Documentation Amateur Radio Beat

= Warning - Beat Converted =

chirp
chirp is an application for programming various radios. Frequencies, splits, tones, etc are entered in a spreadsheet-like form and downloaded to the radio. The radio memories may also be read. DStar features are supported. chirp is new to Fedora with this release.

fldigi
fldigi has been upgraded to 3.21.27 from 3.21.7. There are a large number of relatively minor (to most people) changes. Some items include:
 * Additional Olivia choices
 * Spot notifier
 * Improvements in the configuration dialogs
 * Ability to export the log as an ADIF
 * Interface with fllog
 * Many new and improved macros
 * Several improvements to CW operation
 * HamQTH lookup
 * Changes to the NBEMS directories for flmsg
 * Improvements in WeFAX
 * Contestia 64/1000
 * Many L10n updates

gnuradio
gnuradio has been upgraded from 3.4.0 to 3.5.1. Project site: http://www.gnuradio.org

hamlib
Fedora 17 includes hamlib (http://hamlib.sourceforge.net) ), upgrated to 1.2.15 from 1.2.14.

qrq

 * CW settings can be changed during attempts on the fly
 * Attempts can be aborted without aborting the whole program

qtel

 * Now possible to specify the mic and speaker audio devices separately.
 * Info/chat window split in two separate windows.
 * The charater encoding for chat messages is now possible to set in the settings dialog.
 * The VOX is now disabled by default.
 * The default audio device now is alsa:default.
 * Added support for using the Speex audio codec over EchoLink connections. This will only, at the moment, work when conneting to other SvxLink applications. For all other connections, the GSM audio codec is used.

splat

 * Supplemented Longley-Rice Irregular Terrain Propagation Model  (ITM v7.0) code with an improved Irregular Terrain with Obstructions Model (ITWOM v3.0) by Sid Shumate / Givens & Bell, Inc. that corrects multiple errors present in the original ITM code, and incorporates Radiative Transfer Engine (RTE) computations in the line-of-sight range.  The older ITM model used in previous releases of SPLAT! may be invoked by using the new -olditm command-line switch.
 * Introduced a new -sc command line option that provides contour smoothing.
 * Added path-loss/signal-strength color keys to GoogleEarth signal contour overlays.

