AB6A RigCtl 2.7

Mostly about a setup working without anyone having to diagnose it.

Finding Hamlib

A machine can carry more than one Hamlib — a working one, and an older
hand-installed copy whose library has since been removed. Whichever comes first
on PATH wins, and an app launched from Finder inherits a different PATH from a
terminal, so the same rig can work from a shell and fail from the app with
nothing to show for it.

• Each candidate is now run and asked its version, and the first that answers
  is used by absolute path. A broken copy earlier on PATH is simply skipped.
• If none works, the menu says so, the menu bar glyph turns into a red warning,
  and Start all is disabled rather than failing daemon by daemon.
• The location can be set — a Hamlib field in Configure, or hamlib_dir in
  the config file, shared with the CLI. A location that is set is authoritative:
  if it is wrong that is reported rather than papered over, and the message says
  which of the two problems it is.

Fixed

• "That radio is not connected" for a device saved with tty selected. The
  stored path was compared only against the call-out node, which it can never
  equal, so any device whose USB fingerprint did not resolve fell through. Fixed
  in the app and, separately, in the CLI — the first fix had missed it.
• The error now names what it looked for and what is actually attached.
• Editing in the CLI: backspace and arrow keys inserted control characters
  instead of editing, for want of readline.
• The configuration window's bottom margin — the buttons sat against the
  window edge.

New

• Test, in the configuration window, runs rigctl against the radio using
  the values currently in the fields, and says whether it answered. It offers to
  stop a running daemon first, since rigctl needs the serial port to itself.
• ab6a-rigctl check [name|all] validates a configuration end to end:
  resolves the device, checks the model, prints the exact command, starts the
  daemon if needed, asks the rig something, and puts everything back.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Not bundled. Tested against Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com — ab6a-rigctl version and ab6a-rigctl check all
between them say almost everything worth knowing.

AB6A RigCtl 2.6

New

• ab6a-rigctl check validates a configuration from scratch, rather than
  querying something already running — c in the interactive manager does the
  same.

  IC-7760 / main
   device    /dev/cu.usbmodem14101   (cu node)
   model     3092  Icom IC-7760 (Alpha)
   command   rigctld -m 3092 -r /dev/cu.usbmodem14101 -t 4532 -s 115200
   result    working   14084000  PKTUSB
  

  It resolves the device, confirms the model is in the Hamlib table for its
  kind, prints the exact command it would run, starts the daemon if it is not
  already up, asks the rig something, and says whether it worked. Anything it
  started, it stops again. It exits non-zero if any profile failed, so it can be
  used in a script.

  Tested against deliberately broken profiles — an absent device, a model number
  that does not exist, and a Kenwood driver pointed at an Icom. That last case
  starts cleanly and then times out, which is how a wrong model actually
  presents, and is the one worth being able to diagnose at a distance.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Not bundled. Tested against Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com — ab6a-rigctl version and ab6a-rigctl check all
between them say almost everything worth knowing.

AB6A RigCtl 2.5

Changed

• About panel text is a point larger. Naming the versions made it dense; the
  standard panel's scroll box is left as it is, being normal macOS behaviour.

Verified

The cu / tty choice added in 2.3 is now tested through the code that actually
runs, rather than a preview that reimplemented the same logic:

• driving the configuration window's own save writes node=tty and
  /dev/tty.usbmodem14101 to the file
• starting through the app's own start path launches
  rigctld … -r /dev/tty.usbmodem14101
• picking cu gives the cu node at every stage

No behaviour change — the tests were added because the claim had not actually
been demonstrated for the app, only for the CLI.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Not bundled. Tested against Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com — ab6a-rigctl version prints what to include.

AB6A RigCtl 2.4

Two additions aimed at helping someone else with their setup.

Console

Console… (⌘K) opens a window onto a running daemon: pick the daemon, type a
rigctl command, and see the raw reply with how long it took.

> \get_rig_info
VFO=Main Freq=14084000 Mode=PKTUSB Width=3600 RX=1 TX=1
VFO=Sub Freq=7074000 Mode=PKTUSB Width=3600 RX=0 TX=0
  4 ms

Ten one-click presets, each with a tooltip saying what it is for — f, m,
t, s, l STRENGTH, \get_rig_info, \get_vfo_list, \chk_vfo,
\dump_state, \dump_caps. They were chosen by trying candidates against a
real rig: \get_powerstat and v answer RPRT on an IC-7760, and w (raw CAT
passthrough) is rig-specific enough to mislead, so none of those are buttons —
though all remain typeable.

Copy all takes the transcript. Each command uses its own connection, so a
console session cannot disturb the menu's polling or anything else connected.

Versions

The About panel now names the app version and Hamlib's, and the CLI prints
everything worth pasting into a support message:

$ ab6a-rigctl version
AB6A RigCtl 2.4
  rigctl Hamlib 4.7.2 2026-06-21T13:07:37Z SHA=40f63488f 64-bit
  rotctl(d), Hamlib 4.7.2 …
  ampctl(d), Hamlib 4.7.2 …
  config  ~/.config/ab6a-rigctl/profiles.json
  state   ~/.local/state/ab6a-rigctl

All three Hamlib tools are listed, since a stray build on PATH is invisible
until you look.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Not bundled. Tested against Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com

AB6A RigCtl 2.3

New

• Choose the device node. 2.2 named both of the nodes macOS creates for a
  serial port but always opened the call-out one. Each interface now has a
  cu / tty picker, and the chosen node is what the daemon is given:

  cu    ->  rigctld -m 3092 -r /dev/cu.usbmodem14101  …
  tty   ->  rigctld -m 3092 -r /dev/tty.usbmodem14101 …
  

  cu stays the default and is right for nearly everything — it opens
  immediately, where tty waits on carrier detect. But plenty of setups are
  built around the tty.* name, as most rigctld command lines in circulation
  are, and those now work without fighting the app.

