Ham Radio Deluxe Release Announcement | v6.5.0.196

Release Announcement for Ham Radio Deluxe v6.5.0.196

The 6.5.0.196 version of Ham Radio Deluxe is now available for download. This is the second release of 2019. Please download it from the Download pages on our website at:

www.HamRadioDeluxe.com

This may be a longer release announcement, because there's a ton going on here. I would encourage you to read this note in its entirety.

In this release of Ham Radio Deluxe, there are 97 individual updates to the software (plus 4 duplicates, 102 total). By application, there are 26 in Logbook, 33 in Rig Control, 23 in Rotator, 13 in Satellite Tracking, and 7 in other areas (DM-780, setup, etc). Two developers simultaneously contributed to this work.

We resolved the three issues that were reported with the 6.5.0.183 release - SAMCD error, installer doesn't complete and left HRD partially installed, and we restored the 3rd party serial port capability.

In Rig Control, there are updates for the Yaesu FT-875D, FT-891, FT-897, FT-920, FT-1000MP, FTDX-1200, and FTDX-3000; updates for the ICOM IC-7300, IC-7610, and IC-7700; and for the Kenwood TS-990.

In the Rotator application, we have validated changes for the Portable Rotation rotors (thanks, Will), Yaesu GS-232A/B, and HyGain DCU. We have un-validated changes for the M2 rotor family (feedback from M2 users welcome).

In the Satellite Tracking, we've fixed about half the things in the bug list for this application. I'm excited to begin trying it out with life satellite QSOs.

In Logbook, we resolved several rig control issues where mode was not tracked when clicking on spots. You can now save column widths in the DX Cluster. More performance enhancements were completed.

We made changes to enhance the security of Ham Radio Deluxe. We now conform to the direct connection specifications for QRZ XML lookups.

The full release notes can be found here:

https://ReleaseNotes.HamRadioDeluxe.com

Question you may have: Even if you're not interested in the 188 improvements made to Ham Radio Deluxe over the last 38 days, why should you go ahead and install this version? The answer is easy. This version is the most stable version of Ham Radio Deluxe ever produced. How do we know this? The number of errors collected by Microsoft on Ham Radio Deluxe have fallen to a number that is so low it's (what I call) "statistically insignificant."

IMPORTANT: All those who have purchased Ham Radio Deluxe at any time in the past should download and install this version in order to benefit from all bug fixes. You are entitled to them. Our clients who are covered by an active Software Maintenance and Support period are entitled to Feature Enhancements.

What's coming next?

In speaking with our developers, they tell me that the things that were causing errors or crashes have been eliminated (as far as we are able to measure). Now, we're getting down into some more complicated defects that - don't cause errors - but where the software is not doing what it was intended to do. And "now that the errors are out of the way, we can more clearly see where the software isn't doing what it is supposed to in some cases."

That said - we've got a known error that we found during this sprint that has to do with the way the callsign lookup sources are populating the ALE. We've fixed a few of these things. But we know that the lat/long & heading and distance for the rotor in the ALE is not correct. We're working on this now. (It's apparently been broken for a while and we didn't want to hold this release while we fix it, because there are so many valuable fixes already complete and tested.) But we'll be rewriting the callsign lookup logic soon.

We'll be adding some features into Logbook that eliminate some data entry errors that cause problems with these records when they're uploaded to LOTW. We're working on updating Satellite Tracking for a few radios that are not completely functional. We'll need to be able to log the sub-band (TX) VFO, which is a long-standing request.

We'll push forward on any Rotator and Satellite Tracking problems that come up. But more than half of them have been eliminated with this release.

[Editorial Note: Lots of folks are asking us when we'll support the IC-9700. That's a great question. As most of you know, it's not available in the USA right now. Dealers are taking orders. We're in the same line to receive one that you're all in. Once they're available, we'll need about six weeks with the radio to get it included in Ham Radio Deluxe. We're expecting to receive a loaner TS-890 soon.]

We'll be working on the panadapter display (so-called "waterfall") for ICOM radios. Then we'll begin working on supporting the panadapter display for other radios that have supportable capabilities.

Please watch these newsletters for updates. Pass these updates along to your friends and club members.

Newsletters will also be posted on our website's blog at:

https://www.HamRadioDeluxe.com/blog

Thank you es 73 de Mike, WA9PIE
HRD Software, LLC