Desktop & hardwareRadio & instrumentation
RamdySDR
A native software-defined radio client speaking a hardware UDP protocol directly, with multiple receivers and a touch-first interface.
Case study
Desktop & hardwareAmateur radio software2025–2026
HamStream
A commercial desktop application for amateur radio operators, with a licensing system, release channels and a marketing site that sells and delivers it.
Visit hamstream.co.uk ↗
The brief
What we were asked for
Build a desktop product, not a project: software that talks directly to radio hardware, a licensing system that protects it, release channels for beta and stable, and a website that sells, delivers and supports it.
The challenge
What made it difficult
The constraints that shaped every decision after them.
- The application talks to radio hardware over network protocols in real time, with no tolerance for stalls.
- A paid product needs licence enforcement that is robust without punishing legitimate users.
- Beta and stable users need different builds from the same codebase and the same download site.
What we built
How we solved it
The decisions that mattered, and why we made them.
01
Real-time hardware integration
Direct protocol communication with radio hardware, with the demanding paths kept off the interface thread so the display never stutters.
02
Licensing and release channels
Licence enforcement built into the application, with separate beta and stable channels published from one pipeline.
03
A site that ships the product
The marketing site carries versioned downloads, release notes and help documentation, driven by environment configuration so a release is a single controlled change.
04
Installer discipline
Clean, repeatable installer builds so the version on the About screen, in the notes and in the download always agree.
The outcome
Where it got to
- A licensed commercial desktop product with a working sales and delivery route.
- Beta and stable users served from one site without confusion.
- A release process that is a checklist rather than an adventure.
Built with
Technology stack
- Python
- Qt
- Next.js
- Railway
- PyInstaller
Services used
More work
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