diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS index 04ec0f359..4fb665223 100644 --- a/NEWS +++ b/NEWS @@ -13,6 +13,98 @@ Copyright 2001 - 2019 by Joe Taylor, K1JT. + Release: WSJT-X 2.2.0-rc1 + May 10, 2020 + ------------------------- + +WSJT-X 2.2.0-rc1 is a beta-quality release candidate for a program +upgrade that provides a number of new features and capabilities. These +include: + + - Improvements to the decoders for five modes: + + FT4: Corrected bugs that prevented AP decoding and/or multi-pass + decoding in some circumstances. The algorithm for AP + decoding has been improved and extended. + + FT8: Decoding is now spread over three intervals. The first + starts at t = 11.8 s into an Rx sequence and typically yields + around 85% of the possible decodes for the sequence. You + therefore see most decodes much earlier than before. A second + processing step starts at 13.5 s, and the final one at 14.7 s. + Overall decoding yield on crowded bands is improved by 10% or + more. (Systems with receive latency greater than 0.2 s will see + smaller improvements, but will still see many decodes earlier + than before.) + + JT4: Formatting and display of Averaged and Deep Search decodes + has been cleaned up and made consistent with other modes. + Together with JT65 and QRA64, JT4 remains one of the digital + modes widely for EME and other extreme weak-signal work on + microwave bands. + + JT65: Many improvements for Averaged and Deep Search decodes and + their display to the user. These improvements are particularly + important for EME on VHF and UHF bands. + + WSPR: Significant improvements have been made to the WSPR + decoder's sensitivity, its ability to cope with many signals in + a crowded sub-band, and its rate of undetected false decodes. + We now use up to three decoding passes. Passes 1 and 2 use + noncoherent demodulation of single symbols and allow for + frequency drifts up to ±4 Hz in a transmission. Pass 3 assumes + no drift and does coherent block detection of up to three + symbols. It also applies bit-by-bit normalization of the + single-symbol bit metrics, a technique that has proven helpful + for signals corrupted by artifacts of the subtraction of + stronger signals and also for LF/MF signals heavily contaminated + by lightning transients. With these improvements the number of + decodes in a crowded WSPR sub-band typically increases by 10 to + 15%. + + - New format for "EU VHF Contest" Tx2 and Tx3 messages + + When "EU VHF Contest" is selected, the Tx2 and Tx3 messages + (those conveying signal report, serial number, and 6-character + locator) now use hashcodes for both callsigns. This change is + NOT backward compatible with earlier versions of _WSJT-X_, so + all users of EU VHF Contest messages should be sure to upgrade + to versiion 2.2.0. + + - Accessibility + + Keyboard shortcuts have been added as an aid to accessibility: + Alt+R sets Tx4 message to RR73, Ctrl+R sets it to RRR. + + As an aid for partial color-blindness, the "inverted goal posts" + marking Rx frequency on the Wide Graph's frequency scale are now + rendered in a darker shade of green. + + - Minor enhancements and bug fixes + + "Save None" now writes no .wav files to disk, even temporarily. + + An explicit entry for "WW Digi Contest" has been added to + "Special operating activities" on the "Settings | Advanced" tab. + + Contest mode FT4 now always uses RR73 for the Tx4 message. + + The Status bar now displays the number of decodes found in the + most recent Rx sequence. + +Release candidate WSJT-X 2.2.0-rc1 will be available for beta-testing +for one month starting on May 10, 2020. We currently plan a General +Availability (GA) release of WSJT-X 2.2.0 on June 1, 2020. + +For those looking even farther ahead: We are well along in the +development of two new modes designed for the LF and MF bands. One +mode is for WSPR-like activity and one for making 2-way QSOs. Both +use Low-density Parity Check (LDPC) codes, 4-GFSK modulation, and +two-minute T/R sequences. The QSO mode reaches threshold SNR +sensitivity around -31 dB on the AWGN channel, and the WSPR-like mode +better than -32 dB. + + Release: WSJT-X 2.1.1 November 25, 2019 --------------------- diff --git a/Release_Notes.txt b/Release_Notes.txt index 05b04d40e..240960a43 100644 --- a/Release_Notes.txt +++ b/Release_Notes.txt @@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ Copyright 2001 - 2020 by Joe Taylor, K1JT. + Release: WSJT-X 2.2.0-rc1 - May 10, 2019 + May 10, 2020 ------------------------- WSJT-X 2.2.0-rc1 is a beta-quality release candidate for a program diff --git a/Versions.cmake b/Versions.cmake index cf6664e14..987af3fc0 100644 --- a/Versions.cmake +++ b/Versions.cmake @@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ set (WSJTX_VERSION_MAJOR 2) set (WSJTX_VERSION_MINOR 2) set (WSJTX_VERSION_PATCH 0) -set (WSJTX_RC 0) # release candidate number, comment out or zero for development versions +set (WSJTX_RC 1) # release candidate number, comment out or zero for development versions set (WSJTX_VERSION_IS_RELEASE 0) # set to 1 for final release build