svxlink-server

 * Added selective calling system Motorola QC2.
 * New feature: 1750Hz tone call muting. Use the 1750_MUTING configuration variable in a local receiver configuration section to enable this new feature. This feature was contributed by Adi / DL1HRC.
 * Added a QSO recorder feature that can record all traffic on the channel. The QSO recorder can be turned on and off using a DTMF command. New configuration variables: QSO_RECORDER_DIR and QSO_RECORDER_CMD.
 * The voice mail module now store the messages as WAV files. Old messages will have to be removed or converted into WAV files. Old filename format: YYYYMMDD_hhmmss_UUU{.subj,.mesg} New filename format: YYYYMMDD_hhmmss_UUU{_subj,_mesg}.wav
 * Voice mail messages are now time limited to a maximum time. Default is 10 seconds for the subject and two minutes for the message.
 * It is now possible to have a "local" subdirectory in the events.d directory where the TCL files in the "local" directory will override the TCL files in the events.d directory.
 * Added a threshold to the tone detector so that it is less prone to trigger on silence. This was a problem when using CTCSS squelch on a radio operated with closed squelch.
 * Implemented a signal level transmission mechanism based on multiple tones, one for each signal level step, in the high audio frequency spectrum (5.5 - 6.5kHz). This can be used for linking in remote receivers via RF but still measure the signal strength at the remote receiver site. To map the signal level to tone frequencies on the remote receiver side, either RemoteTrx can be used or an Atmel AVR ATmega8 can be used for a more compact solution. The AVR microcontroller solution take a signal level voltage and converts that to one of ten tones which should be overlayed on the link audio. Note: Tone transmission in RemoteTrx will only work if it has been compiled in 16kHz mode. This is due to the high tone frequencies used.
 * New feature: Tell repeater users that are not identifying to identify themselvs. The time to wait for an identification, after the repeater has been activated, is set using the IDENT_NAG_TIMEOUT configuration variable. A valid identification is considered to be a transmission longer than the time set by the IDENT_NAG_MIN_TIME configuration variable. We don't know if it's really an identification but it's the best we can do.
 * New feature: The repeater can be told to activate again if the squelch openes within a specified time from repeater close. Use the new configuration variable OPEN_ON_SQL_AFTER_RPT_CLOSE to set this up.
 * The TX_CTCSS feature have now been extended so that CTCSS tone can be transmitted if there is incoming traffic from another logic core (LOGIC), a module (MODULE) or if an announcement is being played (ANNOUNCEMENT). Previously there were only two choices, to send CTCSS tone when the squelch was open (repeater use) or to always do it.
 * New module, PropagationMonitor. The propagation monitor module receive emails from vhfdx.net (or gooddx.net) and announce propagation alerts on the air using voice messages.
 * New module, MetarInfo. Get METAR (weather) information from predefined ICAO locations and announce the information on the air. Usually airports give them out.
 * A hamming window was added to the tone detector and DTMF decoder to improve out-of-band audio rejection.
 * Now possible to issue commands to the core and to other modules even when another module is active. This is achieved by prefixing the command with a "*". If for example the EchoLink module is active and you want to check if there are any voice mails available the command to issue could look like this: *3001#.
 * The "connect by callsign" command changed from "*" to "6*".
 * The help module can now accept commands when not active. It will read back help for the given module ID. For example the command 01# will play the help message for the parrot module.
 * The parrot module can now accept commands when not active. The only thing it can do is to read back the entered digits. For example the command 1123# will make the parrot module say "one two three".
 * The EchoLink module can now accept commands when not active. The only command supported at the moment is "2", reading back the local node ID. Example: 22#
 * Now users can check if there are any voice mail messages available without first logging in. Idea from Martin Burkhardt. The command to use is so if the module id for voice mail is 3 and your user id is 001, the command to check if there are any voice mails available is 3001#.
 * The DTMF repeater module can now accept commands when not active. It will play back the entered digits. For example the command 4123# will play the 1, 2 and 3 DTMF digits.
 * A macro command may now be specified without a module name. The colon separator is still required though. If no module name is specified, the command is sent in to the DTMF handler without activating a module first.
 * It now is possible to include a hash mark in a macro command by specifying 'H' in the command string. The 'H' will be translated to a '#' by the command parser and not interpreted as "end of command". This can be of use if you for example want to transmit a DTMF # using the DTMF repeater module. The macro specification would look something like this: 10=412345H#. When macro 10 is activated the DTMF sequence 12345# will be transmitted.
 * Now possible to link more than one logic core together. The LOGIC1 and LOGIC2 configuration variables have been replaced with one configuration variable called CONNECT_LOGICS.
 * New config variable MUTE_TX_ON_RX for a NetUplink in RemoteTrx. This will stop the transmitter from transmitting if the squelch is open on the receiver.
 * Support for selcall activated functions added. New config variables: Logic/SEL5_MACRO_RANGE, RepeaterLogic/OPEN_ON_SEL5, LocalRx/SEL5_TYPE and LocalRx/SEL5_DEC_TYPE. Have a look in the svxlink.conf (5) manual page for more details.
 * New module SelCallEnc. This module is used to send selective calling sequences out on the frequency upon user request.
 * One RemoteTrx application can now be used to run more than one remote transceiver. Previously two RemoteTrx instances had to be run to support two transceivers. This required two sound cards to be used. Now only one sound card can be used to support two transceivers. Due to this change the configuration have changed a bit. To get everything right, backup your old remotetrx.conf configuration file and use the new default configuration file to start over. Manually move configuration values from your old configuration file to the new file, carefully reading the updated manual page, remotetrx.conf (5), to get everything right.
 * Now possible to set a PTT hangtime for the local tx type. This can be good to have on a link transmitter in combination with a tone squelch. When the transmitter is ordered to stop transmitting, the tone is immediately turned off, causing the squelch to close on the other side. Since the transmitter keeps transmitting for a while, no squelch tail will be heard.
 * The DTMF repeater module now wait until all announcements have been played before retransmitting the digits.
 * The EchoLink module can now use the Speex audio codec on connections between two SvxLink nodes which improves the audio quality a lot. Patch contributed by Steve / DH1DM.
 * Added a fallback repeater mode to the RemoteTrx which can be used if using it as both RX and TX for a repeater. If the network connection is lost to the repeater, the RemoteTrx activates a very basic repeater mode, essentially just connecting the RX to the TX.
 * Configuration variable VOX_LIMIT has been renamed to VOX_THRESH.
 * SvxLink system global configuration files are now by default stored in the /etc/svxlink directory.
 * New directory layout for event scripts and sound clips. The main event scripts are now stored in /usr/share/svxlink/events.d. The sound clip files are now stored in /usr/share/svxlink/sounds/ . TCL modules have been separated from the event handlers and are now stored in /usr/share/svxlink/modules.d
 * New configuration variable DEFAULT_LANG that points out the default language to use.
 * New squelch detector type: EVDEV. This squelch detector read events from a /dev/input/eventX device node. This can for example be of use if you have a USB audio device with some buttons on it. If you're in luck, it generates events when the buttons are pressed.

trustedqsl

 * When asking for the password to unlock a private key, say what callsign it's for.
 * Remember certificate requests and assist the user with importing the .tq6.
 * Prompt user to save their certificate after importing a .tq6 signed certificate.
 * Suppress display of superceded certificates, controlled by a tqslcert preference setting.
 * Fix windows wxWidgets crashes with several wizards (cert renew, new cert, etc.)
 * Add checkbox to allow bypassing state selection.
 * Fix crash on Windows when new certificate request wizard is started.
 * Added support for validating zone numbers and requiring them.
 * Allowed batch mode (-x) without displaying windows
 * When double-clicking an entry on the "Edit Station Locations" dialog, open that entry for edit, don't just close the modal dialog.
 * Change the "OK" button on the "Edit Station Locations" dialog to "Close" as that's what it does.
 * Update password dialogs to enable "enter" to activate when possible.
 * Add "-p " and "-o " arguments to tqsl.

xdemorse

 * Now uses ALSA sound interface instead of the older (and typically not working) OSS
 * Several changes to the transceiver CAT code to deal with error conditions better and to be enabled by the "Receive" button, so that CAT is enabled only when xdemorse is actually receiving Morse signals.
 * Increased the height of the 'scope' and waterfall displays to improve resolution.
 * Separated the 'Auto Speed' check-button into its own frame.
 * Changed the Mark/Space detection scheme to measuring the average value of the Goertzel detector's slope.