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Welcome to the M17 Foundation's Wiki!

This wiki is a collaborative effort. If you spot outdated info or want to help improve the documentation, feel free to jump in and help.

What is M17 and what can I do with it?

M17 is a free and open-source digital radio protocol for voice and data, built by and for amateur radio operators. This means that you can communicate with other hams worldwide using an M17-capable radio and a hotspot or repeater. This can be classic voice transmissions or data traffic. In contrast to other known digital modes, M17 is completely open source, offers good voice quality and is much easier to handle. No code plugs or registration are required. All you have to do is set your M17-capable radio to the frequency of the hotspot, enter your callsign in the radio and you're ready to go. The desired reflector is set at the hotspot with little effort.

The best thing about M17 is the community. Both on the radio and via various other channels (see below) you can meet friendly, open-minded people who are enthusiastic about technology.

M17 was designed from the beginning to be open source, fully documented and unencumbered by patents. It was developed by Wojciech Kaczmarski SP5WWP et al. In 2021, Kaczmarski received the ARRL Technical Innovation Award for developing an open-source digital radio communication protocol, leading to further advancements in amateur radio. The M17 Foundation was established in December 2024 to provide a solid, legal entity to represent and protect the interests of M17.

For more information on M17 itself, we recommend to read this excellent RADCOM article "The M17 Project" by Ira Brodsky KC9TC. Another good resource is the official Wikipedia article.

If you want to learn more about the M17 Foundation, please visit the the M17 Foundation page.

What is this Wiki good for?

This wiki documents the development, usage, and ecosystem around M17 — including hardware, software, community resources, and active projects.

🚀 Get Started

If you want to know how to get started with M17, want to participate in the development or want to get in touch with us, you will find everything you need here:

📘 For Beginners & Users	🛠️ For Developers & Hackers	💬 Community & Support
What is M17? What is M17? Why is it so great? And how do I get started? Receiving M17 How to get on the Air - Part I: Radio How to get on the Air - Part II: M17 Hotspots Hardware Projects Software Projects Applications with M17 Support Frequently asked questions	The M17 Protocol/Specification TNC KISS Protocol Specification How to Contribute Code	Discord: Join our Discord server, talk to devs and users of M17 Matrix Chat: #m17project:matrix.org Groups.io: M17 group where users help users Mastodon: @m17_project X: @m17_project GitHub: github.com/M17-Project

Thanks and Credits