RigPlane
Ham radio software · Windows (beta)

Ham radio control software for Windows.

Open the app, see your radio, operate. RigPlane Pro is a Windows desktop radio application in public beta. It targets IP-connected ham transceivers; check your radio's per-radio status and the exact build requirements before you install.

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What runs on Windows today

The RigPlane Pro Windows build is in public beta. The downloads page is the source of truth for whether a given release stream is stable or beta on Windows — start there, not here. Underneath the desktop client, the open-core rigplane Python library is pip install rigplane on Windows too, so if you prefer the headless engine plus a browser tab, that path works.

Windows is the most crowded platform in the ham-radio software market. Ham Radio Deluxe, SDR-Console, N1MM Logger, fldigi, WSJT-X, JS8Call, and wfview all run natively on Windows. RS-BA1 — Icom's official remote-control app — is Windows-only. RigPlane Pro on Windows is not trying to displace the logger or the contest software; it is the radio-control surface and the audio bridge, designed to be the same app you also run on macOS and Linux.

Supported radios

RigPlane talks to your transceiver directly — UDP for IP-connected radios, USB / serial where applicable — with no third-party daemon, no vendor app, and no hamlib bridge in the loop. Implemented backends today include the Icom IC-7610, IC-7300, and Yaesu FTX-1. The IC-705 is community-validated. The IC-9700 and Xiegu X6100 have rig profiles pending first-party hardware validation. The Lab599 TX-500 has a rig profile, but its Kenwood CAT backend is not implemented. A rig profile on its own is not an implemented CAT control backend — for any rig not listed above as implemented or community-validated, check its per-radio page and the current release notes on the downloads page for its actual status.

Per-radio setup pages are live for IC-7610, IC-7300, IC-705, IC-9700, Yaesu FTX-1, Xiegu X6100, and Lab599 TX-500, with radio-side checklists in the RigPlane docs.

Audio, CW, and digital-mode integration on Windows

On Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, the current beta bundles the RigPlane virtual audio cable: the app detects, installs, repairs, and removes it, with one system confirmation per action. The cable bridges radio audio and digital-mode apps without manual soundcard plumbing. No audio setup path for older Windows versions is documented in the current release — check the downloads page for the current release notes.

  • Bundled RigPlane virtual audio cable. On Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, the beta installs its own virtual audio cable from inside the app (one system confirmation), and RigPlane and WSJT-X / JS8Call / fldigi share it as a normal soundcard.
  • CW console. Local keyer, decoder, and CW tools live inside the Pro app — paddle and straight-key input handled in the desktop, not over a roundtrip to the browser tab.
  • WSJT-X, JS8Call, fldigi. On Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, these see the bundled RigPlane virtual audio cable as a normal soundcard. FT8 and FT4 work through WSJT-X exactly the way they do with any conventional soundcard interface.
  • Latency. Opus over UDP, tight buffers, no resampling round-trips. Tuned for headphone monitoring and CW operation.
  • Open-core engine on Windows. The MIT-licensed library is pip install rigplane on Windows too, so the headless engine plus a browser UI is a supported path if you would rather avoid the desktop installer.

Install in 5 minutes

Grab the Windows beta installer from the downloads page — it is the source of truth for which Windows versions each release covers. Run the installer and follow the first-run readiness check: on Windows 11 version 22H2 or later, it sets up the bundled RigPlane virtual audio cable for the audio bridge (one system confirmation). No audio setup path for older Windows versions is documented in the current release. Then point the app at your radio's IP. Setup walk-throughs for each supported backend live in the rigplane.dev guide. If you would rather start from the open-core Python library, pip install rigplane works on Windows and gives you the headless engine plus the browser UI.

Why a cross-platform Windows app matters

Windows has plenty of native ham-radio software already, and RigPlane Pro is not trying to be a Ham Radio Deluxe replacement or an N1MM substitute. The differentiation is narrower and more honest: it is the same multi-vendor IP control surface and audio bridge that runs on macOS and Linux, available on Windows too — so a multi-OS shack does not have to keep two different operator UIs in their head.

Icom's RS-BA1 is the obvious comparison point for IP-connected remote operation. RS-BA1 is Windows-only and Icom-only. RigPlane is cross-platform, multi-vendor (Icom, Yaesu, Xiegu, Lab599), and the engine underneath is MIT-licensed open core. If you operate from a Windows laptop today and a MacBook on the road, or have a Linux box at the remote site and a Windows machine at home, check the current downloads and each radio's page for what the current build covers on each platform.

What to do next

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Last reviewed 2026-10-01.