Software spotlight · Yaesu FT-710
710 Console: a native Windows front panel for the FT-710
CAT control, the radio’s own scope over USB, two-way USB audio and code-paired remote operation, all from a single cable. Now in free open beta.
The Yaesu FT-710 has earned a strong following as a compact, high-performance SDR-based HF/6 m transceiver, but its small front-panel display has always been the compromise. A new independent Windows application, 710 Console, sets out to put the whole radio on a large screen, and it does so in a way that most third-party control programs don’t: the spectrum and waterfall come from the radio itself, not from an FFT of the receive audio.
The software is currently in open beta, with version 0.2.53 released on 25 September 2026. It’s free to download and try.
// Open Beta · Current release
Download 710 Console
Install it, connect your radio and put the console through its paces.
Current production release. Release metadata, the updater manifest and installer checksum are generated from one verified release state.
- For the Yaesu FT-710
- 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11
- CAT, FT4222 spectrum, USB audio, CW and remote operation
710 Console is under active development, with regular improvements and new features being added throughout the beta. Use the support centre for setup and troubleshooting.
| File | 710Console-Beta1-Setup.exe |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.2.53 |
| Released | 2026-09-25 |
| Installer size | 58.3 MB (61,158,800 bytes) |
| Compatibility | Yaesu FT-710 · Windows 10/11 x64 |
| SHA-256 | 7635a951ef033307123f4f0d64902cf009814d44fece52adbe600970d7acef7a |
Download latest build Report a bug
certutil -hashfile 710Console-Beta1-Setup.exe SHA256 and compare the result with the hash above.At a glance
| Radio | Yaesu FT-710 only (FTDX10 and FT-991A not currently supported) |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit |
| Connection | The radio’s single USB cable carries CAT, scope data and audio |
| Remote | Second Windows PC, internet on both ends, no port forwarding |
| Current build | Open beta v0.2.53, 58.3 MB installer, no separate .NET install required |
| Price | Free during the open beta |
The real scope, not an audio guess
This is the feature that sets 710 Console apart. Alongside its CAT port and audio codec, the FT-710 contains an FTDI FT4222 USB-to-SPI bridge, which is the path the radio uses to hand its internal spectrum data to an external display. 710 Console reads that data directly and renders it with Direct3D, so what appears on the PC is what the radio’s own scope is seeing. Span, averaging, contrast, peak, level and waterfall speed are all adjustable.
For anyone who has used audio-derived panadapters, the difference matters. An audio FFT only shows what fits inside the receiver’s passband; the radio’s scope shows the band.
What’s on the console
Full CAT control
VFO A/B and split, band stacking from 160 m to 4 m, mode, step, filter width, AGC, IPO/AMP, attenuator and the RF/SQL control, all read back from the rig.
RX DSP with a live passband
Width and shift, notch, DNF, contour, DNR and NB. The passband graphic moves over the live audio spectrum as you adjust it.
Two-way USB audio
Receive on PC speakers or headphones and transmit from a PC microphone, with MIC, PROC, AMC, TX EQ, TX profiles and VOX.
Meters and analysis
S, PO, SWR and ALC arc meters with numeric readouts from live rig data, plus an AF-FFT and oscilloscope of the receive audio.
Operating tools
Memories, profiles, a logbook, RX recording, three CQ voice clips, and ATU/TUNE control. Everything is stored locally and survives upgrades.
Guided setup
A four-page first-run assistant covers radio, spectrum, audio and a test page. The microphone test never keys the transmitter.
The developer’s stated design rule is a good one: every control on screen maps to a genuine FT-710 CAT or USB capability. If the radio can’t do something, the console doesn’t fake it.
Remote operation with a share code
Remote is where many operators will find the most value. Rather than configuring IP addresses, port forwarding or a VPN, both the station PC and the remote PC make outbound encrypted (TLS) connections to the developer’s relay. The station generates a nine-character pairing code, which expires after five minutes and works only once; paste it on the remote PC and connect.
Audio travels as Opus in 20 ms packets with an adaptive jitter buffer, and control, audio and scope data run on separate channels, so a burst of waterfall traffic can’t hold up PTT.
Transmit safety. The station PC, not the remote, owns PTT and TUNE. While transmitting, the remote must send a heartbeat every 150 ms. If none arrives for 500 ms, or the link, audio or application fails, the station unkeys the radio on its own. That’s exactly the behaviour you want from any remote system, and it’s good to see it designed in from the start rather than bolted on.
One remote operator per station session is supported during the beta.
Installation notes
The installer bundles the vendor-signed Silicon Labs CP210x driver (CAT) and the FTDI D2XX driver (spectrum interface) and checks their Microsoft signatures before installing, so setup works offline. USB audio uses the built-in Windows driver.
Two practical points worth knowing before you start:
- SmartScreen will likely complain. The beta installer isn’t code-signed yet. Choose More info, then Run anyway. If you’d like to verify the download first, compare its hash against the SHA-256 published on the download page:
certutil -hashfile 710Console-Beta1-Setup.exe SHA256
- Blank waterfall but CAT working? The scope uses a separate USB path and needs the FTDI driver. The radio also only exposes its spectrum interface while MENU → OPERATION SETTING → GENERAL → SCU-LAN10 is set to ON (from v0.2.6 the app switches this on for you). The built-in Help → Scope check diagnoses the problem and returns a short status code, with
SC00meaning all is well. - Use the Enhanced COM port for CAT. Keyboard CW uses DTR on the Standard COM port, with the radio’s PC KEYING set to DTR.
Beta limits and things to be aware of
- There’s no CAT-sharing bridge, virtual COM or TCP/API yet, so running WSJT-X, JTDX or a logging program alongside it isn’t supported. The developer lists this as roadmap work.
- From v0.2.13 the app reports anonymous usage timing (app open, connected, TX/RX, remote sessions), app version and country. It doesn’t send callsigns, frequencies, audio or log data, and it can be switched off under Help → Share usage statistics.
- Settings, logbook, memories and recordings live in
%LOCALAPPDATA%\FT710Remoteand are kept across upgrades and uninstalls. - Download only from the official site; the developer specifically warns against third-party repackaged installers.
Verdict
For FT-710 owners, 710 Console looks like the most complete dedicated control application yet, and the decision to read the radio’s true scope over the FT4222 interface is the right one. The share-code remote system, with station-side PTT control and a hard heartbeat timeout, is thoughtfully engineered for something still in beta. The main gap for now is the lack of CAT sharing with digital-mode and logging software, which will matter to many operators; if and when that arrives, this becomes very hard to beat.
It’s free while in beta, so if you have an FT-710 on the bench, it’s well worth installing and sending the developer your feedback.