Cuba
  • DVB (DVB-T2 and DVB-T): DVB-T2 and DVB-T are the digital terrestrial television standards used across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. A
  • DVB-C (digital cable TV): DVB-C is the digital cable television standard (J.83 annex A and C, 16 to 256-QAM). It needs a feed from a cable network, not an antenna
  • DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X (satellite TV): DVB-S and DVB-S2 are the satellite television standards. You receive them with a dish and an LNB, and the radio sees the LNB output (the
  • FM broadcast radio with stereo and RDS: FM broadcast radio (87.5 to 108 MHz in most of the world) carries stereo sound and RDS data such as the station name and radio text
  • HD Radio (NRSC-5): HD Radio (IBOC) adds digital sidebands to FM and AM broadcasts, mainly in the United States
  • ISDB-T (Japan, Brazil, South America): ISDB-T is the terrestrial television standard of Japan, Brazil and most of South America. It splits a 6 MHz channel into 13 segments, one
  • MAC (D2-MAC and D-MAC satellite TV): D2-MAC and D-MAC were analogue-digital hybrid satellite television systems of the late 1980s and 1990s, with digital sound and data

Aviation

  • ACARS (VHF aircraft messages): ACARS is the VHF data link between aircraft and ground stations: position reports, weather requests, maintenance messages and short
  • ADS-B (aircraft on 1090 MHz): ADS-B is the transponder broadcast aircraft use to announce their identity, position, altitude and speed on 1090 MHz. It is deliberately
  • Airband (AM voice, 118 to 137 MHz): The civil airband is AM voice between 118 and 137 MHz, with 25 kHz and 8.33 kHz channel spacing, used for air traffic control and airline
  • DJI drones (wideband links and DroneID): DJI drone links use wideband OFDM on 2.4 and 5.8 GHz. OnAir classifies the bursts by shape and can read the DroneID broadcast of supported
  • Drone Remote ID: Drone Remote ID (ASTM F3411 and ASD-STAN EN 4709-002) is the broadcast many drones are required to send, with their ID, position and
  • FLARM (gliders and light aircraft): FLARM is the collision-avoidance broadcast of gliders and light aircraft on 868 MHz
  • HFDL (aircraft data link on HF): HFDL is the HF data link that gives aircraft on oceanic and polar routes a data connection to ground stations when VHF is out of range
  • ILS (localizer, glide slope and marker beacons): The Instrument Landing System guides aircraft down to the runway with a localizer, a glide slope and marker beacons
  • Mode S uplink (interrogations on 1030 MHz): On 1030 MHz, secondary radars and collision-avoidance systems interrogate aircraft transponders. Decoding the interrogations shows which
  • NDB (long-wave beacon idents): Non-directional beacons are long-wave radio beacons, usually between 190 and 535 kHz (some sit higher), used for navigation. Each sends
  • UAT (978 MHz in the United States): UAT (Universal Access Transceiver) is the 978 MHz ADS-B link used by low-flying aircraft in the United States. Besides ADS-B reports it
  • VDL Mode 2 (VHF data link): VDL Mode 2 is the modern VHF data link between aircraft and ground, carrying ACARS over AVLC frames (and ADS-C or CPDLC) on channels near
  • VDL Mode 4 (STDMA link): VDL Mode 4 is a VHF aviation data link that uses self-organising TDMA (STDMA) with GFSK on channels between 118 and 137 MHz, around 136.9
  • VOR (radial from a navigation beacon): VOR beacons (108 to 118 MHz) give aircraft a bearing to or from a ground station, identified by a Morse code ident

