WSJT-X version 2.6.0 now is available in general release and can be downloaded from the sourceforge.net repository.
What’s new in WSJT-X Version 2.6
WSJT-X 2.6 implements new features supporting the ARRL International Digital Contest and its distance based scoring. The Call 1st checkbox has been replaced by a drop-down control offering CQ Max Dist as an alternative. A new window labeled Active Stations displays a list of received but unworked callsigns, sorted in decreasing order of potential contest points. With option CQ Max Dist selected, the program will select the reply to your CQ that yields the most contest points. You can click on a line in the Active Stations window to call that station.
Decoding performance for FT8 and Q65 has been improved in a variety of situations with available a priori (AP) information.
Echo mode now offers a Clear Avg button and produces reliable measurements of SNR even when Doppler spread is large. Its Monitor function can be used to measure SNR for a received unmodulated carrier such as a key-down test signal emitted by another station and reflected from the Moon, and also to measure Sun, Moon, and ground noise as aids for optimizing an EME station’s performance.
New buttons on the main window allow quick changes between modes FT4, FT8, MSK144, Q65, and JT65, and toggling FT8 Hound mode ON/OFF.
New convenience features allow Fox operators to react more quickly to particular QSO situations. A two-column table in Tab 2 provides an overview of the queue and of callsigns with QSOs in progress. Fox operator can change the ordering of callsigns in the queue, allowing reaction to changes in propagation. Fox now responds automatically for another two cycles to stations whose report has not been received, increasing the success rate for difficult QSOs.
The Working frequency table now offers save/restore capability and better handling of more than one frequency per mode-band combination. You can set preferred frequencies, and WSJT-X will select these when you change band or mode. You can label a tabled frequency with a description, for example a DXpedition callsign, and set Start and End date and time so the frequencies automatically appear and disappear from the displayed options. You can load a publicly available frequency table from a file, to easily make such DXpedition data available to the program.
Optional color highlighting is provided for specified DX Call and DX Grid, and for messages containing RR73 or 73.
New options are provided for writing to file ALL.TXT. You can request automatic starting of a new file every month or every year, and you can disable writing altogether.
Settings for T/R period and Submode are remembered by mode when you switch directly between modes: for example, MSK144-15, Q65-60A, or FST4-120.
Tx and Rx audio frequencies are remembered and restored when you return from a mode that sets a default frequency 1500 Hz (MSK144, FST4W, Echo, WSPR, FreqCal), then switching back to FT4, FT8, Q65, FST4, or JT65.
Rig control is provided for some new radios, and bug fixes for controlling others.
New features in MAP65 (available for Windows only) include an aid for measuring antenna pointing errors and an ability to read the file wsjtx.log (kept by WSJT-X) to recognize EME contest dupes. In addition, MAP65 now sends additional information to file azel.dat and offers optional digital scaling of input I/Q data
About WSJT-X
WSJT-X is a computer program designed to facilitate basic amateur radio communication using very weak signals. The first four letters in the program name stand for “Weak Signal communication by K1JT,” while the suffix “-X” indicates that WSJT-X started as an extended branch of an earlier program, WSJT, first released in 2001. Bill Somerville, G4WJS, Steve Franke, K9AN, and Nico Palermo, IV3NWV, have been major contributors to development of WSJT-X since 2013, 2015, and 2016, respectively.
Note about WSJT-X official web site:
WSJT-X version 2.6.0 can be easily downloaded from the sourceforce.net web site. During the past weeks the official website has been reported to be down due to maintenance activities.