hamclock-next Files

The v1.5 release focuses on documentation, and major enhancements to the high-fidelity propagation engine. This version introduces automated settings migration from original HamClock, a comprehensive in-app help system with audited wiki synchronization, 6m band support for VOACAP modeling, and significant startup performance optimizations for low-power hardware and Windows desktop environments.

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Highlights

Seamless EEPROM Migration

Transitioning from the original HamClock is now automatic.

• Auto-Import: On the first launch, HamClock-Next detects existing settings from ~/.hamclock/eeprom.
• Identity & Cluster: Automatically migrates your Callsign, Grid, Lat/Lon, and DX Cluster credentials into the new JSON-based configuration.

Startup Performance (3x Faster)

We've overhauled the application boot sequence to minimize latency.

• Metadata-Only Cache: The startup thread now only reads essential cache metadata; data bodies are loaded lazily in the background.
• Background Initialization: Core services now initialize in parallel, reducing warm-start time on RPi3B from ~2.5s to under 700ms.
• Windows Optimization: Significant speed improvements for Windows users by reducing synchronous file I/O operations.

Comprehensive Documentation

A massive effort was made to ensure HamClock-Next is the best-documented version of HamClock ever.

• In-App Help (?): Pressing ? (Shift+/) opens a scrollable help panel showing all keyboard shortcuts, mouse controls, and a directory of all 64 widgets.
• Quick Start Guide: A new 2-page PDF (docs/HamClock-Next-QuickStart.pdf) provides a high-level overview for new users.
• Wiki Synchronization: The entire Wiki has been audited, filling 10 documentation gaps across 7 pages and ensuring all 64 widgets are correctly described.
• REST API Reference: Documentation expanded from ~60 to ~100 endpoints, covering alerts, sensors, LAN hub mode, and performance diagnostics.
• PDF User Manual: Improved LaTeX-based manual generation with robust icon support and optimized layouts for offline reading.

DX Cluster & Spotting Enhancements

The DX Cluster engine has been hardened and refined.

• Age Filtering: Added a user-selectable "Max Age" filter (10, 20, 40, 60 min) to clean up stale spots.
• Duplicate Hiding: Optional "Hide Duplicates" toggle (one per call/band) to reduce clutter during pileups.
• SQLite3 Hardening: Fixed a critical crash on Windows/WASM related to NULL column handling in the persistent spot database.
• Windows Connectivity: Resolved a 2-second telnet disconnect issue on Windows by switching to non-blocking socket I/O.
• Auto-Band-Switch: Selecting a spot in the DX Cluster, "On The Air", or clicking a band in "Live Spots" now automatically updates the active propagation overlay to match that band.
• Smart Map Selection: Clicking near a "Live Spot" marker on the map now automatically snaps to that spot, populating the DX callsign and frequency instead of just a generic coordinate.
• Interactive DX Peditions: Clicking an expedition row in the DX Peditions panel now automatically sets the map's DX location to that expedition, facilitating quick target switching.

VOACAP Propagation Upgrades

High-fidelity propagation modeling is now more comprehensive and interactive.

• 6m Band Support: Added the 50 MHz band to the Point-to-Point reliability matrix and De-Dx panel, matching the map overlay capabilities.
• Active Band Cursor: A new horizontal white line in the De-Dx panel highlights the band matching your currently selected DX spot.
• Improved Legend: Enhanced heatmap legends with centered labels for better readability.

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New Features & Enhancements

User Interface & Experience

• K-Mode Labels: Hovering over a widget in K-mode now shows the widget's full description as a secondary blue tooltip.
• Setup Screen URL: Headless users can now see their local IP and control URL (e.g., http://192.168.1.100:8080) directly on the initial setup screen.
• Live View Redesign: The unreliable embedded Live View tab in the configuration page has been replaced with a direct link to /live, which opens in a new browser tab for better stability.
• In-App Updates: Integrated automatic update download and installation capability.

Administrative & Build

• RPM & DEB Packaging: Improved installation scripts and spec files to correctly identify the build variant and installation type.
• Thread-Safe REST API: The set_pane API now uses a command queue to ensure layout changes are applied on the main render thread, preventing race conditions and texture crashes.
• Network Resilience: Added waitForCacheLoad to ensure all cached data is available before the UI starts requesting it, fixing "empty widget" issues on cold boots.
• CI Hardening: New manual AddressSanitizer and UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer workflows to ensure long-term memory safety and stability.

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Full Changelog

Added

• EEPROM Migrator: Automatic settings import from ~/.hamclock/eeprom.
• In-App Help Panel: Accessible via the ? key.
• DX Cluster Age Filter: Radio buttons in DX Cluster settings for 10/20/40/60 min caps.
• DX Cluster Duplicate Hiding: Option to show only the most recent spot per station/band.
• Automatic Update Downloader: In-app support for downloading new releases.
• Setup Screen URL: Prominent display of the local control URL for headless users.
• PDF Quick Start Guide: High-level 2-page reference in docs/.
• Propagation Auto-Band-Switch: Automatic overlay synchronization when selecting spots or band cells.
• 6m Band in VOACAP: Added 50 MHz support to path reliability calculations and the De-Dx panel.
• Map Snap-to-Spot: Automatic callsign/frequency population when clicking live spots or DX expeditions on the map.
• DX Peditions Set-DX: Instant DX location targeting by clicking rows in the DX Peditions panel.
• VOACAP Band Cursor: Visual indicator for the band matching the active DX selection.
• Sanitizer Workflows: ASan/UBSan CI tasks for developer verification.

Changed

• Startup Sequence: Moved cache loading and service initialization to background threads.
• Live View: Moved from a configuration tab to a standalone /live endpoint.
• Wiki Audit: Updated all 64 widget descriptions and category counts (10 gaps filled across 7 pages).
• REST API Coverage: Expanded documentation from 60 to ~100 endpoints.
• PDF Manual Engine: Switched to LuaLaTeX for improved symbol and URL handling.
• VOACAP Legend: Centered labels under color boxes for improved clarity.
• DX Cluster Telnet: Switched to non-blocking I/O with select() for better cross-platform stability.
• DX Cluster Age Labels: Clarified "min" units and adjusted spacing in settings.

Fixed

• DX Cluster Crash: Added NULL guards for sqlite3_column_text() results (Windows/WASM fix).
• Windows Telnet Timeout: Fixed TCP RST issue caused by SO_RCVTIMEO during handshakes.
• DX Cluster Age Display: Fixed "0m" age bug by improving 'Z' timestamp parsing.
• API Race Condition: Queued set_pane commands to the main thread to prevent GPU texture crashes.
• Moon/Cache Race: Added condition variable to ensure cache is loaded before providers start.
• Screenshot Geometry: Fixed coordinate scaling for automated Wiki captures on non-standard resolutions.
• RPM Spec: Corrected HAMCLOCK_INSTALL_TYPE in deployment scripts.
• K-Mode Labels: Improved contrast and coverage for widget highlights.
• Shutdown Race Conditions: Hardened destructor sequences for network-bound services (FccProvider, RigService).
• WASM Build: Fixed build failures related to UpdateChecker and WebServer guards.
• ARM Build Scripts: Improved cross-compilation reliability for ARM64 and ARMHF.