In the early days of Amateur Packet Radio, it was necessary to use an expensive "Terminal Node Controller" (TNC) with specialized hardware. Those days are gone. You can now get better results at lower cost by connecting your radio to the "soundcard" interface of a computer and using software to decode the signals.
Why settle for mediocre receive performance from a 1980's technology TNC using an old modem chip? Dire Wolf decodes over 1000 error-free frames from Track 2 of the [WA8LMF TNC Test CD](https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/tree/dev/doc/WA8LMF-TNC-Test-CD-Results.pdf), leaving all the hardware TNCs, and first generation "soundcard" modems, behind in the dust.
Dire Wolf now includes [FX.25](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FX.25_Forward_Error_Correction/) which adds Forward Error Correction (FEC) in a way that is completely compatible with existing systems. If both ends are capable of FX.25, your information will continue to get through under conditions where regular AX.25 is completely useless.
It can also be used as a virtual TNC for other applications such as [APRSIS32](http://aprsisce.wikidot.com/), [UI-View32](http://www.ui-view.net/), [Xastir](http://xastir.org/index.php/Main_Page), [APRS-TW](http://aprstw.blandranch.net/), [YAAC](http://www.ka2ddo.org/ka2ddo/YAAC.html), [UISS](http://users.belgacom.net/hamradio/uiss.htm), [Linux AX25](http://www.linux-ax25.org/wiki/Main_Page), [SARTrack](http://www.sartrack.co.nz/index.html), [Winlink Express (formerly known as RMS Express, formerly known as Winlink 2000 or WL2K)](http://www.winlink.org/RMSExpress), [BPQ32](http://www.cantab.net/users/john.wiseman/Documents/BPQ32.html), [Outpost PM](http://www.outpostpm.org/), [Ham Radio of Things](https://github.com/wb2osz/hrot), and many others.
Very few hams have portable equipment for APRS but nearly everyone has a handheld radio that can send DTMF tones. APRStt allows a user, equipped with only DTMF (commonly known as Touch Tone) generation capability, to enter information into the global APRS data network. Responses can be sent by Morse Code or synthesized speech.
Extend the range of other stations by re-transmitting their signals. Unmatched flexibility for cross band repeating and filtering to limit what is retransmitted.
There have been occasional mentions of merging Ham Radio with the Internet of Things but only ad hoc incompatible narrowly focused applications. Here is a proposal for a standardized more flexible method so different systems can communicate with each other.
[Ham Radio of Things - IoT over Ham Radio](https://github.com/wb2osz/hrot)
Dire Wolf can be used as a virtual TNC for applications such as APRSIS32, UI-View32, Xastir, APRS-TW,YAAC, UISS, Linux AX25, SARTrack, Winlink / RMS Express, Outpost PM, and many others.
Go to the [**releases** page](https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/releases). Download a zip file with "win" in its name, unzip it, and run direwolf.exe from a command window.
This should give you the most recent stable release. If you want the latest (possibly unstable) development version, use "git checkout dev" after the "cd direwolf" command.
For more details see the **User Guide** in the [**doc** directory](https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/tree/master/doc). Special considerations for the Raspberry Pi are found in **Raspberry-Pi-APRS.pdf**
### Linux - Download source in tar or zip file ###
Go to the [releases page](https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/releases). Chose desired release and download the source as zip or compressed tar file. Unpack the files, with "unzip" or "tar xfz," and then:
For more details see the **User Guide** in the [**doc** directory](https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/tree/master/doc). Special considerations for the Raspberry Pi are found in **Raspberry-Pi-APRS.pdf**
Read the **User Guide** in the [**doc** directory](https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/tree/master/doc). It is a lot more complicated than Linux.
If you have problems, post them to the [Dire Wolf packet TNC](https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/direwolf_packet/info) discussion group. I don't have a Mac and probably won't be able to help you. I rely on others, in the user community, for the Mac version.
The github "issues" section is for reporting software defects and enhancement requests. It is NOT a place to ask questions or have general discussions. Please use one of the locations above.
