Built for Modern Radio Control
CAT4OM is designed as a modern control layer for advanced amateur radio stations, multi-radio setups, remote operation, and automation-driven workflows.
Instead of tying radio control to a single desktop application, CAT4OM separates the radio engine from the user interface. The result is a cleaner, more flexible system where the service manages the radios and clients simply connect, command, and listen.
Multi-Radio by Design
CAT4OM was built from the start to manage more than one radio.
Each radio can belong to a control group, expose its own capabilities, use its own protocol, and maintain its own live state. This makes CAT4OM suitable for complex stations where multiple transceivers, operators, or control surfaces need to coexist without stepping on each other.
Whether you are managing a single shack radio or building a larger control environment, CAT4OM gives you a foundation that can grow with your station.
In a multi application environment only one controlling application has the ownership and can command rigs. Others may require ownership when needed, or receive radio updates as slave.
Service-First Architecture
At the heart of CAT4OM there is a dedicated service.
The service is responsible for radio communication, command validation, protocol translation, handbook interpretation, connection handling, and state distribution. Clients do not need to know how a Yaesu CAT command differs from an Icom CI-V message or a TCI event.
They simply send high-level requests and receive meaningful updates.
This keeps clients lightweight, replaceable, and easier to build.
Real-Time Push Updates
CAT4OM is push-based.
Clients do not need to constantly ask the service what changed. When a radio state changes, the service distributes updates automatically to connected clients.
Frequency, mode, VFO, PTT, split status, available commands, connection state, and other radio information can be delivered as live updates, making the interface responsive and efficient.
Less polling. Less noise. More signal.
Data-Driven Radio Support
Radio support in CAT4OM is defined through XML handbooks.
A handbook describes the radio model, connection defaults, supported modes, available VFOs, commands, polling rules, value maps, and push messages. This means new radios can be added or refined by extending data definitions rather than scattering radio-specific logic across the codebase.
CAT4OM is built to understand radios through structured knowledge, not hard-coded assumptions.
Hamlib rigctl subset protocol emulation
CAT4OM includes a built-in Hamlib NET rigctl subset protocol emulator. It mimics the BASIC network interface and core commands normally exposed by rigctld, allowing compatible applications to connect directly to CAT4OM.
Hamlib does not need to be installed and should not be running on the system when CAT4OM is active.
CAT4OM handles frequency, mode, PTT, VFO and split requests internally, translating them into the radio-specific protocol defined by its handbook.
Hamlib is an open source project, you can find more information here: https://github.com/Hamlib/Hamlib
Protocol-Agnostic Control
CAT4OM can support different radio communication styles through the same high-level control model.
Serial CAT, CI-V, TCI, FLEX Radio ™ and future protocol families can be represented behind a common service layer. This allows clients to work with radio capabilities instead of protocol details.
From the user’s point of view, a command is a command.
From the service’s point of view, each radio gets exactly the message it expects.
Smart Capability Detection
Not every radio supports the same operations.
CAT4OM exposes available commands as part of the radio state, allowing user interfaces to adapt dynamically. If a radio does not support VFO swap, copy VFO A to B, split handling, or a specific operation, the client can hide or disable that control automatically.
The interface follows the radio, not the other way around.
Separate Management and Control Channels
CAT4OM uses two WebSocket channels with different responsibilities.
The Management Channel handles configuration, groups, handbooks, service status, and administrative operations.
The Control Channel handles real-time radio control, command execution, events, welcome messages, and live state updates.
This separation keeps operational traffic clean and allows management tools and control clients to evolve independently.
Client-Friendly WebSocket API
CAT4OM speaks through a clear WebSocket protocol built around request, response, event, welcome, service status, and state update messages.
This makes it possible to build different clients on top of the same service: desktop apps, automation tools, dashboards, remote panels, logging integrations, testing utilities, or custom station controllers.
The UI is only one possible client.
The platform is the important part.
Dumb Clients, Strong Core
CAT4OM follows a deliberate rule: clients should be dumb.
That does not mean limited. It means focused.
Clients display information, collect user input, and send high-level commands. The service owns the hard parts: validation, protocol mapping, radio behavior, state consistency, and command execution.
This makes the system easier to reason about and much safer to extend.
Designed for Extensibility
CAT4OM is not just an application. It is a foundation.
Its architecture makes room for new radio handbooks, new connection types, new UI clients, new automation features, and new integrations without forcing everything through a single monolithic interface.
Today it can control radios.
Tomorrow it can coordinate a station.
Remote-Ready Foundation
Because CAT4OM communicates over WebSocket, it naturally fits local and remote-control scenarios.
The same service model can support a local desktop client, a remote dashboard, an automation process, or multiple connected clients receiving synchronized updates.
CAT4OM is built for the idea that radio control should not be trapped inside one window on one machine.
Current Radio Handbook Support
CAT4OM already includes handbook-based support for multiple radio families and protocol styles, including Yaesu (TM) radios, Icom (TM) CI-V radios, Kenwood ™ CAT radios, Flex Radio ™ and Expert Electronics ™ TCI-based operation.
Each supported radio is described through its own handbook, allowing capabilities and behavior to be refined over time.