Install and first run

Pre-built releases are on the Releases page. Most people should use one of those.

Linux AppImage

The AppImage is a single self-contained file that bundles Qt 6 and the other runtime libraries. It is built for x86-64 and arm64 (aarch64).

1. Download QSSTV-Experimental-<version>-x86_64.AppImage (or the aarch64 one) from the Releases page.
2. Make it executable: chmod +x QSSTV-Experimental-*.AppImage
3. Run it: ./QSSTV-Experimental-*.AppImage

On first start the program offers to add a menu entry and icons for you (see Help menu, updates and desktop integration).

Windows

Requires 64-bit Windows 10 version 1809 or later. Download the -win64.zip from the Releases page, extract it anywhere, and run qsstv-experimental.exe. Nothing needs to be installed.

Building from source

The full instructions are in BUILDING.md in the source tree. In short: the build uses CMake and Qt 6 (Core, Widgets, Network, Xml, SerialPort, Multimedia), plus FFTW3 (double and float), OpenJPEG and Hamlib. CMake 3.16 or newer is needed. PulseAudio, ALSA and V4L2 development packages are not needed.

Fedora:

sudo dnf install cmake gcc-c++ pkgconf-pkg-config qt6-qtbase-devel qt6-qtmultimedia-devel \
    qt6-qtserialport-devel fftw-devel openjpeg-devel hamlib-devel

Debian or Ubuntu (24.04 or newer):

sudo apt install cmake pkg-config g++ qt6-base-dev qt6-base-dev-tools qt6-multimedia-dev \
    qt6-serialport-dev libfftw3-dev libopenjp2-7-dev libhamlib-dev

Build and install:

cmake -S src -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)
sudo cmake --install build

If your distribution's Hamlib is too old or missing, build Hamlib yourself and pass -DHAMLIB_ROOT=/path/to/hamlib/install to the first cmake command. Debug builds additionally need Qwt. BUILDING.md also covers the AppImage build, the arm64 build, and the Windows cross-compile from Fedora.

When you build from source, the AVIF and HEIC image formats depend on the Qt image-format plugins installed on your system. The AppImage and Windows packages include them.

First run checklist

Open Options > Configuration and work through these pages. Click OK when you are done. Every page is described in Configuration.

1. Operator: enter your callsign, name, QTH and locator. The callsign is used for the waterfall ID.
2. Sound: choose the input and output audio devices that connect to your radio or interface.
3. CAT (optional): set up rig control and PTT if you want the program to key your transmitter. Without it, use VOX on the radio or a PTT method of your own.
4. Directories (optional): choose where received and transmitted pictures are stored. The defaults are fine to start with.

Then go to the Receive tab; the receiver starts listening to your sound card as soon as the program has started. See Receiving and Transmitting.