Ham Radio Deluxe News: Ham Radio Deluxe Version 6.4.0.659 Released

Let it be known that the newest version of HRD is now 6.4.0.664

 

Yes sir. The 664 build is now available on our website at https://www.hamradiodeluxe.com

The build - tagged as "alpha" - is a full-blown tested release. The Orion rig control fix and a number of other things are in this release. Release notes (as always) are here:

https://bugs.hrdsoftwarellc.com/changelog_page.php?project_id=0

Also, let it be known that...

Since the first of the year, we've shipped five releases. Four of those have come within the last 60 days. In all, we have packed 104 development objects into these releases - almost all have been defects and enhancements from the backlog. (Compared to 42 development objects from the entire 2016 calendar year.) None of these defects have caused any new defects.

We are accelerating the pace. We are a "new company on a mission". We have added new development talent... new leadership with me and Randy... new systems... greatly improved processes for support and development.

By no measure are we the same company now that we were 8 months ago. It's exciting and you'll see exciting things to come.

Mike, WA9PIE

 

Is there any possibility that HRD will create their own version of JT Alert in the near future? If you did, it would be much better integrated with HRD Logger... just be sure and have a IM feature so you can message with other hams that would use HRD Alert.

I was playing with your Mapper and found it a bit cumbersome, any plans to work on it in the future? Also your Circle map? It would be great if we could zoom in on a particular area (if you can I couldn't figure out how) like just the US or some other area. Also it would be a nice feature to be able to click on an area and have the AZ and distance come up.

I've given up on hoping to see JT65/JT9 in DM780 anytime before I hang up my headset, but since I am mostly on JT65/JT9, FT8, MSK144 or one of the modes found in WSJT-X, I find that I do not use HRD enough to renew my two licenses. I would though if the parts I do use (HDR mainly) and some of the other features mentioned above were in it. It would be nice if I could use the rig control of HRD with WSJT-X so I could control my radios remotely using Teamviewer, but I can't start up HRD when WSJT-X is active because of a port conflict. If I could use HRD with it, I could then control power, frequency, split and all of the other nice features of DRD rig control.

I know we can't have everything in one package (and be able to afford it even if it was possible) but it would be really nice to have a lot more modes available within HRD.

Mike

 

Quite refreshing to have a conversation about NEW things... rather than complaints about things not working... or crashing. That's a very good sign.

Re: Replacement for JT Alert... we've discussed it. I'd much rather integrate with existing things where it makes sense.

Re: Mapper... there are a few things I'd like to do with it. Even I don't see much utility in it as it is. But the kinds of things you're suggesting are among them.

Re: JT65/9 in DM-780... this comes up rather often after someone promised it a few years ago. Without going into detail, Dr. Taylor asked us to take a different path to protect his intellectual property and we're honoring his request. I'd like to think we can build it the future. As for me, I'm not going to make any promises. It's a complex thing... but one we absolutely want to do.

What I really really want to do is continue working through the existing backlog of bugs and enhancements - many of which have been out there since the last versions that Simon coded. This work activity is accelerating in a meaningful way. I want those who "gave up" years ago to know that "we're a very different company" and we're absolutely serious about improving the quality at a rapid pace.

Mike wa9pie

 

JTAlert v2.10.0 now supports v6 again. It isn't permanent and is designed to support the new FT8 mode, but at least it is something. The next JTAlert will once again not support HRD v6.

 

And the reason why i won't pay again anytime soon. JT modes are here, now, and we can't get support from our chosen logging program. I'm sorry, but I've been in business and I can't believe there isn't a way to work this out.

You won't even answer when people ask specifically "any support for JT modes?"

 

That's unfortunate. Our door is always open to Laurie.

Mike, wa9pie

 

Thanks for the reply, Mike, I appreciate it. I really would rather read about new things, bug fixes and hear others put out their ideas of what they would like to see (although the main one people ask for seems to be unobtainable anytime soon). I find that sometimes suggestions spark other suggestions and people that hadn't really thought about it find an idea is a good one and would like to see it too.

My opinion is though, that if HRD doesn't get into more of the modes that are growing more and more popular today, that no matter how many cool and fantastic features you add and how many bugs you squash, that you won't get the sales to support the level of support and improvements that you are indicating is being worked on. A lot of people buy HRD when they are first getting into digital and rig control, but how many soon find that what they want to do is only in other software with most of it free?

I'll keep my eyes open for future releases and if you fix, add or improve it in an area that justifies the renewal, I'll jump on it. Until then, I'll keep using WSJT-X, V6 HRD Logger and what ever version of JT-Alert that will work with the HRD Logger.

Mike

 

I do have the paid subscription and just upgraded to the latest version. After about 2 minutes my radio and computer loose communications. It will lock up any digital communications I may be doing at the time. Nothing else has changed, connections, settings, just the upgrade. Tried uninstalling the software. Windows can't find all the files to delete and I get error messages or HRD tries to reinstall itself but fails. I really like the software but not all the headaches it causes. Was a major pain to set up to work with my FT-450D and SCU-17. I may switch to FLdigi or something else.

 

I agree with everything you've said.

Getting these modes into HRD is a big objective for us. Until fairly recently, we had several things that either (a) caused a crash or (b) simply don't work as designed. It was imperative to get rid of the crashes (which we've done). We'll start to tackle a balance of these three areas - bugs, things that don't work right, and new features (like the modes you speak of). We realize that fixing bugs doesn't sell software... but leaving them in is a killer for sales. New features is what sells software. We've got some great things coming.

So again, it's a balance.

I'm always happy to hear your requests for features. Feel free to send them to support@hrdsoftwar

 

Well, you're the first person who's reported that they've had any trouble and we've had several thousand downloads thus far. It's likely something unique to your setup (particularly if the uninstall failed; this is indicative that something strange happened with previous installs). If you'd like to have one of the folks on our team take a look, let us know.

Mike, wa9pie

 

It is to bad that developers have to be that way. They are good with code, But not good at rebuilding burnt bridges.

Keep up the good work Mike.

 

Amen, brother! Guess that explains why I'm not a developer. I'm a bridge-builder.

 

To be h0nest folks, I'm mixed about JT and similar modes in DM780.

If it's really just about logging then adding JT and other weak signal modes to DM780 is a huge duplication of effort. Then there's the coordination of changes in releases and timing. Different developers and applications would have to "converge" on priorities and actually collaborate. Sounds easy.... but it isn't. With these new digital modes coming so relatively fast and popular, HRD needs to figure something out. Clearly the best option is to work things out with Laurie. Fingers crossed....

There are other smaller things DM780 integration could do like Rotor Headings base on a call lookup that would be nice to integrate with JT/WS modes. The required interfaces should already exist.

I was reminded of the rotor headings when one of the recent releases of HRD Rotator made the program completely unusable. I swapped back to use PSTrotatorAZ and suddenly my rotor started working with WSJT-X again! So I'm pretty much down to using HRD for just rig control for a few other apps. I'm really not a fan of Omni-Rig. I appreciate the offering but it lacks responsiveness compared to HRD Rig Control. For me and HRD it's been sort of a "Death of a thousand cuts!". As other software integrates better, I just find myself not using HRD as much. Now almost not at all.

I hope you get it figured out Mike. Good luck!

Ed
WD4ED

 

Any plans for an app that works on some of the mobile devices?