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What's New in v2.20 (Build 26)
This release adds three major new modules and extends hardware compatibility across the full Lab599 TX-500 family.
🆕 New: Live Telemetry Dashboard
A real-time instrumentation panel with animated arc gauges for:
- RF Output Power (1–10 W, configured TX power via
PC;CAT command) - Antenna SWR (engineering ratio via
RM1;meter dots, 0–30) - Supply / Battery Voltage (9–15 V, with automatic BP-500/550 vs. external DC detection)
- S-Meter (0–30 dot level indicator in RX; power meter in TX)
- Frequency & Mode live display (via
IF;,FA;,MD;,PT;CAT frames) - Rolling averages: 5 min / 15 min / 30 min / 60 min per gauge
- Alert guards: over-voltage (>15 V), low-voltage (<9.5 V), high SWR (≥3.0)
- Demo Mode — explore the full dashboard without a connected radio
- Poll rate: selectable 250 ms / 500 ms / 1 s
Note: Current and PA temperature gauges are reserved — CAT protocol does not yet expose these measurements on production firmware.
🆕 New: Radio Screen Mirror (LCD Capture)
Faithfully simulates and captures the TX-500's 256×128 monochrome LCD:
- Live Sync via CAT — continuously reads and renders the radio display in real time
- 4 display themes: Amber (classic), Daylight, Green phosphor, OLED
- Authentic panadapter spectrum, calibrated S-meter / RF power bars, and milled aluminum chassis bezel rendering
- Save screenshot to PNG — also accessible via
File → Capture Radio Screenshot…(⌘S) - Copy to clipboard for quick sharing
- Demo Mode available for evaluation without hardware
🆕 New: Feedback & Bug Reporter
An integrated GitHub issue submission form built for the amateur radio community:
- Category picker: Bug Report · Feature Request · Compatibility Report · General Feedback
- Priority level selector
- Callsign + contact fields (saved to preferences)
- Automatic system diagnostics snapshot (macOS version, hardware model via
sysctl hw.model, connected serial port) — opt-in checkbox - Generates a pre-filled GitHub Issue URL and opens it in your browser, or copies Markdown to clipboard
🔧 Extended: Firmware Catalog & Model Detection
The firmware downloader now covers the full TX-500 family:
| Model | Firmware |
|---|---|
| TX-500 Discovery | v1.30.00 |
| TX-500MP | v1.30.00 + HAM-Bands Patch v1.30.00B27 |
| TX-500PRO (Tactical) | v1.29.05 |
| TX-500PRO ALTAI | v1.29.05 |
- BL20 header model-ID parsing now auto-selects the correct radio image (
tx500_radio,tx500_mp,tx500_pro,tx500_pro_altai) and displays a Hardware Match Confirmed or cross-model warning badge - Firmware files are validated against the
BL20magic header before transfer begins
✅ All Existing Features (v2.0–v2.20)
Firmware Update · Time Sync · CAT Test · Settings Backup/Restore · 100-Channel Memory Editor · FTDI Driver Installer · Documentation Library
System Requirements
- macOS 12 Monterey or later
- Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) or Intel — Universal Binary
- USB-to-UART adapter (FTDI recommended) + Lab599 GX12 CAT cable
- Radio: Lab599 TX-500 Discovery / TX-500MP (TX-500PRO catalog support added; real-radio validation pending)
Known Limitations
TX500ScreenCaptureControllerand real-radio screen sync require a live CAT connection; Demo Mode is available for evaluation- Current draw and PA temperature gauges are placeholder — awaiting CAT protocol exposure in a future Lab599 firmware
- Build is ad-hoc signed and not Apple-notarized; Gatekeeper bypass required on first launch (
System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway)
Source archive note (2026-10-02): This historical tag was moved to the corresponding commit in the cleaned repository history. Tracked files outside the retired reverse-engineering/ directory are unchanged. Attached downloadable files and their checksums were not changed. Historical text in this release may still refer to the retired directory. The source archive for this tag still contains older review documentation; the retired reverse-engineering/ directory is absent from the tag tree.