Maritime, satellite and weather

  • AIS: AIS is the transponder system on ships: identity, position, course and speed on two VHF channels near 162 MHz
  • CubeSat telemetry: Many small amateur satellites broadcast telemetry as AX.25, GOMspace or CCSDS packets on 2 m and 70 cm. Their downlinks are open to anyone
  • DSC: Digital Selective Calling is the maritime distress and calling system on VHF and HF: a short digital burst that alerts and addresses ships
  • Elektro-L: Elektro-L N3, N4 and N5 are Russian geostationary weather satellites. OnAir receives their L-band HRIT / LRIT images around 1691 MHz with
  • GNSS: GNSS satellites (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou) broadcast signals from which a receiver works out position and time
  • GOES HRIT: GOES geostationary weather satellites broadcast full-disk and regional pictures, plus text products, on 1694.1 MHz (HRIT / LRIT)
  • Globalstar: Globalstar is a satellite phone and IoT network on L band. Its downlink is spread and encrypted, so OnAir only monitors activity, power
  • HRPT and AHRPT: HRPT and AHRPT are the high-resolution direct broadcast of polar weather satellites (MetOp, FY-3, formerly NOAA), carrying the full AVHRR
  • Inmarsat Aero: Inmarsat Aero channels are the L-band satellite data link of aircraft (SwiftBroadband and the older Aero C/P channels)
  • Inmarsat-C: Inmarsat-C is a maritime satellite messaging system. Its broadcasts carry safety information (SafetyNET) and system messages
  • Ionospheric sounders (chirp sounders and ionograms): Ionosondes are HF chirp transmitters that probe the ionosphere. Their sweeps are visible all over the shortwave bands
  • Iridium: Iridium is a constellation of 66 low-orbit satellites for satellite phones and data. Its L-band downlink near 1626 MHz carries pager
  • Meteor-M LRPT: Meteor-M is a Russian weather satellite series. Its LRPT downlink on 137 MHz sends live weather pictures that you can receive with a small
  • NAVTEX: NAVTEX is the maritime safety information service: navigational warnings and weather broadcast as text, mainly on 518 kHz
  • NOAA Weather Radio (SAME): NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts weather alerts in the US and Canada on seven narrow-FM channels (162.400 to 162.550 MHz). Each alert starts
  • Orbcomm: Orbcomm is a satellite data network with downlinks near 137 MHz, used for tracking and telemetry of assets
  • QO-100 (Es'hail-2 amateur satellite): QO-100 (Es'hail-2) is the first geostationary amateur radio satellite, covering Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with a
  • Radio astronomy (the hydrogen line): The hydrogen line at 1420.4058 MHz lets amateurs map the Milky Way with a small dish and an SDR
  • Radiosonde: Radiosondes are small weather instruments carried by balloons, transmitting position and weather data near 400 to 406 MHz
  • Time signals (WWV, DCF77, MSF, JJY and more): Time stations (DCF77, MSF, WWVB, JJY, WWV and others) broadcast the exact time, so radio clocks can set themselves
  • VDES: VDES is the successor and extension of AIS, adding terrestrial and satellite data channels in the maritime VHF band
  • Weather fax: HF weather fax stations broadcast weather charts and satellite pictures as slow analogue fax signals, mostly for ships

Ham and HF digital

  • APRS and packet radio (AFSK 1200 baud): APRS is the amateur packet system that shares positions, weather and messages (AX.25 at 1200 baud AFSK on 144.800 MHz in Europe)
  • CODAR and HF ocean radar: SeaSonde-class coastal radars sweep the sea with FMCW chirps in the ITU oceanographic radar bands (4.4 to 42.5 MHz). OnAir finds and
  • CW (Morse code skimmer): CW is Morse code sent by keying a carrier on and off. A skimmer reads many CW signals at once
  • Contestia: Contestia is a keyboard-to-keyboard digital mode from the fldigi family, related to Olivia
  • D-STAR: D-STAR is the amateur digital voice and data system from Icom and JARL, with callsign routing and slow data
  • Datawell wave-buoy HF link: Datawell Waverider wave buoys send their measurements to a shore receiver on HF (25.5 to 35.5 MHz, up to 45 MHz on request) as FSK
  • DominoEX: DominoEX is a keyboard-to-keyboard digital mode from the fldigi family
  • FST4 and FST4W: FST4 (and FST4W) is a weak-signal digital mode of the WSJT family for the low bands
  • FT2: FT2 shortens the slot of the FT family to 3.75 seconds for even faster exchanges
  • FT4: FT4 is the contest-oriented relative of FT8, with 7.5-second slots
  • FT8: FT8 is the most popular weak-signal digital mode among radio amateurs: 15-second slots, 8-FSK, and contacts that work well below the noise
  • FreeDV: FreeDV is open digital voice for HF built around the codec2 vocoder
  • HF ALE (automatic link establishment): Automatic Link Establishment (2G ALE) is the protocol HF stations use to call each other and agree on a working channel
  • HF beacons (NCDXF/IARU and others): The NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Project transmits on five HF frequencies in a fixed rotation, so you can tell at a glance which bands
  • HamDRM (digital SSTV pictures): HamDRM (EasyPal, QSSTV DRM) sends pictures as files over a DRM-style OFDM signal in a normal SSB bandwidth
  • Hellschreiber: Hellschreiber (Hell) sends text as a picture of its letters: a mode from the fldigi family
  • JS8Call: JS8Call is a keyboard messaging mode built on FT8 modulation, with directed messages, relays and heartbeats
  • JT65: JT65 is a weak-signal digital mode of the WSJT family, decoded by the same receiver as FT8
  • JT9: JT9 is a weak-signal digital mode of the WSJT family, decoded by the same receiver as FT8
  • LoRa APRS: LoRa APRS carries APRS positions over LoRa on 433.775 MHz in Europe
  • M17: M17 is an open digital voice and data protocol for VHF and UHF amateur radio (4FSK, 9 kHz)
  • MFSK (MFSK4 to MFSK64): MFSK is a keyboard-to-keyboard digital mode from the fldigi family
  • MSK144: MSK144 is a fast WSJT mode for meteor-scatter contacts
  • MeshCom: MeshCom is an amateur LoRa mesh messaging network on 70 cm
  • Olivia: Olivia is a keyboard-to-keyboard digital mode from the fldigi family
  • PSK31 (PSK31, PSK63 and QPSK): PSK31 is a narrow keyboard-to-keyboard chat mode (31.25 baud) that fits in 60 Hz of spectrum
  • Q65: Q65 is a weak-signal digital mode of the WSJT family, decoded by the same receiver as FT8
  • RTTY: RTTY is radio teletype: 45.45 baud, two tones 170 Hz apart. It is used by amateurs, contests and weather broadcasts
  • SSTV (slow-scan television): SSTV sends still pictures over voice-bandwidth radio. It is popular on HF and with the ISS
  • THOR: THOR is a keyboard-to-keyboard digital mode from the fldigi family
  • WSPR: WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) beacons run in two-minute slots and let amateurs measure how far low-power signals travel

