Regarding that user interface, don't let the "not 'Mac-ish'" comment frighten you away if you're a diehard Mac user. BIG surprise - it was MUCH harder to use! After fighting my way through it for a while, I put it aside and basically haven't touched my eval copy since.īiggest minuses of fldigi are that it isn't very "Mac-ish" (it's clearly ported over from the *nix world, with no GUI rewrite done at all), and that it's missing a few modes I really wish it had (particularly AMTOR/SITOR and SSTV). Now THAT'S intuitive and logical design!Īfter playing around with fldigi for a day, I decided to download Multimode for evaluation and see how much better a "professional" package that I'd have to pay for was. Within 15 minutes I was receiving a weather fax, WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE DOCUMENTATION. Grabbed fldigi because (a) it's free, and (b) it runs on the Mac. Right now, I'm using it to eavesdrop on HF communications (don't have a transmitting antenna up yet). The program is good, but more work is needed to make it a professional looking and operating solution. It's nice that the software is available on multiple platforms, but the software should designed to the operating systems standards (Mac version looking/operating like Mac software, Windows version looking/operating like Windows software, etc.). While the technologically inclined likely have no issue with the multiple versions, think of a served agency that may not have the technical resources to update the software every week. It would be much better to roll the minor revision updates into a quarterly update so that there is less confusion. I have seen multiple versions released within the same week. My biggest complaint is the never ending minor revision updates. I know the program is written for several platforms, and that the author is promoting his way of use, but Windows users expect software to work within the Windows standards. There doesn't appear to be any file associations so that the companion programs automatically work. For example, the program is only visible under the user account it was loaded under rather than all the user accounts on the computer. I was using FLDIGI on a Windows PC (XP, Vista and 7), and while the program worked, it was obvious that program wasn't designed for Windows as it doesn't follow the Windows design and security standards. Open source and open protocols should be something revered by ham radio is at the heart of why we exist. I look forward to what this will be in another few years as it progresses further. There are alpha efforts to add packet functionality, digital voice modem implementations and other features. It is a really great system for sending forms based message data.īecause this project is open source, new features are being actively worked on and added all the time. The NBEMS system is still being worked on with tweaks and new modes added frequently. I highly recommend this software and the accompanying suite of utilities, flrig, flmsg, and flwrap. At least this software is actively maintained and extended.and you aren't paying for new features as they are added. No surprises.ĭouble clicking on setup.exe if new features or bug fixes are released is hardly an unreasonable hassle. ![]() It is purpose built and going from Linux to Mac to Windows, it behaves the same way on each platform. ![]() The interface simplicity of fldigi is one of its greatest features. Too many other software products focus on form over function and it is a waste of effort. This is hundreds of man hours in effort just for the sake of appearances adding nothing to function. Integrating the native appearance of an OS native tool kit requires maintaining completely separate code trees. ![]() Other reviewers obviously have no depth of experience in software and don't realize that for a cross platform tool kit, you will have the same look (of the toolkit) on any platform you run it on. It is a great example of open source contribution and project success. Open source, completely free software, very well maintained and a highly active community.
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