What is AetherLink SDR MCP?
AetherLink, from the GitHub user N-Erickson, lets an MCP client such as Claude Desktop control a software-defined radio. With a cheap RTL-SDR USB dongle it tracks aircraft over ADS-B, ships over AIS, decodes POCSAG pager messages and 433 MHz sensors such as weather stations and tyre-pressure monitors, scans and records the spectrum, and pulls Meteor-M weather satellite images through SatDump. A HackRF One adds transmit tools.
It is MIT-licensed, written in Python and installed from PyPI as aetherlink. It has about 31 GitHub stars and released v0.2.0 on 4 November 2026, which added built-in pager and AIS decoders and automatic device and location detection.
How to install AetherLink SDR MCP
pip install aetherlink && aetherlink --setupIs AetherLink SDR MCP worth it?
AetherLink is the practical counterpart to GNU Radio MCP (Marconi). Marconi builds receiver pipelines in simulation and cannot decode digital signals yet; AetherLink opens the first RTL-SDR it finds and runs a fixed menu of decoders for things people actually listen to. Its 34 tools cover device control, ADS-B on 1090 MHz, AIS on 161.975 and 162.025 MHz, POCSAG, ISM-band sensors through rtl_433 (200+ device types), spectrum scans, IQ and WAV recording, and Meteor-M passes on 137 MHz with pass prediction. Marconi teaches you how a receiver is built; AetherLink answers "what is overhead right now".
The v0.2.0 changelog is unusually candid about what has been proven. ADS-B was verified live, 8 aircraft in 2 minutes cross-checked against a public feed, along with rtl_433 and SatDump lifecycles and 46 end-to-end checks against a mock radio. The new built-in POCSAG and AIS decoders, Meteor-M imagery during a real pass and all HackRF support are listed as not yet verified on real signals. The same changelog notes that 0.1.3 failed to start on a fresh install.
The catch: this server reaches beyond your machine in three ways. It looks up your location by IP through ipapi.co and ip-api.com (the second over plain HTTP), queries hexdb.io for aircraft registrations by default, and fetches orbital data from Celestrak. With a HackRF attached, signal_generator transmits for up to 60 seconds at up to 47 dB gain; it refuses aviation, public-safety, cellular, GNSS and other listed bands, but nothing checks that you hold a licence to transmit anywhere else. It runs over stdio and opens no network port.
The law matters more than usual here, and the README says nothing about it. In the UK, section 48 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 makes it an offence to use a receiver to obtain the contents of a message you were not meant to receive, or to pass it on, and Ofcom says receivers are generally for broadcast and hobby radio. In the US, federal law expressly allows intercepting marine and aeronautical radio, which covers ship and aircraft tracking, but treats common-carrier paging other than tone-only pages as not readily accessible to the public. Reading strangers' pager messages is the feature to leave alone.
Our take: ship and plane spotting with an agent narrating is the safe, well-tested core, and it is good at it. Everything else is a promising beta from a single main developer with 31 stars, so treat empty results from the pager, AIS or satellite tools as unproven rather than as silence.
Where it earns its place
A plane spotter with an RTL-SDR and a 1090 MHz antenna by a window
Ask what is flying overhead and how far away it is
Run aviation_track_aircraft for the default 120 seconds, then aviation_get_aircraft for callsigns, altitudes and distances, nearest first. Free beyond the dongle; registration lookups go to hexdb.io unless switched off.
A home-automation tinkerer
Find out which 433 MHz sensors in the street are broadcasting
Start ism_start_scanning on 433.92 MHz with hopping, wait a couple of minutes, then list devices decoded by rtl_433: weather stations, thermometers, door sensors. Needs rtl_433 installed.
A school science club
Capture a Meteor-M weather satellite image
Ask for the next pass over the school's coordinates, start a 900-second decode a minute before it rises, and collect visible and infrared images. Needs SatDump and ideally a 137 MHz V-dipole; imagery during a real pass is not yet verified by the developer.
Before you commit
- Setup
- pip install aetherlink (or uvx aetherlink) then aetherlink --setup, which adds the server to Claude Desktop's config. RTL-SDR drivers are needed at system level; Windows also needs Zadig. A curl-to-bash installer handles drivers and optional decoders.
- Integrations
- RTL-SDR, Nooelec E4000 and HackRF One. Optional dump1090, rtl_433, SatDump, multimon-ng and AIS-catcher. List tools return structured JSON. Vessels get MarineTraffic links and aircraft get live tracking links.
- Data and privacy
- Runs locally over stdio with no open port. Location comes from ipapi.co or ip-api.com unless set by argument or environment variable; hexdb.io lookups are on by default; Celestrak supplies orbital data. Recordings go to ~/AetherLink/recordings. Decoded messages go to your model provider.
- Cost at scale
- Free under MIT; the hardware is an RTL-SDR dongle, plus a HackRF One for transmit.
- Limits
- One program can hold the radio at a time, so decoders run one after another. Built-in pager and AIS decoders, Meteor-M imagery and HackRF are unverified on real signals. pyrtlsdr is pinned below 0.4 and mcp below 2.0.
What’s good
- Drives real RTL-SDR hardware, not a simulation
- 34 tools from ADS-B to Meteor-M imaging
- Built-in POCSAG and AIS decoders need no extra software
- pip install plus --setup configures Claude Desktop
What’s not
- Pager, AIS, Meteor-M and HackRF paths not yet verified on real signals
- IP geolocation and hexdb.io lookups on by default
- HackRF transmit with no licence check beyond a band list
- No guidance on legal limits in the README
Best for
Radio hobbyists with an RTL-SDR dongle who want an agent to track aircraft and ships, log local sensors and catch weather satellite passes.
AetherLink SDR MCP alternatives
AetherLink SDR MCP: common questions
- Is AetherLink SDR MCP worth it?
- The MCP server that actually listens to real radio, with a changelog honest enough to tell you that most of its decoders have not yet heard a real signal. We rate it 3.6 out of 5.
- How much does AetherLink SDR MCP cost?
- Free and open source (MIT). Needs an RTL-SDR dongle or a HackRF One.
- What are the downsides of AetherLink SDR MCP?
- Pager, AIS, Meteor-M and HackRF paths not yet verified on real signals; iP geolocation and hexdb.io lookups on by default; hackRF transmit with no licence check beyond a band list; no guidance on legal limits in the README.
- Who is AetherLink SDR MCP best for?
- Radio hobbyists with an RTL-SDR dongle who want an agent to track aircraft and ships, log local sensors and catch weather satellite passes.
- How much does AetherLink SDR MCP cost for a team or in production?
- Free under MIT; the hardware is an RTL-SDR dongle, plus a HackRF One for transmit.
- Is AetherLink SDR MCP safe for company data?
- Runs locally over stdio with no open port. Location comes from ipapi.co or ip-api.com unless set by argument or environment variable; hexdb.io lookups are on by default; Celestrak supplies orbital data. Recordings go to ~/AetherLink/recordings. Decoded messages go to your model provider.
- What are the best AetherLink SDR MCP alternatives?
- The closest alternatives we have reviewed are GNU Radio MCP (Marconi).
Answers checked Nov 7, 2026.