Ham Radio Deluxe Newsletter for 27-May 2019

Software License Server Update

Panadapter Display Update

Greetings all.

The purpose of this email is to give you some status on a couple things. I'll try to be brief.

Software License Server (Ham Radio Deluxe v6.6)

Last month I sent a newsletter letting you know that we are in the process of replacing the software license key server. This is the platform that has been in-place since 2012 that delivers and activates your software activation keys.

We're in the final stages. We have just a couple steps left. Right now, we're testing the process of automatically creating keys for all existing customers. There's just one minor item left to resolve in this process and that piece is done.

When that is done, I will send an email to all newsletter subscribers with their new key and the instructions on how to use it. This will be done concurrently with the Ham Radio Deluxe v6.6 release. I still expect this to happen within the next week.

A few facts about this change:

• There is no cost for this change to registered users, because all registered users should be installing the most current versions anyway.
• Software Maintenance and Support expiration dates will be unchanged. Whatever your date is today will be the date you'll have with the new key.
• This new key should never change in the future. Software Maintenance and Support renewals will only change the expiration date.
• Those who are not "opted-in" to the newsletter won't receive a new key. We don't email customers without their permission. That said...
• There will be a website where customers can enter their email address and the key will be emailed to them.
• Old keys won't work on versions 6.6 and after.
• New keys won't work on versions prior to 6.6.
• Existing installations of Ham Radio Deluxe are not disabled by this change.
• You can install Ham Radio Deluxe on up to 5 different computers using your primary callsign. You can de-register a computer to move the install to a different computer.
• Attempts to reinstall the old keys after about 90 days for versions prior to 6.6 will fail. Then it's just a simple matter of downloading the latest version at that time and using the new key to install it.

Panadapter Display (Ham Radio Deluxe v6.7)

We have the panadapter display for capable ICOM radios ready for beta. We can't start beta on this until we get the above mentioned 6.6 release out.

This panadapter feature will be available to customers who are within their Software Maintenance and Support period.

To explain this a bit further, because these two topics are linked. It has always been our policy that:

• Customers never have to buy the software more than once.
• The initial purchase ($99.95 standard price) includes the software and 12 months of feature enhancements and direct access to technical support. Bug fixes are always free - for as long as it's technically feasible to do so. (This is why you should always install the most recent version).
• After that 12 months, customers have the option to renew Software Maintenance and Support for additional 12 month periods. This simply adds another 12 month period of feature enhancements and direct access to technical support. Because the software has already been purchased, these renewals are 50% of the full price (normally $49.95). This option can be exercised at the end of any previous Software Maintenance and Support period, or at any time in the future. They do not need to be consecutive periods of time.
• Once a feature is enabled through Software Maintenance and Support, it is enabled forever.
• Not all minor features are locked in this way. But all major features will be.
• The panadapter display is a major new feature.

Hopefully that isn't confusing. I'm trying to keep it as simple as I can.

We have plans to complete the panadapter display for capable Yaesu, Kenwood, Elecraft, and other radios. We also plan to add support for external panadapters, such as the SDRplay, for radios not capable out-of-the-box. This is one feature. It will be locked as a single feature.

We've got some other exciting things planned following the panadapter display. I'll save that for later.

Stay tuned!

73 de Mike, WA9PIE