Jump to content

Getting Started

From SimTX Wiki
Revision as of 19:41, 24 October 2026 by Clanker (talk | contribs) (Cover the SimTX desktop app: install, sign in, first station, first transmission, receiving)

Home · Start here · All guides · Solve a problem · Radio terms · Developer API

This guide takes a new user from installing the SimTX desktop app to a first transmission and to listening. TX means transmit and RX means receive. All signals are simulated; no physical transmitter, antenna or microphone is needed.

1. Install the app

Download the app for your system from the SimTX downloads page:

  • Windows: the 64-bit .exe installer.
  • macOS: the .dmg for Apple Silicon. The first time, right-click the app and choose Open to get past the macOS security warning.
  • Linux: .deb, .rpm, Arch and Void packages, or a portable AppImage. The install page explains how to add the package repository and check its signing key. Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 13 or newer is needed.

The older Java transmitter is still on the downloads page. Its controls differ from this guide.

2. Sign in and connect

  1. Open the app. The window Sign in to SimTX appears. Press Sign in.
  2. The app shows a code and asks you to approve this device in your browser. Press Open browser, sign in to your SimTX account and approve the device. Copy link copies the address if you want to open it yourself.
  3. Back in the app, Connect to a server lists the servers that are online. Choose one under Server and press Connect.

Your SimTX account is separate from a wiki account. Work offline skips connecting; you can connect later. The top right of the window shows the connection; select it to connect, change server or disconnect. Settings, Account has Sign out.

Checkpoint: the window shows the tabs Transmit, Receive, Stations, Catalog, Health and Settings, and the top right shows Connected. Troubleshooting covers an unavailable server or a failed sign-in.

3. Create your first station

Transmissions run from a station: your callsign, location, antennas and radios, saved to your account. See SimTX Guide/Stations for everything about stations.

On first start, a short getting started guide outlines the next control to use, with dots for the four steps: Sign in and connect, Create your station, Choose what to transmit and Start TX. Skip guide hides it. To see it again, open Settings, Help, Getting started guide and press Show again.

  1. In the Transmit tab, the Station section offers Create a station. Press it. (The Stations tab, Mine, New station does the same.)
  2. Under Basics, enter a Name and your Callsign.
  3. Under Location, press Pick on globe, click the globe where the station stands and press Done. The app fills in the ground height.
  4. Under Antennas, open the dipole the station starts with. Set the length to 31 m and the Height to 10 m. This suits the frequency used below; see Antenna System for other frequencies.
  5. Leave the radio under Radios as it is.
  6. Press Create station.

Checkpoint: the Station section of the Transmit tab shows your station under Transmit from.

4. Make a first transmission

In the Transmit tab:

  1. Under Station, check Transmit from, Antenna and Radio. SWR around your frequency shows how well the antenna matches.
  2. Under RF signal, set Frequency to 4625 with the unit set to kHz (4.625 MHz). Set Power (W) to 100; the field shows the most your radio allows.
  3. Choose the Modulation AM Double Sideband Full Carrier and tick Auto beside Bandwidth (Hz). Leave Transmitter imperfections closed.
  4. Under Source, choose Audio file, press Choose… and pick a short audio file. Leave Loop playback off for the first test, so the session ends when the file ends.
  5. Press Start TX.

The new session appears in the list on the right:

  • Running means it is on the air.
  • Queued means every transmitter slot on the server is taken. It starts by itself when one is free; don't press Start TX again.

Select the session to see the Radio deck: FWD is the outgoing power, REF the reflected power, SWR the antenna match, ALC the level control, TEMP the simulated amplifier temperature and BUF the audio waiting at the server. Listen to own TX plays your signal before propagation. It tests your audio, not whether a distant listener hears it. Adjust while on air changes frequency, power and a few other settings without stopping.

To stop, press Stop in the Radio deck, or Stop all. Clear finished removes ended sessions from the list.

If the session fails, read its message before changing settings. Troubleshooting covers silence, queueing, high SWR and heat. 4625 kHz is an example, not a reserved channel; choose another frequency and retune the antenna for normal use.

5. Save your settings

Presets at the top of the Transmit tab saves the current settings under a name, or to a file with Save to file…. Choose a saved preset from the same menu to load it. Your station stays on your account and doesn't need saving.

6. Receive

You can listen to the simulated band with any SDR program that supports rtl_tcp, such as SDR++. Receiving works without an account when you listen ad hoc.

  1. Open the Receive tab. Under Where you listen, choose My station to receive at one of your stations, Public station for another account's public station, or Ad-hoc to listen from any location with a callsign and antenna of your own.
  2. Under Tuning, set the Center frequency and the Sample rate (Hz).
  3. Press Start RX. The app starts a bridge on your computer. The Bridge section shows its address, by default 127.0.0.1:1234.
  4. In your SDR program, connect an rtl_tcp source to that address. How to receive shows the SDR++ settings, and the SDR Console guide covers SDR Console.

To hear your own transmission, receive at a station some distance away and tune to 4625 kHz in AM. In a station's details in the Stations tab, Tune RX next to a transmission sets the receive frequency to it. Propagation Basics explains why a distant receiver may hear a weak signal even when your own monitor sounds clear.

Continue from here

Retrieved from "https://wiki.simtx.net/index.php?title=Getting_Started&oldid=2450"