🔧 What's new since 5.8.0 (development / test build) #502
Replies: 4 comments 8 replies
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Hello armel， The V5.8 is great! Thanks for your outstanding work. The new version surprisingly introduced the foxhunt feature—dropping such a major update quietly in the summer was totally unexpected, especially since I recall you saying there wouldn't be any big updates, haha. Also, I noticed the change regarding the scan list name display. To be honest, I think it might still need a bit of polish. When the scan has started and the counter is already running, the progress bar corresponding to the counter should ideally work alongside it. Currently, it gets directly overwritten and then reappears, giving it a feeling of being a few seconds late. I don't have any new ideas to offer, just wanted to give some personal feedback. Thanks again. Quansheng should seriously be paying you a fortune. Honal，BG7OPP |
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Hello Honal,
Ok fixed. Could you please test the new development version ?
Quansheng is certainly aware of the impact my work has had on the sales of their radios. If it has benefited them, then I'm happy about that. But it's better not to expect anything in return. As for me, I've never asked them for anything, except for a few radios so I could carry out my development work. And that's perfectly fine. Seeing so many people enjoy this firmware, watching the community embrace it, improve it, and share their feedback is already a great reward. That's exactly what open source is all about. Thank you, Armel, F4HWN |
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Hi armel, Thank you for your highly efficient development work. I just tested the new dev build, and the updated display format definitely fixes the issue. However, the display time for the scan list name feels just a bit too long. It slightly disrupts the otherwise fluid user experience and might test some users' patience. I apologize for bringing up another issue without offering a solid idea for a fix alongside it. In my daily use, I trigger the scan with the F2 key rather than long-pressing the * key. Intuitively, it would be great if pressing the key down displayed the scan list name, holding it kept the name visible, and releasing it instantly started the scan. Unfortunately, since this key supports dual custom functions, this approach would end up triggering the long-press F2 action instead. So, this idea seems unworkable for now. Hoanl，BG7OPP |
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Hi Hoanl, Thanks for the feedback. Regarding the scan list name display time, I’m inclined to keep it at two seconds. Timing preferences tend to vary widely, what feels too long to some users will feel too short to others, and two seconds seems like a reasonable compromise. As for displaying the name while F2 is held and starting the scan upon release: as you pointed out, this would conflict with the key’s second customizable long-press function. Unfortunately, that approach isn’t feasible with the current key behavior. Armel, F4HWN |
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Thankyou for the Fox hunt changes. We have been showing many club hams the Fox features and all are excited to buy their own radios so they can load your program. We have a local event with 200 scouts in Mid September, followed by Jamboree of the Air (JOTA) in October, which is a worldwide activity. Peter VK4TAA |
Thank you Peter ! I’ve spent quite a bit of time testing and playing with the Fox Hunt feature in the field myself, and I’m very happy with the results so far. Knowing that it’s now being demonstrated to other radio amateurs, and especially that it could be used with 200 Scouts and during JOTA, is exactly the kind of real-world use I had in mind when working on it. I’d be very interested to hear how it performs during those events, especially with people discovering radio direction finding for the first time. Have fun with the hunts, and good luck hiding the fox! Armel, F4HWN |
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Hello, The stable 5.9.0 release is now available. Armel, F4HWN |
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The best firmware I know. Unfortunately, there is one BUT. I’m still hoping for the implementation of programmable scan ranges, so that when doing a spectrum scan of, for example, the Airband or PMR frequencies, I don’t always have to enter the scan range manually. Some other firmware versions have implemented this feature really well. But I have the utmost respect for you for investing so much of your time and knowledge in this project during your free time — and even while on your summer vacation — to provide us with such an amazing firmware. My sincere thanks for all your hard work! |
Thank you. For my own use, I’ve stored several band limits in memory channels, for example PMR, Airband, UHF, VHF, etc., with the lower frequency in one channel and the upper frequency in the next one. They are obviously consecutive. I then simply select those two limits on VFO A and VFO B, long-press 1 to copy the frequencies into VFO mode, and start a Scan Range. It’s obviously a little less direct, but in practice it only takes a few seconds and is perfectly manageable. Armel, F4HWN |
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Merci pour toutes ces nouveautés. Les catégories Menu c'est un vrai plus, c'est vrai que 71 Réglages qui commençaient à être dans le désordre c'était pas toujours pratique 👍 Top pour l'atténuation supplémentaire en Fox Hunt à l'approche de la sonde 👍👍👍 Concernant le scan, avec ce changement on perd quelques secondes de scan si on le lance un peu dans l'urgence pour choper un canal, plutôt une régression pour mon utilisation perso. Nickel la fonction Action Picker 👍Est-ce qu'il y a la possibilité de mémoriser la dernière action sélectionnée lorsque l'on redémarre la radio (actuellement revient toujours sur la lampe) Merci encore pour ton travail 👍👍👍👍👍👍 |
Merci.
