Transmitting

ShackNerd treats transmit as the feature that deserves the most care, because an unattended transmitter is a licensing problem, not a software bug.

Enable it

Transmit ships off. In Settings, enable transmit and set your callsign, then save. If you started the daemon with -no-tx, nothing in the interface can turn it on, which is the mode for an installation you want provably receive-only.

Push to talk

The PUSH TO TALK key sits in the main operating screen. It is hold to transmit: releasing it, switching apps, or the page going hidden all drop the key immediately. Underneath, the daemon runs its own watchdog and drops the key on its own if your device goes silent, disconnects, or holds a transmission past five minutes. One client transmits at a time; a second device trying to key while you transmit is refused.

The key's label tells you which microphone is live:

• ON AIR phone mic means your device's microphone is going out over the air
• ON AIR radio mic means the radio keyed but the audio comes from its own hand mic, and the text under the key explains why

Voice from your phone needs two things

HTTPS. Browsers only grant microphone access to pages served over a secure connection. The one-click Tailscale setup in remote access gives you that; so does any certificate of your own. On plain http:// the key still works, but voice has to come from the radio's own microphone.

Transmit audio on. In Settings, below the receive audio rate, turn on Transmit audio. It takes effect on save, no restart.

Radio settings that matter

On the radio, MENU → SET → Connectors → MOD Input:

• DATA OFF MOD chooses where voice modulation comes from when the data mode is off. Set it to LAN to talk through ShackNerd. Note that while this is set, the radio's own hand mic is not the modulation source.
• LAN MOD Level sets how loud that input is. Around 50% is a sensible start; watch the ALC meter while speaking and adjust.

While keyed, a level bar under the key shows your microphone level, so "is my voice getting through" has an answer on screen: bar moving and power meter moving means you are modulating.

The safety net, spelled out

Three independent layers keep a transmission from running away: the browser releases the key when your finger leaves it or the page loses focus, the daemon drops it when keepalives stop arriving, and a five minute ceiling ends even a healthy transmission. Stopping a transmission is never queued behind other commands and is never refused.

Why your voice arrives a beat late

Transmit audio from the browser rides a small jitter buffer before it goes on the air. The buffer starts at a tenth of a second and only deepens on a connection that actually jitters, so a wired LAN stays quick while a phone on far WiFi trades a little latency for smooth audio. When you unkey, the transmitter holds on just long enough for your last words to finish playing out of the buffers, then drops; nothing you said is cut off, and the hold is capped so the key can never stick.

Slide to talk on touch screens

On a phone or tablet the key is a slider, not a button: slide the thumb most of the way across and hold to transmit, release anywhere to stop. A stray tap against a pocket or a palm does nothing, which is the point. The slide itself warms the microphone, so your first word goes out whole.