  The picker is disabled for ports that have no dial-in twin. The CLI offers the
  same choice when adding a device.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Hamlib provides rigctld, rotctld and ampctld — the daemons this app starts
and reads from — and their model tables. It is not bundled. Tested against
Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com

AB6A RigCtl 2.2

New

• Both device nodes are named. macOS exposes every serial port twice —
  /dev/tty.X is the dial-in node, /dev/cu.X the call-out node — and only
  cu.* was ever listed, since that is what IOKit reports and what the daemons
  are given. A port is usually known by its tty.* name elsewhere, including in
  most rigctld command lines, so people looked for it here and did not find it.

  With Show all serial devices ticked, each interface now names both:

  interface 1   /dev/cu.usbmodem14101   (/dev/tty.usbmodem14101)
  

  What actually gets used is unchanged: always the cu.* node.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Hamlib provides rigctld, rotctld and ampctld — the daemons this app starts
and reads from — and their model tables. It is not bundled. Tested against
Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com

AB6A RigCtl 2.1

New

• Extra daemon options, per daemon. Each interface now has an options
  field in the configuration window, passed to the Hamlib daemon verbatim:

  -C timeout=500 -C retry=0
  

  Useful for rigs needing timing, retry or PTT settings the defaults do not
  cover — -C …, -P RIG, --vfo, verbose flags and so on. Both
  -C a=1 -C b=2 and Hamlib's shorthand -C a=1,b=2 work.

  Note that Hamlib silently ignores an unknown parameter — the daemon starts
  normally and the setting simply never applies, so check spelling first if an
  option seems to have no effect. rigctld -m <model> -L lists the valid names
  for a rig.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Hamlib provides rigctld, rotctld and ampctld — the daemons this app starts
and reads from — and their model tables. It is not bundled. Tested against
Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com

AB6A RigCtl 2.0

VFO reporting

Three related changes, all from testing against a real IC-7760 and checking the
results on the radio's own front panel.

• The display no longer flips while transmitting. Hamlib's VFO labels invert
  under split TX — the frequencies trade places and trade back on unkey. It
  cannot correct itself, because this rig reports Can get VFO: N and the VFO
  can never be read back. The client now checks PTT and holds the last reading
  taken at rest, with a TX marker showing when values are being held.

• VFOs are labelled A and B, not Main and Sub. Hamlib's "Main" tracks
  whichever VFO is selected, not the radio's Main receiver: a set_vfo Sub that
  the rig ignored outright still made Hamlib report the labels swapped. A and B
  say only what can be substantiated — the rig's first and second VFO.

• Existing configurations are unaffected; stored values keep Hamlib's names and
  only the labels changed.

Worth knowing

On this rig set_vfo does not work at all — it returns RPRT 0 and the radio
ignores it. Split is the only way to move TX to the second receiver, and it
does work: verified transmitting on the sub receiver with the front panel
agreeing.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Hamlib provides rigctld, rotctld and ampctld — the daemons this app starts
and reads from — and their model tables. It is not bundled. Tested against
Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com

AB6A RigCtl 1.9

Fixed

• A mode of "None" next to the frequency. A daemon that has only just
  started has not populated its per-VFO cache, and Hamlib answers
  get_vfo_info with the literal string None. That is "not known yet", not a
  mode, and it is no longer displayed as one.

• The mode then staying blank. Hamlib only fills a VFO's mode cache when
  something asks the plain way, so a client reading solely through
  get_vfo_info never triggered it and the mode never appeared. The menu and
  the CLI now send one get_mode on connect, and every VFO reports its mode
  from the first read.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Hamlib provides rigctld, rotctld and ampctld — the daemons this app starts
and reads from — and their model tables. It is not bundled. Tested against
Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com

AB6A RigCtl 1.8

New

• A daemon can name the receiver it reports. Plain get_freq follows
  whichever VFO the rig currently has selected, so on a dual-receive radio every
  daemon showed the same frequency — two WSJT-X instances on an IC-7760 both
  read Main. A profile can now be set to Main, Sub, VFO A, VFO B,
  or whichever is current.

• "Main and Sub" reports the whole radio over one connection. get_vfo_info
  addresses a VFO by name, so a second daemon was never needed just to see the
  second receiver. Set a profile to Main and Sub and the menu shows a line per
  receiver.

• An x to remove a configured device, including devices that are not
  currently attached — those previously had no row to untick and could not be
  deleted from the window at all.

Note

This is display only. It does not steer CAT writes: an unqualified set_freq or
PTT still acts on the rig's active VFO, whichever client sent it.

Requires Hamlib

brew install hamlib

Hamlib provides rigctld, rotctld and ampctld — the daemons this app starts
and reads from — and their model tables. It is not bundled. Tested against
Hamlib 4.7.2.

Install

Download, unzip, drag AB6A RigCtl.app to /Applications. Signed with a
Developer ID and notarized, ticket stapled. Apple Silicon, macOS 26 or later.

Help

AB6A.US@gmail.com