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Release Highlights

This page summarizes major POTACAT and ECHOCAT releases — it is not an exhaustive list of every patch.

v1.9.4 — July 2026

  • 13 Colonies fixes across desktop and mobile, plus a 13 Colonies tracking list with notifications in the mobile CNTSTS tab.
  • Connectivity bug fixes; the Tailscale certificate is no longer cached at startup (fixes Tailnet account changes).
  • Matching mobile OTA updates — update both desktop and app.
  • JTCAT fix for RR73 decoded as a grid square; continued FT8 parity work with WSJT-X.
  • iOS QR-scan fix for macro-lens iPhones; SSTV and Activator-mode updates on mobile.

v1.9.2 + ECHOCAT mobile v1.1 — June 2026

  • Straight Key on-screen CW button in the mobile app.
  • Fully customizable VFO screen — hide and reorder elements.
  • Improved pairing: one click to connect when paired with POTACAT v1.9.2.
  • Up to 25 voice/CW macros, synced across devices (older on-phone macros are wiped).
  • Android landscape mode.

ECHOCAT for Android — June 26, 2026

  • ECHOCAT app live on Google Play (co.cmox.echocat) — $9.99 one-time purchase, includes all updates.
  • Known bug at launch: connecting via “Discovered” was broken — use the QR scan instead.

v1.8.16 — June 2026

  • Instant pairing for Cloud subscribers: log in on any device and connect to your shack, over Tailscale or POTACAT Cloud off-LAN.
  • WSPR TX/RX working; the idle agent can decode SSTV or WSPR (Settings > Station), with WSPR reports sent to PSKReporter.
  • IC-7100 rig layer.

v1.8.14 — June 2026

  • Late-start FT8 TX — join a slot roughly 7 seconds late with a shortened reply (WSJT-X parity).
  • A-priori (AP) decoding in JTCAT; day/night line added to the JTCAT map.
  • FT-710 ATU control over CAT; per-rig audio settings under Settings > Radio.
  • Remote Stop Scan from ECHOCAT; Linux arm64 build.

v1.8.6 — June 10, 2026 — POTACAT Cloud launch

  • POTACAT Cloud subscription: $5/mo or $50/yr with a free trial — cloud log backup, multi-device logging, parks-worked sync, and the Cloud Tunnel (<callsign>.potacat.com, no Tailscale required).
  • Cloud Sharing stack: desktop-to-desktop pairing, Share My Rig links (start-now or scheduled, optional anonymous guests, 30-day guest link cap), and tap-to-pair on the LAN.
  • Follow-ups in v1.8.7–v1.8.9: revoking access now kicks live sessions instantly, hardened cloud backup download, and a TURN relay for CGNAT (including double-CGNAT/Starlink).
  • Charcoal dark theme (Settings > Display), Contests “What’s Next” redesign, color-coded logbook columns with Ctrl +/− zoom.
  • STATION_CALLSIGN now written on every QSO (LoTW / Part 97.119 attribution); Flex per-band antenna mapping.

ECHOCAT for iOS — June 8, 2026

  • ECHOCAT app live on the App Store — $9.99 one-time purchase, includes all updates.
  • ECHOCAT Web continues to work and remains free; Tailscale remains an option.

v1.6 — May 2026

  • “Whole Lotta Things Working Well”: initial keyer support in the iOS/Android apps — TinyMIDI, VBand, Vail, and HaliKey MIDI.
  • Flex Radio direct connection without SmartSDR plus full WinKeyer support (May 21) — enables AetherSDR use with POTACAT.
  • POTACAT Cloud Tunnel first working (June 2): connect a phone to the rig with no Tailscale — the foundation for rig swapping.

v1.5.16 — May 2026

  • Initial foundation for the iOS and Android apps; tester builds followed in the Hamvention build.
  • WebSDR + KiwiSDR RX “finally working as intended” — listen on a remote SDR while transmitting on your own rig.
  • FT8 timing and respot-logging fixes; ragchew logger pop-out with Ctrl+F1/Alt+F1 hotkeys.

v1.5.2 — April 2026

  • “Mega GitHub Issue Squashing” release; POTA.app sync phase 1, with Cloud users auto-syncing POTA parks-worked.
  • Auto-SSTV RX on idle (default on, 90-minute timeout); SSTV Scottie S2 support.
  • CI-V over TCP; IC-7200, TS-2000, and FTX-1 Optima rig profiles; CW keying hardening.
  • ECHOCAT map pop-out to a browser window; iPad split-view support.
  • Logger32 added as a logbook forwarding target (April 25).

v1.5.0 — April 2026 — “The SSTV Release”

  • SSTV decoding: Martin M1 “on par with MMSSTV,” with Scottie 1 close behind (first shipped in v1.4.8/1.4.9).
  • Mac, Linux, and Windows installers built via GitHub Actions, downloadable at potacat.com.
  • One-click Report a Bug (v1.5.1): redacted system snapshot, rig config, and log tail into a prefilled Discord post — grid square excluded.
  • Milestone: roughly 6,000 downloads, 10,000 QSOs, and 102 versions in about 9 weeks.

v1.4.x — April 2026

  • Desktop VFO dial with audio streaming on the PC: knob, dialpad, mode selector, PTT, log button, operator heads-up display, and solar weather.
  • Multi-slice JTCAT for Flex — monitor 4 or more slices at once.
  • WebSDR as an RX option — SWL and HF-net listening, even for unlicensed users.
  • VFO Lock and Elecraft K4/K4D rig profile (v1.4.2).

