PDW-Linux

Native Linux port of PDW (Pager Data Decoder), supporting POCSAG, FLEX, ACARS, MOBITEX, and ERMES. GTK3 GUI, ALSA/PulseAudio capture.

Requirements

• CMake ≥ 2.8
• C++ compiler
• OpenSSL
• ALSA (libasound2-dev)
• PulseAudio (libpulse-dev)
• GTK3 (gtk+-3.0)

Install dependencies

Fedora / RHEL

sudo dnf install cmake gcc-c++ openssl-devel alsa-lib-devel libpulse-devel gtk3-devel

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install cmake g++ libssl-dev libasound2-dev libpulse-dev libgtk-3-dev

Arch

sudo pacman -S cmake gcc openssl alsa-lib libpulse gtk3

Build

mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make
./pdw_linux

Usage

• pdw_linux — start with default audio device.
• pdw_linux -v or pdw_linux --verbose — verbose logging (decoded lines, mode, UI actions).
• pdw_linux -v 2 or pdw_linux --verbose full — include display pipeline debug.
• File → Exit — quit. Interface → Setup/Volume — select audio input. Options — decoding options (POCSAG/FLEX/MOBITEX/ACARS). Display → Clear Screen — clear panes.

POCSAG encrypted messages

Messages encrypted with AES-256-CTR, Base64 are decrypted automatically if you set the key:

export PDW_POCSAG_DECRYPT_KEY="your-secret-key"
./pdw_linux

Same key and format as used when encoding with pocsag --encrypt --key "your-secret-key". If decryption fails (wrong key or unencrypted message), the raw message is shown.

License

Same as the original PDW project.