WSJT-X/doc/user_guide/en/new_features.adoc

[[NEW_FEATURES]]
=== New in Version {VERSION_MAJOR}.{VERSION_MINOR}

- _WSJT-X 2.6_ implements new features supporting the ARRL
International Digital Contest and its distance based scoring.  The
*Call 1st* checkbox has been replaced by a drop-down control offering
*CQ Max Dist* as an alternative.  A new window labeled *Active
Stations* displays a list of received but unworked callsigns, sorted
in decreasing order of potential contest points.  With option *CQ Max
Dist* selected, the program will select the reply to your CQ that
yields the most contest points.  You can click on a line in the Active
Stations window to call that station.

- Decoding performance for FT8 and Q65 has been improved in a variety
of situations with available _a priori_ (AP) information.

- *Echo* mode now offers a *Clear Avg* button and produces reliable
measurements of SNR even when Doppler spread is large.  Its *Monitor*
function can be used to measure SNR for a received unmodulated carrier
such as a key-down test signal emitted by another station and
reflected from the Moon, and also to measure Sun, Moon, and ground
noise as aids for optimizing an EME station's performance.

- New buttons on the main window allow quick changes between modes
FT4, FT8, MSK144, Q65, and JT65, and toggling FT8 Hound mode ON/OFF.

- New convenience features allow Fox operators to react more quickly
to particular QSO situations.  A two-column table in Tab 2 provides an
overview of the queue and of callsigns with QSOs in progress.  Fox
operator can change the ordering of callsigns in the queue, allowing
reaction to changes in propagation.  Fox now responds automatically
for another two cycles to stations whose report has not been received,
increasing the success rate for difficult QSOs.

- The Working frequency table now offers save/restore capability and
better handling of more than one frequency per mode-band
combination. You can set preferred frequencies, and WSJT-X will select
these when you change band or mode.  You can label a tabled frequency
with a description, for example a DXpedition callsign, and set Start
and End date and time so the frequencies automatically appear and
disappear from the displayed options.  You can load a publicly
available frequency table from a file, to easily make such DXpedition
data available to the program.

- Optional color highlighting is provided for specified DX Call and DX
Grid, and for messages containing RR73 or 73.

- New options are provided for writing to file ALL.TXT.  You can
request automatic starting of a new file every month or every year,
and you can disable writing altogether.

- Settings for T/R period and Submode are remembered by mode when you
switch directly between modes: for example, MSK144-15, Q65-60A, or
FST4-120.

- Tx and Rx audio frequencies are remembered and restored when you
return from a mode that sets a default frequency 1500 Hz (MSK144,
FST4W, Echo, WSPR, FreqCal), then switching back to FT4, FT8, Q65,
FST4, or JT65.

- Rig control is provided for some new radios, and bug fixes for
controlling others.

- New features in _MAP65_ (available for Windows only) include an aid
for measuring antenna pointing errors and an ability to read the file
wsjtx.log (kept by _WSJT-X_) to recognize EME contest dupes.  In
addition, _MAP65_ now sends additional information to file azel.dat
and offers optional digital scaling of input I/Q data.