L'affichage dure 2 secondes. Il faut bien que les utilisateurs aient le temps de lire. Et je t'assure que si tu perds quelque chose, sur un temps aussi court, ce sera juste un coup de PTT ou une perturbation. Ensuite tu ne changes pas de liste en permanence non plus. Bref, il en faut pour tout le monde. Et par expérience, TOUTES LES TEMPORISATIONS sont toujours trop courtes pour certains et trop longues pour d'autres. C'est toujours ainsi depuis 3 ans que je développe ces firmwares 👍Le consensus est quasi impossible, je le crains, sur ce type de question. Armel, F4HWN |
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Tout à fait il y a toujours ceux qui trouvent çà trop long et les autres trop court ;-) La version 5.8.0 me convenait de ce coté là, on voyait le nom de liste de scan apparaitre 2 secondes, mais le scan fonctionnait instantanément en arrière plan, çà ne m'a jamais perturbé niveau affichage. J'aimais bien quand tout était instantané (j'aime pas "perdre" du temps). Je comprend cependant ta logique ;-) Merci |
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🔧 What's new since 5.8.0 (development / test build)
Hi everyone! A few additions to try out in the latest dev build. Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the time to test it 🙏
🎚️ BYP and BYP+ (Fox Hunt mode)
Two new steps at the end of the Fox Hunt attenuation ladder, beyond the
ATTstages (0 / -6 / -15 / -27 dB). WhereATTacts on the PGA stage, BYP and then BYP+ additionally cut the front-end (LNA) gain. Why it matters: on the final approach, right next to a strong fox, the receiver saturates and the S-meter "flattens out" — you lose the gradient you need to home in. Stepping down to BYP / BYP+ brings the front-end back into its linear range and the gradient returns for those last few meters. (The dBm reading drops sharply when it kicks in — that's intentional, it re-centers the S-meter.)🔒 Keypad lock in Fox Hunt and Beacon
A long-press on F (~0.5 s) locks/unlocks the keypad, exactly like the gesture on the main screen — a padlock appears in the status bar. Once locked, every key is ignored, except the long-press F (to unlock) and the attenuation arrows (essential for the final approach). Why? In ARDF, the radio is sometimes carried by a running child: an accidental press could kick you out of the mode or change a setting mid-hunt. The lock prevents that (thanks to discussion #498).
🛠️ Sleep / auto power-off (SetOff) fix in Fox Hunt / Beacon
The
SetOffauto power-off was misbehaving in these modes: since the receiver is listening continuously and keeps re-arming the countdown, instead of powering off it ejected you back to the VFO in the middle of a hunt. Now Fox Hunt and Beacon ignore SetOff and keep running until you press EXIT.📂 Menu system overhaul (Experimental)
The menu now has 2 levels: first a list of categories (Channels, Scan, Keys, Power, Display, Timers, Audio, Radio, DTMF, Service…), then the settings within the chosen category. Good news for veterans: the "All" category is still the original flat list, unchanged — same numbers, same muscle memory, and
MENU+ number still jumps straight to a setting. It's pure navigation: no new settings, nothing stored in EEPROM, so no reset when you flash it.📻 Scan list name display — smoother now
When you switch the active scan list mid-scan (channel mode), the
SCAN LIST xxxname pops up for ~2 s. Until now the scan kept running behind that message, so when the progress bar came back it had already jumped ahead by dozens of channels — it felt like the gauge was lagging a few seconds behind. Now the scan holds on the current channel while the name is shown, then resumes exactly where it left off: the bar picks back up seamlessly, no jump. Frequency/range scans are unaffected.🎛️ Action Picker for F1 / F2
Need more actions without sacrificing your usual shortcuts? Press F + long F1 or F + long F2 to open a compact action picker directly from the main screen. Use UP/DOWN to browse, MENU to run the selected action, or EXIT/F to cancel. Each key remembers its own last selection independently in RAM, while the existing short-press functions remain unchanged. The picker keeps the normal status bar visible and automatically closes after 5 seconds of inactivity, as soon as reception starts, or when PTT is pressed. No extra configurable action is added, and nothing is stored in EEPROM.
📻 FM scan no longer interrupted by channel activity
While the FM radio is scanning, incoming traffic on the main VFO is now ignored, preventing VHF/UHF signals from repeatedly stopping the scan. Normal FM listening remains unchanged: once scanning has stopped, channel reception can still interrupt FM as before. Thanks to @EthanYan6 for the contribution in #503; the fix has been cherry-picked and will be included in the next release.
💬 Feel free to drop your feedback right under this thread! It helps me a ton. And above all, let me know how the new menu system feels to you: it's a real change in ergonomics, and I need to hear how it works out in day-to-day use.
Armel, F4HWN
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