v1.1.4

OscarWatch Tracker Version 1.1.4 Release Notes

This version brings a huge set of improvements to satellite packet operations, smoother radio and rotator tracking, easier FT4 operation and important stability fixes under the hood.

Here is what is new and improved in OscarWatch Tracker.

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🛰️ Built-In Soundmodem & KISS Support for Terminal

You no longer need external software like Direwolf or UZ7HO to run 1200 baud packet radio. Terminal now includes its own built-in soundmodem that works directly through your radio's soundcard.

• Built-in 1200 AFSK Soundmodem: Send and receive 1200 baud AX.25 packet radio directly in OscarWatch. Features include a Bell 202 demodulator, clock recovery, frame chaining and live audio waterfall displays with 1200 Hz and 2200 Hz marker lines.
• Built-in 9600 Baud G3RUH Modem: Added support for high-speed 9600 baud packet operations with parallel frequency-offset decoders to keep decoding packets even when audio tones drift between Doppler CAT steps.
• KISS Protocol Support: Connect directly to hardware TNCs (like Mobilinkd, NinoTNC or Kenwood handhelds/mobiles in KISS mode) or software TNCs via KISS over TCP or serial COM ports.
• Automatic Soundcard Recovery: If Windows or PortAudio drops your soundcard stream during a pass, OscarWatch automatically detects the stall and reopens the device every 3 seconds without crashing.

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🗺️ Terminal Map & APRS Features

• Live Terminal Map: Click the new globe button in Terminal to open a dedicated map showing heard stations alongside the active satellite's footprint. Filter by current pass, zoom into dense areas and click any station to populate your target box.
• APRS Symbols & Positions: Decodes uncompressed, compressed and Mic-E position reports. Heard station lists now display distance, bearing and real aprs.fi symbol icons.
• GPS & Grid Square Alerts: Clear visual indicators show whether your grid square is coming from GPS or saved settings. OscarWatch notifies you on the status line when your station crosses into a new four-character grid square.

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📻 Smoother Radio & Rotator Control

• Improved SPID Rotator Handling: Rewritten communications at 600 baud. Framing errors, garbled replies and partial reads are handled cleanly with up to three automatic retries.
• Negative Azimuth Display: Negative azimuth values (such as -86 degrees) now display as standard compass headings (274 degrees) in the sidebar and rotator window to match your physical controller and sky plot.
• Rotators Without Position Feedback: Interfaces that accept movement commands without sending position reports back (such as the Foxdelta ST3) now connect cleanly without failing link checks.
• Clean Radio Shutdown: Closing OscarWatch or disconnecting your radio now automatically turns satellite mode off, clears uplink tones and returns your rig to Main mode before closing the CAT port.
• FT-847 Same-Band Fixes: Same-band satellite packet operations on the Yaesu FT-847 now correctly handle Doppler tracking by utilising repeater shifts or brief VFO adjustments during transmissions.

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📊 FT4 & SSTV Improvements

• WSJT-X Style DT Display: The DT column in FT4 now follows the WSJT-X convention by default, subtracting the 0.5-second FT4 slot start offset so on-time signals display near zero. You can toggle back to slot-relative time in Settings if preferred.
• Station Identity Prompts: If your callsign or grid locator is missing before starting FT4, a clear banner overlay will prompt you to enter them so you do not sit staring at a silent waterfall.
• SSTV Memory & Performance Boost: Reused line renderer buffers dramatically cut memory allocation during live SSTV passes, eliminating system slowdowns while decoding images.

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🧪 OscarWatch Terminal Beta Notice

OscarWatch Terminal is currently in Beta. While it is ready for daily pass use, we are actively collecting feedback to polish performance across different soundcards and operating systems.

If you run into any issues, unexpected behaviour or audio glitches while testing, please report them on our GitHub Discussion Page.

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🙏 Thanks

• @g4dpz for the FT4 WSJT-X DT convention (#165), the SSTV line renderer memory savings (#166) and faster Doppler pass logging (#161)
• @df7cb for highlighting the frequency control overlay buttons on hover (#153)
• @BrucePatten for the detailed AlfaSpid ROT2Prog report and diagnostics that led to the SPID improvements (#167)

Full Changelog: v1.1.3...v1.1.4