station Projects

SPE Expert Amplifier Remote

A native app and browser console for the SPE Expert HF amplifier range. Mirrors the real front panel, drives the amp over USB, and reaches it from another room or another country over an encrypted Tailscale tunnel.

v1.9.24 Windows · macOS · Linux · Raspberry Pi Qt6 Tailscale Free for amateur use

Supported amplifiers

picked once, on the settings page

Expert 1K-FA, 1.3K-FA, 1.5K-FA, 1.5K-FA TAURUS and 2K-FA.

The model matters to more than a label: the 1K-FA's meters run to 1000 W and 25 A, the 2 kW family to 2000 W and 50 A. Choosing the model once relabels and rescales the whole interface, so a reading means what it says rather than what you have to remember to convert it to.

Two interfaces, one daemon

A native desktop app that mirrors the physical front panel, and the same control surface served as a web page by the daemon sitting next to the amplifier.

Works from a phone

The web interface reflows vertically on a narrow screen, so the amp can be run from a phone over Tailscale with nothing extra installed.

USB to the amplifier

The daemon runs on a PC or Raspberry Pi cabled to the amp. Serial port and model are chosen once and saved; the configuration survives reboots.

HTTPS in one click

Browser-trusted TLS using the Tailscale MagicDNS name — a genuine padlock on top of the tunnel rather than a self-signed warning to click through.

Per-OS install guides

Separate walkthroughs for Windows, macOS, desktop Linux and headless Raspberry Pi, each covering the app, the amp connection and the remote access in one pass.

Nothing published

No port forwarding, no dynamic DNS, no inbound firewall rules. Only devices signed in to your own Tailscale account can reach the amplifier at all.

How it connects

  AT THE SHACK                                        YOU — ANYWHERE

  SPE Expert amplifier                                laptop · phone · shack PC
        │ USB                                                    │
  ┌─────▼──────────────────┐                          ┌──────────▼──────────┐
  │ SPE Remote (daemon)    │                          │ browser, or the     │
  │   web UI    :8080      │                          │ SPE Remote Connect  │
  │   controls  :8888      │                          │ app                 │
  └─────┬──────────────────┘                          └──────────┬──────────┘
        │                                                        │
        ╰──────────────── TAILSCALE (WireGuard) ─────────────────╯
             one encrypted tunnel, private to your devices

Three pieces: the daemon at the amplifier, Tailscale on both ends, and any browser as the client. Everything in the chain is free.

Honest caveats

Free for personal amateur-radio use, provided as-is with no warranty, and used entirely at your own risk. An amplifier is not a forgiving thing to drive badly.

You remain responsible for safe and licence-compliant operation of your station — and particularly so when the station is unattended and you are somewhere else, which is precisely what this makes easy.