Move unversioned release notice texts into NEWS file

Merged from the wsjtx-1.5 branch.




git-svn-id: svn+ssh://svn.code.sf.net/p/wsjt/wsjt/branches/wsjtx@5329 ab8295b8-cf94-4d9e-aec4-7959e3be5d79

NEWS

@@ -10,7 +10,256 @@
  \$$      \$$  \$$$$$$   \$$$$$$     \$$        \$$   \$$
                                                          
                                                          
+Copyright 2001 - 2015 by Joe Taylor, K1JT.
+
+
+WSJT-X v1.5.0 Release Notice
+============================
+
+Decoder Performance Improvements
+--------------------------------
+
+The most notable change in v1.5.0 is improved speed and quality of the
+JT9 and JT65 decoders.  Algorithms have been fine-tuned, and advantage
+is taken of the multiple CPUs  found on most modern computers. Overall
+speedup factors of  three or more have been attained  since the v1.4.0
+release and more signals are being successfully decoded as well.
+
+For  those  interested, here's  a  summary  of  speed tests  of  three
+benchmark  versions  of  WSJT-X,  based on  reading  and  decoding  an
+identical  set of  10,682 *.wav  files.   The files  were recorded  on
+various bands from 160 m to 10 m; the number of decodable JT65 signals
+is typically about  5 times the number of JT9  signals.  For each test
+the program was set to "JT9+JT65"  mode with "Deepest" selected on the
+*Decode* menu.   Other setup parameters  were identical in  all cases.
+The test  computer runs Windows 7  and has an Intel  i5-2500 processor
+with 4 CPUs.
+
+Columns  labeled "JT9"  and "JT65"  in  the following  table give  the
+number of decoded signals in each  mode.  Numbers in the "Time" column
+are total  processing time  in seconds,  and columns  labaled "Factor"
+give ratios of the corresponding numbers, relative to WSJT-X v1.3.
+
+Program Version  JT9 Factor   JT65 Factor   Time Factor
+-------------------------------------------------------
+v1.3 r3673      7691  1.000  40831  1.000  14061  1.00
+v1.4.0          7693  1.000  41796  1.024  13320  1.06
+v1.5.0-rc1      8024  1.043  43946  1.076   4224  3.32
+
+On the  benchmark computer the  decoder in  v1.5.0-rc1 is more  than 3
+times faster than the ones in  program releases v1.3 r3673 and v1.4.0.
+At the  same time, the number  of decoded signals has  increased by as
+much as 7.6%.
+
+Users will notice another consequence  of taking advantage of multiple
+CPUs.  JT65  and JT9 decodes in  dual "JT9+JT65" mode are  now done in
+parallel, so decodes  are delivered to the Rx activity  window as they
+are decoded rather than finishing the current mode before starting the
+other mode.   Decoding at the  QSO frequency is still  given priority,
+but it may not be the first decode displayed because the first decodes
+of the other mode may be produced more quickly.  Dual mode decodes are
+now interleaved in the Rx activity window.
+
+
+UDP Broadcast
+-------------
+
+WSJT-X v1.5.0 introduces a new facility that broadcasts status, decode
+and logged  QSO information  via the  network. Although  this facility
+gives  no obvious  change  to the  application other  than  a few  new
+settings options, it should allow cooperating applications to interact
+with WSJT-X  far more smoothly  than the current file  based mechanism
+which  is prone  to  contention.  The file  access  contention can  be
+detrimental to both WSJT-X and the cooperating application whereas the
+new broadcast mechanism will not.
+
+Currently the only only cooperating application we know of is JTAlertX
+by Laurie VK3AMA and that currently  uses the file based mechanism. We
+hope that  Laurie will try the  new mechanism but we  will continue to
+provide the file based mechanism as well. We also know of at least one
+other application in development for the Apple Mac platform to provide
+similar features to  JTAlertX. A contribution for Linux  would also be
+most welcome.
+
+
+Rig Control
+-----------
+
+This continues  to be  an area  of development.  There are  still many
+untested combinations of equipment since we  have to wait until a user
+tries WSJT-X for the first time with each combination before we can be
+sure that any defects have been  removed. Hundreds of hours of testing
+have been done and we thank those who have reported issues and offered
+their time to test fixes where necessary.
+
+
+FlexRadio & HPSDR Users
+-----------------------
+
+Currently the  Hamlib library that  we use  for direct CAT  control of
+your  rigs does  not  provide  a fully  functioning  driver for  these
+radios. Instead the TS-2000 emulation mode  of these SDRs must be used
+as the Hamlib driver for this  has tweaks added to cooperate correctly
+with SDRs.  Version  v1.4 of WSJT-X did not work  with these radios in
+TS-2000 emulation mode  and at the time we were  not informed of that,
+it  appears to  have become  common  knowledge that  using the  TS-480
+emulation mode was  the correct procedure, this  is incorrect although
+it did work at the time.  The  TS-480 emulation may cease to work in a
+future version because it  is due to a defect in  Hamlib that it works
+at all. The TS-2000 emulation mode is the correct selection and should
+be used with these radios.
+
+
+Generated Messages for Type 1 and Type 2 Compound Callsigns
+-----------------------------------------------------------
+
+This is  a complex  area because  it requires  special action  by both
+parties in a  QSO since the automatically  generated standard messages
+are not always suitable. We have tried to improve the standard message
+generation and recognition  along with better recognition  of own call
+messages. As before it is imperative that operators take note of their
+QSO partners responses  and be prepared to manually  edit replies when
+communicating with compound callsign stations.
+
+
                                                          
