EmComm Tools Community

This site reflects the current state of EmComm Tools Community Release 4 (ETC R4). This version was released on April 1, 2025.

Existing users: If you’re an existing ETC R3 user, you can jump directly to the Creating EmComm Tools Community Image section to build ETC R4 as all the build tools are available in R3.

New users: should start with the Getting Started section and work through all the sections in order. EmComm Tools Community must be built and is not available as a direct image download.

The Mission

Welcome to the EmComm Tools Community site. The mission of this project is to:

  • Provide an offline-first digital communications platform for offgrid operations
  • Easily switch between radios using plug-and-play support
  • Quickly switch between communication modes
  • Deliver an easy-to-use and modern user experience
  • Pre-configure communications software with sane defaults
  • Customize existing software to support field expedient communication
  • Standardize on hardware to support operations in austere environments
  • Run the operating system off a bootable USB drive or directly on the hard disk
  • Provide an air-gapped compute platform that never needs to go online

What is EmComm Tool Community?

EmComm Tools Community is a customized version of Ubuntu Linux designed to meet the goals outlined above. It is designed to be packaged as a complete operating system with all the software and configuration needed to carry out offgrid communication with near-zero configuration required by the operator.

This platform is best thought of as a turnkey appliance. The operating system used internally is an implementation detail. Do not let the fact that it is based on a very specific distribution and version of Linux prevent you from trying EmComm Tools Community. Using the platform is as simple as:

  1. Setting your callsign and location with et-user.
  2. Selecting your radio with et-radio.
  3. Turning on your radio and connecting the USB cable.
  4. Selecting your desired mode of operation with et-mode.

Introduction Video (ETC R3)

Support

If you find value in this project or the work that I do on YouTube to help further offgrid communication, please consider supporting me on Buy Me a Coffee. I rely on member support to keep all “TTP” initiatives going. I offer special perks to members on a monthly basis as a thank you for the support.

Thank you

A big thank you to the amateur radio software community is in order. This project could not exist without all the great amateur radio software that has been created for Linux. EmComm Tools Community leverages existing open-source software as the basis for the platform. The EmComm Tools philosophy is to install and configure this software with reasonable defaults in away that is 100% plug-and-play and allows the operator to focus on carrying out the communication task at hand.

Here are a few of the applications that EmComm Tools uses as part of its turnkey platform:

  • ARDOP
  • Chattervox
  • Dire Wolf
  • Hamlib
  • LinBPQ
  • JS8Call
  • Pat
  • Paracon
  • Kiwix
  • VARA FM/HF (experimental)
  • YAAC

All I did was add plug-and-play support, write a little glue code, and pick configuration defaults that should work well for most field operators. The software above does all the real work.

“Be Strong, be safe and be prepared”

– The Tech Prepper (Gaston KT7RUN)

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