SSL Security

Simon Brown • October 13, 2024

Forums SSL Certificate

Let’s dive into the SSL certificate in a way that’s easy to understand.


An SSL certificate, which stands for Secure Sockets Layer, is essentially a digital padlock. It creates a secure connection between a web server and a browser, ensuring that any data exchanged between the two remains private and secure. For a website like SDR-Radio.com Ltd., where you aim to provide software for both professional and amateur radio enthusiasts, having an SSL certificate is super important.


When users visit your site, the SSL certificate helps ensure that their information—whether it’s a payment or personal details—is encrypted and safeguarded from prying eyes. You know that feeling of peace of mind when you see that little padlock icon in the browser? That’s thanks to the SSL certificate!


Moreover, search engines like Google tend to favor websites with SSL certificates, which can help improve your site’s visibility in search results. So not only does it build trust with your visitors, but it can also give your site a nice little SEO boost!


In short, an SSL certificate is all about creating a secure, trustworthy environment for your users, allowing them to engage with your software confidently. Think of it as an essential tool for protecting your community of radio enthusiasts!

This blog post is really for my own records, so here I go.


The forums (forum.sdr-radio.com) run under XAMPP which uses Apache. The forums has its own SSL certificate purchased from CheapSSLSecurity. This must be renewed every year before October 8th.


  1. Login to https://cheapsslsecurity.com/.
  2. From the Dashboard select Orders, then Complete Orders.
  3. Click under view.
  4. Use saved key.
  5. Follow instructions.
  6. Update DNS CNAME & TXT records.


After a few hours an email is received from digicert.com with a download link to the new certificate. The files in this links are:

  • DigiCertCA.crt
  • forum_sdr-radio_com.crt
  • TrustedRoot.crt


On the forums host (a small N95 NUC) edit C:\xampp\apache\conf\extra\httpd-ssl.conf with new certificates, then restart Apache.

SDR Television v1.1.1

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SDR Television v1.1.1 June 9th, 2026: Fixes a fatal bug in the Settings, Camera page. Downloads are at the bottom of this page.

Simon's World Map 1.6.2

By Simon Brown • May 23, 2026
Version 1.6.2 This release fixes two bugs in the new DX Spot feature. The spot age logic incorrectly affected spot display. When the map was zoomed, station markers off the map would be displayed at the top left (0, 0).  Downloads are on the World Map page . Version 1.6.1 This release fixes two fatal bugs in the new DX Spot feature. When the graphics engine is restarted, resources are correctly released. Fixed a resource leak when processing the MoseMove logic. Downloads are on the World Map page . Version 1.6 This release adds the display of DX Spots. Display spots are submitted to PSK Reporter which in turn are relayed by a MQTT Broker running on a high performance Akamia node. Spot Format Each spot consists of these fields: Sequence Frequency Band Mode Signal level Time stamp Sending station call, square, country Receiving station call, square, country Note: The country is the ADIF country. Spots are displayed as they arrive, currently no on-demand database. Bandwidth To reduce bandwidth from the broker, filtering is required for 80m up to and including 15m. Filtering requires at least one field below to be set in a definition: Receiver callsign, square or country. Sender callsign, square or country. Without filtering the bandwith from the broker could be excessive. For LF and VHF+ no filtering is required due to the lower number of spots sent on these bands. In a later version the bandwidth restriction may be reduced.

Simon's World Map 1.6.1

By Simon Brown • May 21, 2026
Version 1.6.1 This release fixes two fatal bugs in the new DX Spot feature. When the graphics engine is restarted, resources are correctly released. Fixed a resource leak when processing the MoseMove logic.  Downloads are on the World Map page . Version 1.6 This release adds the display of DX Spots. Display spots are submitted to PSK Reporter which in turn are relayed by a MQTT Broker running on a high performance Akamia node. Spot Format Each spot consists of these fields: Sequence Frequency Band Mode Signal level Time stamp Sending station call, square, country Receiving station call, square, country Note: The country is the ADIF country. Spots are displayed as they arrive, currently no on-demand database. Bandwidth To reduce bandwidth from the broker, filtering is required for 80m up to and including 15m. Filtering requires at least one field below to be set in a definition: Receiver callsign, square or country. Sender callsign, square or country. Without filtering the bandwith from the broker could be excessive. For LF and VHF+ no filtering is required due to the lower number of spots sent on these bands. In a later version the bandwidth restriction may be reduced.

Simon's World Map 1.6

By Simon Brown • May 20, 2026
Version 1.6 This release adds the display of DX Spots. Display spots are submitted to PSK Reporter which in turn are relayed by a MQTT Broker running on a high performance Akamia node. Spot Format Each spot consists of these fields: Sequence Frequency Band Mode Signal level Time stamp Sending station call, square, country Receiving station call, square, country Note: The country is the ADIF country. Spots are displayed as they arrive, currently no on-demand database. Bandwidth To reduce bandwidth from the broker, filtering is required for 80m up to and including 15m. Filtering requires at least one field below to be set in a definition: Receiver callsign, square or country. Sender callsign, square or country. Without filtering the bandwith from the broker could be excessive. For LF and VHF+ no filtering is required due to the lower number of spots sent on these bands. In a later version the bandwidth restriction may be reduced.

SDR Television v1.1

By Simon Brown • May 19, 2026
SDR Television v1.1 May 18th, 2026: This is the official v1.1 release , code exactly the same as 1.0.16 which has survived testing for a few weeks. Lots of improvements since the last official kit. As with any software project, there's always room for improvements and new features, but for now here's a stable solution which works well with the QO-100 satellite. Many thanks to Sigi and the DATV test team. Downloads are at the bottom of this page.

SDR Television v1.0.14

By Simon Brown • April 12, 2026
SDR Television v1.0.14 April 12th, 2026: A new kit, lots of improvements since the last official kit. As with any software project, there's always room for improvements and new features, but for now here's a stable solution which works well with the QO-100 satellite. Many thanks to Sigi and the DATV test team. Downloads are at the bottom of this page.

SDR Television v1.0.9

By Simon Brown • March 13, 2026
SDR Television v1.0.9 March 13th, 2026: A new kit, lots of receive improvements since the last official kit. As with any software project, there's always room for improvements and new features, but for now here's a stable solution which works well with the QO-100 satellite. Many thanks to the DATV test team. Downloads are at the bottom of this page.

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By Simon Brown • February 13, 2026
SDR Television v1.0.6 February 13th, 2026: A new kit, lots of receive improvements since the last official kit. As with any software project, there's always room for improvements and new features, but for now here's a stable solution which works well with the QO-100 satellite. Downloads are at the bottom of this page.