+
+WSJT-X v1.4.0 Release Notice
+============================
+
+Migration of User Files
+-----------------------
+
+This  release includes  a new  install mechanism  that separates  user
+files  from installation  and  program files.  This  means that  going
+forward  upgrades  will be  seamless  with  user files  preserved  and
+automatically  carried forward  without  user  intervention. For  this
+release only it  is necessary to move your user  files manually if you
+wish to  preserve them. The locations  of user files have  changed and
+now vary depending  on the installation platform.  The following notes
+are intended  to guide you  in moving your user  files, this is  a one
+time action.
+
+On Microsoft Windows:
+
+The  new  location  for  user  files is  %LOCALAPPDATA%  which  is  an
+environment variable defined automatically by Windows, you may use the
+environment variable  any place  where a file  path would  normally be
+used e.g.   in the location entry  bar in Windows File  Explorer or in
+arguments to command line programs from a Command Prompt window.
+
+On Linux and other Unix systems:
+
+The new location for user files ~/.local/share
+
+On Mac:
+
+The new location for user files is ~/Library/Application\ Support
+
+In all cases  the files are stored in a  subdirectory which by default
+is WSJT-X
+
+In the case of users who run  multiple instances of WSJT-X on a single
+computer   there  are   different   user  file   locations  for   each
+instance. The non-default locations are in sibling subdirectories each
+suffixed by  the rig name  argument passed  to WSJT-X at  startup (See
+Running Multiple Instances below).
+
+The user  files that you  may wish to  migrate from older  versions of
+WSJT-X are:
+
+  ALL.TXT
+  CALL3.TXT
+  wsjtx.log
+  wsjtx_log.adi
+
+The format of each  of these files is unchanged in  WSJT-X v1.4 so all
+that is  needed is to  copy them to the  new location.
+
+For example on  Microsoft Windows assuming a  WSJT-X v1.3 installation
+in C:\WSJT\wsjtx-1.3, using a command prompt window:
+
+  copy C:\WSJT\wsjtx-1.3\ALL.TXT %LOCALAPPDATA%\WSJT-X\
+  copy C:\WSJT\wsjtx-1.3\CALL3.TXT %LOCALAPPDATA%\WSJT-X\
+  copy C:\WSJT\wsjtx-1.3\wsjtx.log %LOCALAPPDATA%\WSJT-X\
+  copy C:\WSJT\wsjtx-1.3\wsjtx_log.adi %LOCALAPPDATA%\WSJT-X\
+
+On Linux:
+
+  cp ~/wsjtx-1.3/ALL.TXT ~/.local/share/WSJT-X/
+  cp ~/wsjtx-1.3/CALL3.TXT ~/.local/share/WSJT-X/
+  cp ~/wsjtx-1.3/wsjtx.log ~/.local/share/WSJT-X/
+  cp ~/wsjtx-1.3/wsjtx_log.adi ~/.local/share/WSJT-X/
+
+On Mac:
+
+  cp ~/wsjtx-1.3/ALL.TXT ~/Library/Application\ Support/WSJT-X/
+  cp ~/wsjtx-1.3/CALL3.TXT ~/Library/Application\ Support/WSJT-X/
+  cp ~/wsjtx-1.3/wsjtx.log ~/Library/Application\ Support/WSJT-X/
+  cp ~/wsjtx-1.3/wsjtx_log.adi ~/Library/Application\ Support/WSJT-X/
+
+If you have a customized cty.dat  file installed, then that too should
+be copied to the new directory.
+
+
+Settings
+--------
+
+WSJT-X v1.4 introduces a new settings  regime. There is no facility to
+migrate  settings  from  prior  versions  and  copying  the  wsjtx.ini
+settings file to  the new user files location will  not carry over any
+useful information.   The new settings  dialog is very  different from
+prior versions but it is intuitive and will not take long to configure
+for you equipment and preferences.
+
+
+Running Multiple Instances
+--------------------------
+
+For users  with multiple radios  or multi-receiver SDRs  WSJT-X offers
+multiple  instance  support.   Prior  to  WSJT-X  v1.4  this  involved
+installing the application multiple  times in separate locations, this
+is  no longer  necessary and  multiple instances  MUST be  run from  a
+single installation. This is possible  as user and other writable data
+files are stored in a unique location for each instance.
+
+WSJT-X  has  a  new  command line  option  that  coordinates  multiple
+instances called --rig-name (-r for  short) which allow you to specify
+a unique key for each instance.  If no --rig-name option is supplied a
+default  location is  used  for  writable files  as  specified in  the
+Migrating of User  Files section above. If a key  is provided then the
+same key  must be used  every time that instance  is started so  as to
+associate it with the correct data files.
+
+If the  unique key were ft-857  then you must start  WSJT-X using that
+key e.g.
+
+   wsjtx --rig-name=ft-857
+
+and the data files will be stored in a directory "WSJT-X - ft-857" for
+example on Windows:
+
+   "%LOCALAPPDATA%\WSJT-X - ft-857\"
+
+Multiple instance support  may also be used if more  than one operator
+uses the same computer with their own call signs, or a single operator
+who  operates  in multiple  locations  with  different call  signs  or
+wishing to maintain separate log files for each location.
+
+
+Known Issues
+------------
+
+Editing station details in the  frequencies tab of the settings window
+may not  save the changes to  the settings file. Updates  will show in
+the settings tables until application exit  but may not be used by the
+application.  A workaround  is  available, delete  the  whole row  and
+re-enter  the details  rather  than editing  individual fields.   This
+defect is resolved in the next release (v1.5).
+
+
+
+
 			WSJT-X ChangeLog
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 October 7, 2013: Version 1.2.1, r3590