IoT, pagers, cellular, Wi-Fi and rail

  • 5G NR cells: 5G NR cells broadcast synchronisation and master information blocks (SS/PBCH) that identify the cell. OnAir reads that public broadcast
  • ANT+ sensors: ANT+ is the low-power wireless protocol of many heart-rate straps, bike sensors, power meters and fitness watches, on 2457 MHz
  • Bluetooth LE: Bluetooth Low Energy devices announce themselves in advertising packets on channels 37, 38 and 39. OnAir lists them like a scanner app
  • Cell towers (LTE): LTE base stations broadcast system information (operator, band, cell identity) that any receiver can read. It is the public part of the
  • DECT cordless phones: DECT is the cordless phone standard. In Europe its ten carriers run from 1881.792 to 1897.344 MHz
  • DMR: DMR is a digital two-way radio standard (TDMA, 12.5 kHz) used by businesses, public services and amateurs
  • FLEX: FLEX is a faster pager protocol from Motorola (1600 to 6400 bit/s) used alongside POCSAG
  • GSM-R: GSM-R is the railway version of GSM, around 921 to 925 MHz in Europe, used for train control and communication
  • ISM sensors: Weather stations, tyre pressure sensors, remote controls and meters transmit short packets on 433, 868 and 915 MHz that a software-defined
  • LBJ (Chinese railway train approach warning): LBJ is the Chinese railway train broadcast: FM on a UHF warning channel (about 821.2375 MHz) carrying 1200 bit/s FSK frames with a train
  • LoRa (raw): LoRa is a chirp-spread-spectrum radio used for point-to-point links and IoT. This mode shows plain LoRa frames between two radios: not
  • LoRaWAN: LoRaWAN is the low-power wide-area network standard for IoT devices. OnAir can see the clear headers of frames, never the encrypted payload
  • MeshCore: MeshCore is another open LoRa mesh network for off-grid messaging, with repeater nodes and adverts
  • Meshtastic: Meshtastic is an open LoRa mesh network for off-grid text messaging between small battery-powered nodes
  • Multitone Paging: Multitone Electronics is a UK maker of pagers used in hospitals and industrial sites. The air interface is narrowband FM with FFSK; the
  • NB-IoT cells: NB-IoT (narrowband IoT) cells are LTE carriers for IoT devices. OnAir lists the cells around you from what each one broadcasts in the
  • NXDN: NXDN is a digital two-way radio standard from Icom and Kenwood used by businesses and utilities
  • P25 (Project 25, Phase 1): APCO Project 25 is the digital radio standard of public safety in North America and other regions, conventional or trunked
  • POCSAG: POCSAG is the long-standing pager protocol (512, 1200 and 2400 baud) still used by hospitals, fire services and utilities
  • TETRA: TETRA is the digital trunked radio standard used by emergency services and organisations in many countries. OnAir shows network
  • TETRAPOL: TETRAPOL is a digital trunked radio system with its own air interface (GMSK, 8 kbit/s, 10 / 12.5 kHz channels, PAS 0001-2), different from
  • Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah): Wi-Fi HaLow is IEEE 802.11ah, Wi-Fi in the sub-GHz bands (863 to 868 MHz in the EU, 902 to 928 MHz in the US). OnAir lists the networks
  • Wi-Fi networks: Wi-Fi access points announce themselves in beacon frames. OnAir lists the networks like a phone does, from the beacons alone
  • Wi-SUN FAN: Wi-SUN FAN is a smart utility mesh network (smart meters, street lights) on IEEE 802.15.4g FSK at 50, 100 and 150 kbit/s, with band plans
  • Zigbee / 802.15.4: Zigbee and other 802.15.4 networks on 2.4 GHz carry smart-home and sensor traffic on channels 11 to 26
  • dPMR and the PMR446 channels: dPMR and PMR446 are licence-free digital and analogue handheld radio services in Europe, 16 channels near 446 MHz

Tools and general

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Guides

Also: Getting started, Modes, Supported radios, FAQ, Troubleshooting.

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