USB Cable Management

USB Cable Management

AetherSDR can configure USB-serial adapters plugged into the FlexRadio's rear-panel USB ports. These cables provide CAT control, band decoder output, per-bit switching, and raw serial passthrough to external devices — all managed remotely over the network.

Overview

The radio automatically detects USB-serial adapters on its rear USB ports and reports them via status messages. AetherSDR displays them in Radio Setup → USB Cables (or Settings → USB Cables) where you can configure each cable's type, serial parameters, and behavior.

Accessing the USB Cables Tab

Two ways:

• Settings → USB Cables — opens Radio Setup directly on the USB Cables tab
• Radio Setup → USB Cables tab (rightmost tab)

Cable Types

CAT Cable

Provides CAT (Computer Aided Transceiver) control via a serial port. External devices like amplifiers, antenna tuners, or logging software connect to the radio's USB port and receive frequency/mode updates.

Settings:

• Serial Parameters: Speed (300–921600 baud), Data Bits (7/8), Parity, Stop Bits, Flow Control
• Source: Which frequency to report — Active Slice, TX Slice, TX Pan, TX Ant, RX Ant, or Ordinal Slice
• Auto Report: Automatically send frequency/mode updates when they change

BCD Cable

Outputs Binary Coded Decimal band data for external band decoders. Antenna switches, bandpass filter banks, and amplifier band switches read the BCD value to know which band the radio is on.

Settings:

• BCD Type: HF only, VHF only, or HF+VHF
• Polarity: Active High or Active Low
• Source: Which frequency determines the band output

Bit Cable

Provides 8 independent output bits (0–7) for per-band or per-frequency switching. Each bit can be configured independently for band selection, frequency range matching, or PTT-dependent output.

Per-bit settings:

• Enable: Activate this bit
• Source: Frequency source (Active Slice, TX Slice, etc.)
• Output: "Band" (matches a specific band) or "Freq Range" (matches a frequency range)
• Polarity: Active High or Active Low
• Band: Which band activates this bit (e.g., "20" for 20 meters)

Passthrough Cable

Raw serial tunnel — bytes sent to one end come out the other. Used for direct serial communication with a device plugged into the radio's USB port, tunneled over the network to your client.

Settings:

• Serial Parameters: Speed, Data Bits, Parity, Stop Bits, Flow Control

Cable List

The left panel shows all detected cables with status indicators:

Color	Meaning
Green	Enabled and plugged in
Yellow	Enabled but unplugged
Grey	Disabled

Click a cable to view and edit its properties in the right panel.

Use Cases

• Amplifier tracking: CAT cable sends frequency to your amplifier so it tracks band changes automatically
• Antenna switching: BCD cable drives a remote antenna switch (e.g., Array Solutions, DX Engineering)
• Bandpass filters: Bit cable controls per-band relay outputs on a filter bank
• Remote serial devices: Passthrough cable tunnels serial data to a device at the radio site

Notes

• Cables appear and disappear automatically — no manual creation needed
• Cable configuration is stored in the radio, not in AetherSDR
• USB cables configured here are on the radio's USB ports, not your computer's USB ports (for local USB-serial PTT/CW keying, see the Serial tab)