v1.3.15 — April 2026

  • FreeDV on ECHOCAT (bundled on Windows; Mac/Linux build the RADE decoder).
  • Voice Macros — 5 slots, shared between phone and desktop, with auto-PTT.
  • Propagation Map pop-out (RBN/PSKReporter, day/night overlay); GridTracker-style decode enrichment in JTCAT and ECHOCAT.
  • ECHOCAT configurable, reorderable spot columns; TunerGenius 1x3 antenna switching.

v1.3.11 — March 2026

  • Native ft8_lib decoder replaces WASM — FT8 decoding 5–10x faster (~120 ms).
  • Movable S-Meter and SWR meter on desktop and ECHOCAT.
  • K1EL WinKeyer (WK2/WK3) keyer support and a floating, draggable CW Macro box with variables such as {MYCALL}, {call}, and {op_firstname}.
  • Keyboard CW keying (VBand/Vail style: left Ctrl dit, right Ctrl dah, iambic timing).
  • Activation dupe detection (DUPE tag and count badge); Launcher system tray icon on port 7301.
  • 10 Hz fine tuning on the ECHOCAT dial (v1.3.10).

v1.2.2 — March 2026

  • “Don’t Cross the Streams”: JTCAT FT8 decode fixed after crossed desktop audio streams.
  • MIDI remote CW on ECHOCAT (Android only — iOS Safari blocks Web MIDI); local sidetone for CW macros.
  • Rig Model layer decoupled from connection method, with unlimited custom CAT commands per rig.
  • Auto-chase for POTA/SOTA/CQ spots; 4-row FT8 layout on ECHOCAT.

v1.1.0 — March 2026 — “The FT8 + Remote CW Release”

  • Remote FT8 and remote CW on ECHOCAT; all CW/FT8 functionality rolled out free to everyone on March 19.
  • Watchlist band/mode filters (v1.1.1): K4SWL:20m, KI6NAZ:CW, W1AW:40m:SSB.
  • ECHOCAT voice macros, DTR keying for remote CW, and remote power on/off for Yaesu rigs.
  • Electron 33→39 / Chromium 130→142 platform upgrade; docs.potacat.com link added in-app.

v1.0.12 — March 2026

  • Rig Control Panel (status-bar Rig button): ATU tune, noise blanker, power on/off, RF gain, TX power, and mode-aware filter width presets — unsupported controls auto-hide.
  • Native Icom CI-V serial support (IC-7300/705/7610 and more) without Hamlib.
  • HF Nets & SWL Directory (“Dir” tab, tap to tune) and Wake Lock on ECHOCAT (v1.0.16).
  • ECHOCAT Club Station Mode beta (v1.0.8): callsign + password login with member badges.
  • MacLoggerDX UDP forwarding on port 9090 (v1.0.7).

v1.0 — March 9, 2026

  • First stable release — “45 releases since launch.”
  • Spacebar PTT for ECHOCAT (iPad keyboards) and a cleaner Welcome screen.
  • ECHOCAT audio settings in Quick Settings; new “Radio” filter for band/mode.

ECHOCAT launch — March 4, 2026

  • ECHOCAT: control the rig from a phone browser over a Tailscale VPN — 100% free.
  • Requires Tailscale on the shack PC and phone; browse to https://100.x.y.z:7300.
  • Per-rig RX/TX audio channels set in the Rig dropdown.
  • Followed the same week by the DX Terminal cluster window with one-click QSY (v0.9.39) and NG3K ADXO DX-expedition spots (v0.9.40).

v0.9.27 — March 2026

  • Activator Mode (introduced in late-February rolling builds): activator log, RBN view of your own CQ pickups, and a sortable logbook with filtered ADIF export.
  • Daily QSO milestone celebrations (10/25/50/100/150/200/250, with 500 as mega).
  • WSJT-X auto-log now forwards to external logbooks; new Grid column; 2-fer double-logging fix.

v0.9.22 — February 2026

  • F5 checks for a new version; TCP rigctl support.
  • DXCC tracker by band and mode, built from your imported logbook.
  • Event tracking: WAS 250, CQ WW 160m, and pre-loaded 13 Colonies.
  • POTA/DX pill column; QRZ request-flooding bugfix.

v0.9.9 — February 2026

  • Auto-update introduced — “the last version you have to download.”
  • Portable .exe still offered alongside the installer.

v0.9.7 — February 2026

  • Serial CAT using the Kenwood protocol, bypassing Hamlib (QRPLabs QMX/QDX and similar).
  • Worked Station Tracking: green check, muted spots, auto-skip in scan, “Hide already-worked” — plus ADIF import (LoTW/QRZ) and POTA hunted-parks CSV import.
  • Light/dark theme toggle and a continent filter (AF/AS/EU/NA/OC/SA).
  • Logbook forwarding to N1MM+ (UDP 2333), N3FJP (TCP 1100), HRD (TCP 7826), and Log4OM 2.
  • SmartSDR panadapter spots (TCP 4992); RBN watchlist spots in the main spot table.
  • POTA re-spot feature included in the same build.

v0.9.6 — February 2026

  • Ham Radio Deluxe and Log4OM 2 logging integrations go live.
  • Pre-auto-update era: manual uninstall/reinstall required to upgrade.

For full release notes on every build, see the #announcements channel on the POTACAT Discord.