# wb2osz/direwolf

Dire Wolf is a software "soundcard" AX.25 packet modem/TNC and APRS encoder/decoder. It can be used stand-alone to observe APRS traffic, as a tracker, digipeater, APRStt gateway, or Internet Gateway (IGate).   For more information, look at the bottom 1/4 of this page and in https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/blob/dev/doc/README.md

Repository: https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/direwolf
Language: C
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: tnc, igate, ham-radio, packet-radio, raspberry-pi, digipeater, aprs, ax25
Last push: 2026-08-13T22:41:35+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 83/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 56, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4048, "days_push": 20, "days_rel": 293, "gap_med": 14, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2033, forks 348 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:07.734615+00:00)

## What it is
Dire Wolf is a software soundcard AX.25 packet modem/TNC and APRS encoder/decoder written in C. It replaces hardware TNCs, decoding radio signals via a computer's audio interface, and can act as an APRS tracker, digipeater, IGate, or APRStt gateway.

## Use cases
- decode APRS packet radio traffic with a soundcard instead of a hardware TNC
- run an APRS IGate to bridge RF traffic to the internet
- operate a digipeater on a Raspberry Pi
- build a GPS beacon tracker for ham radio
- serve as a virtual TNC for applications like Xastir or Winlink Express
- use FX.25 forward error correction for weak-signal packet communication

## When to choose
- you want a low-cost software replacement for a hardware TNC
- you run APRS on Linux, Windows, or a Raspberry Pi
- you need high decode performance with FEC support (FX.25/IL2P)

## When to avoid
- you need a plug-and-play hardware TNC without a computer
- you work with protocols outside AX.25/APRS packet radio

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: networking, serialization
- domain: embedded-systems, networking
- platform: windows, iot, cross-platform
- tags: aprs, ax25, tnc, packet-radio, ham-radio, digipeater, igate, soundcard-modem, fx25, il2p, aprstt, signal-processing, amateur-radio, linux

## Member repositories
- wb2osz/direwolf (main) score 83

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:07.734615+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:59:27.883288+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:07.734615+00:00, sha 80838cf03bb7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.