Ham Engineering vs FT8 Hero Remote
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ham Engineering
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Ham Engineering is the engineering bench for amateur radio — antenna and feedline maths, circuit design, propagation and a deep reference library, all completely offline. No account, no ads, no tracking, and not a single network call. ANTENNAS • Half-wave dipole with adjustable k (velocity) factor, quarter-wave and 5/8-wave verticals, ground-plane radials, end-fed half-wave, random wire, full-wave loop and a 3-element Yagi estimator • Matching: L-network, Pi-network, quarter-wave transformer, balun/unun ratios and stub matching • Antenna Lab — a live elevation radiation-pattern plot with directivity, realized gain, takeoff angle, beamwidth, front-to-back, mismatch loss, feedline loss and system gain, each explained • Grid Compass that rotates with your phone, showing beam bearing and distance from your grid to a target grid • Antenna gallery — every common type drawn as scalable vector art, with what it is, what it is for and what to watch out for FEEDLINES & RF • Coax loss by cable type, frequency and run length; velocity-factor electrical length • SWR from forward/reflected power, plus return loss and mismatch loss • Antenna A/B comparison and receiver noise-floor estimation • RF power conversions: dBm, watts, ERP and EIRP • Propagation: free-space path loss, radio horizon and Fresnel-zone clearance • NanoVNA and tinySA quick-start guides, and a coax + connector gallery CIRCUITS • Ohm's law, series/parallel resistance, voltage dividers, RC and RL time constants • Reactance, LC resonance, Q and bandwidth, stored energy • RC and LC filter cutoffs, a constant-k Pi/T filter designer, a bandpass/notch calculator and a Butterworth low-pass designer • Resistor, capacitor and inductor code decoders, an AWG wire table and a 555 timer calculator • A live RLC resonance lab and a 50-part component gallery REFERENCE & EXTRA • Filterable amateur band plan for ITU Regions 1, 2 and 3 • Unit converters including watts, dBm and microvolts • Comparison tables for coax, connectors, antennas and batteries • Tools-and-gear and rig-controls galleries — what every knob and button is called across manufacturers • Maidenhead grid tools and great-circle beam headings • 300+ searchable tips, 40+ formulas, a rich glossary and a constants reference • Curated external links to major retailers, brands and references BUILT FOR THE BENCH • Nearly 200 illustrations drawn as scalable vector art — nothing to download, everything sharp at any size • Works fully offline. The app makes no network calls at all • Export any panel or diagram as a theme-aware image to share or file • An (i) explanation on every panel — this is a tool and a guide, not a quiz • Light and dark themes, adjustable font size, weekly tips and in-app version history • Your callsign, grid and email stay on your device and are never transmitted PERFECT FOR • Licensed operators designing, building and tuning antennas • Anyone putting up a first dipole or vertical and wanting the numbers right • Homebrewers and kit builders working with filters, matching and components • SWLs and newcomers who want the reference material without the exam drill • Club elmers and anyone teaching antenna and RF fundamentals PRIVACY • Your callsign, grid and email are stored only on your device. • No account, no sign-up, no ads, no analytics SDKs, no advertising ID and no tracking of any kind. 73 de A41UX Yousuf AL Balushi — Unixeer, Oman
FT8 Hero Remote
Control your FT8 radio station remotely from your iPhone or iPad. See decoded stations, manage calls, and log contacts from anywhere, ensuring your radio stays safely in your shack. Requires a paired desktop application.
- Remote radio operation
- Live decoded station display
- Initiate CQ calls
- Respond to CQ calls
- Band and mode selection
- Log QSO confirmation
- Live waterfall display
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FT8 Hero Remote is the iPhone and iPad remote for the FT8 Hero desktop app. Operate your own FT8 station from anywhere while the radio stays in the shack. The FT8 Hero desktop app runs beside WSJT-X on the shack computer and relays what the radio hears. This app shows it to you live: every decoded station, who is calling CQ, who is calling you, the band, the mode, the period clock — and takes back what you tap. • Tap a CQ to answer it. WSJT-X arms the transmitter and Auto Seq runs the contact. • CALL CQ presses WSJT-X's own Tx 6. STOP TX is never refused. • Band Activity and Rx Frequency lists, exactly as WSJT-X shows them. • Change band and mode, select any of the six messages, Monitor, Decode, Tune. • Confirm WSJT-X's Log QSO dialog from wherever you are. Contacts go to your QSL World logbook and, with a key, to QRZ Logbook. • A live picture of the waterfall. • Safety built in: a dropped connection halts the transmitter, only one operator at a time, and nothing keys the radio without a paired device. Pair once by scanning the QR code the desktop app shows. No account, no port forwarding, no dynamic DNS: the shack dials out, the phone dials in, and they meet at the relay. Requires the free FT8 Hero desktop app for Mac, Windows or Linux from ft8hero.com, running beside WSJT-X 2.5 or later (or JTDX). Five contacts are free; after that a licence from ft8hero.com keeps the station on the air.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: FT8 Hero Remote at daily against Ham Engineering's every 3 weeks. Ham Engineering's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Ham Engineering ships an update every 3 weeks, FT8 Hero Remote daily. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ham Engineering | FT8 Hero Remote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 21 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yousif AL Balushi | iDream Interactive |
In-app purchases
Ham Engineering
No in-app purchases
FT8 Hero Remote
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Ham Engineering free?
Is FT8 Hero Remote free?
Do Ham Engineering or FT8 Hero Remote have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ham Engineering or FT8 Hero Remote?
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