[wsjt-devel] WSJT-X 2.5.3 GA Release (Win64 only)

[Joe T. <jo...@pr...>]

Dear WSJT-X Users:

As most of you know, we are mourning the recent death of our friend and 
colleague Bill Somerville, G4WJS, who since 2013 has contributed so much 
to the WSJT project.

One of Bill's many WSJT-related tasks was creating installation packages 
for Win32, Win64, Linux (Debian, Fedora, Raspberry Pi, ...), and macOS 
for each new program release.  At present we have a straightforward 
system for building the Win64 package -- the best choice for the 
majority of WSJT-X users -- but no systems in place for building Win32, 
Linux, and macOS packages.

WSJT-X 2.5.3 includes a feature of special interest to users who will 
enter the ARRL January VHF Contest (January 15-17, 2022).  For benefit 
of those users, we have decided to release WSJT-X version 2.5.3 for 
Win64 even though we have not yet made prebuilt packages for the other 
operating systems.

Differences between WSJT-X 2.5.2 and 2.5.3 are minimal and described in 
the Release Notes:
https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/Release_Notes.txt

The new feature for the ARRL VHF contests is an enhanced macro facility 
for Tx messages, aimed at making it easier to ask another station to QSY 
to a new band.  The feature is described briefly here in the User Guide:
https://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main-2.5.3.html#TXMACROS
Additional information will likely appear on VHF-contest-related forums.

A link for the Win64 installation package for WSJT-X 2.5.3 is now 
available on the WSJT-X web page:
https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html

Pre-built packages for Win32, Linux, and macOS will be added when we 
have created new means for creating them.

  -- 73 from Joe, K1JT; Steve, K9AN; and Nico, IV3NWV