Install VARA HF on Nintendo Switch

VARA HF

A shareware HF modem for amateur radio messaging.

VARA modems require a messaging app (such as Pat, Winlink Express, VarAC, or VARAChat), an amateur radio transceiver, and cables to connect audio and PTT control from your Pi to the transceiver.

Run from Menu: Menu -> Accessories -> VARA HF
Run from Terminal: wine "C:\VARA\VARA.exe"

This app runs with the help of Box86/Box64 and Wine.

Fortunately, VARA HF is very easy to install on your Nintendo Switch in just two steps.

  1. Install Pi-Apps - the best app installer for Nintendo Switch.
  2. Use Pi-Apps to install VARA HF.

Compatibility

For the best chance of this working, we recommend using the latest version of Switchroot L4T Ubuntu Noble, which is currently version 5.1.2 Ubuntu Noble.
VARA HF will run on L4T Ubuntu ARM64.

Install Pi-Apps

Pi-Apps is a free tool that makes it incredibly easy to install the most useful programs on your Nintendo Switch with just a few clicks.

Open a terminal and run this command to install Pi-Apps:

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Botspot/pi-apps/master/install | bash

Feel free to check out the Pi-Apps source code here: https://github.com/Botspot/pi-apps

Install VARA HF

Now that you have Pi-Apps installed, it is time to install VARA HF.
First launch Pi-Apps from your start menu:

Then click on the Engineering category.

Now scroll down to find VARA HF in the list.

Just click Install and Pi-Apps will install VARA HF for you!

Pi-Apps is a free and open source tool made by Botspot and other contributors. Find out more at https://pi-apps.io