v1.1.197 · October 2, 2026

OpenShack V2 ESP32-S3 Box support with Ethernet

New: OpenShack's Learn, Advanced Trainer, MorseChat, Balloon Burst, CW Summit and RufzXP screens show a compact OpenShack Box status row with the confirmed keyer speed and minus/plus controls while the Box is connected.
Improved: MorseChat and the CW training screens decode changing electronic keyer speeds and natural straight-key timing more reliably, keep delayed message fragments together, and report lost Box timing data instead of continuing with incomplete input.
New: Hardware Settings recognises the OpenShack V2 ESP32-S3 Box. Its USB port is found and selected automatically like the CP210x port of the original Box, and the Bluetooth, Keyer and Audio tabs only offer what the S3 supports: no Bluetooth audio (A2DP), CW and PTT outputs fixed to active-high, digital line-in mixing.
New: Hardware Settings, S3 Board tab (S3 Box only): board and firmware details, USB link and updater identity, USB sound card status, the read-only audio safety status that explains a locked speaker amplifier, the button layout and a status LED test.
New: Hardware Settings, Ethernet tab (S3 Box with Ethernet firmware): switch Ethernet on or off, use DHCP or a fixed address, and see link, address and which network the Box uses. Ethernet is used first whenever the cable has a link; WiFi stays the automatic fallback, also when you switch Hardware Settings from an Ethernet connection to USB. CW Link accepts a Box-to-Box link over Ethernet.
Fixed: an issue could switch "Speaker Off" on in Hardware Settings → Audio while headphones were plugged in, and the next Line-In apply then kept the speaker off for good. The switch now shows only the Box's own Speaker Off setting, and the current speaker amplifier state is shown below it.
Improved: the Bluetooth LE tooltip describes the current KEY2 gesture (hold 3 s = on with pairing, hold another 3 s = off).
New: Hardware Settings → Macros (S3 Box with the four-button firmware): KEY5 and KEY6 can be assigned a function like KEY3 and KEY4, and there are four macros, one per button. KEY5 starts as speaker on/off and KEY6 as sidetone volume, as before. The original Box keeps KEY3, KEY4 and two macros.
Fixed: an issue could prevent the app from reconnecting to an OpenShack Box that missed its first USB wake-up while starting. A failed authentication now rearms the wake-up for the next retry and clears the stale device identity.
Fixed: an issue could show both WiFi and Bluetooth as switched on in Hardware Settings after Bluetooth had taken control of the Box radio. WiFi is now shown as paused until the Box restarts, and WiFi Scan no longer silently switches Bluetooth off.
OpenShack Box firmware: the V2 ESP32-S3 Box adds W5500 Ethernet with automatic WiFi fallback and makes all four hardware buttons configurable, with one macro per button.

v1.1.196 · October 1, 2026

Share and navigate MorseChat rooms more easily

New: MorseChat lobby and room links can be shared as a QR code or copied link. They open directly in a web browser, so the recipient does not need the OpenShack app.
Improved: MorseChat keeps a typed message until the server confirms it. If confirmation is missing, the draft remains available and a warning explains that the message may still have arrived; CW playback timing remains independent of message confirmation.
Improved: the MorseChat lobby shows whether each operator is in the lobby, connecting, in a private chat or in a named room.
Improved: you can switch MorseChat rooms directly from the lobby without disconnecting first. Selecting the current room brings it forward, while Disconnect ends the complete chat session and stops chat audio.
Improved: MorseChat sample rooms use descriptive names in alphabetical order, including Fast Channel (QRQ) and Slow Channel (QRS). Custom room names and existing shared links remain unchanged.

v1.1.195 · September 29, 2026

Box firmware 1.63 fixes BLE/WiFi switching

Fixed: an issue could make an OpenShack Box running firmware 1.62 crash or enter a restart loop when switching between Bluetooth LE and WiFi. Box firmware 1.63 fixes the radio switch, and Hardware Settings prevents incompatible combinations on older firmware and reconnects after an unexpected Box restart.
Improved: MorseChat now uses the same V2 card layout as the rest of OpenShack in both the lobby and chat room.
Improved: incoming MorseChat text appears immediately and decoding starts at the sender's transmitted speed, so the first characters are easier to read.
Improved: MorseChat monitors a received CQ only once and lets you stop message playback on the OpenShack Box directly from the chat controls.
Fixed: an issue could leave MorseChat presence incomplete when first entering the lobby or joining a room. OpenShack now requests the current presence list immediately.
Fixed: an issue could make the OpenShack Box forget settings changed in Hardware Settings — for example a new WiFi network name and password — once it was switched off, if another OpenShack tool (CW Link, the Keyer or a trainer) had used the Box before. The old WiFi network came back after the next power-on unless the WiFi settings were cleared first. Hardware Settings now makes sure the Box stores every change, and WiFi Apply saves the new network in the Box right away.
Fixed: an issue could make a standalone OpenShack Box forget the setup made with CW Link → Save to Box once it was switched off or its firmware was updated, so a Box at the radio lost its link. Save to Box now stores the setup permanently in the Box and confirms it with "Saved in the Box". If a standalone Box lost its link this way, connect it once more and click Save to Box again.
Improved: Hardware Settings → Bluetooth: the Bluetooth LE switch now tells you that Bluetooth LE turns the Box's WiFi off (and ends a Box-to-Box link) before switching it on, and it can only be used over a USB connection. When the Box restarts to switch from Bluetooth back to WiFi, Hardware Settings reconnects by itself.
Fixed: an issue could make the Morse Trainer open with a "Session Complete" card although no session had run. When a Next Lesson offer from an earlier session is still waiting, the card is now titled "Ready for Lesson" with the lesson number.
Changed: the Morse Trainer offers Next Lesson only after a session of at least 10 items at your minimum accuracy. With Items per session set lower, the session summary says so; the automatic step to the next lesson is unchanged.
Fixed: an issue could keep offering the next Morse Trainer lesson after a later session at that lesson fell below the minimum accuracy, after the character statistics were reset, or after the trainer had already moved you on automatically.
Fixed: an issue could move your current Morse Trainer lesson forward while you were practising an older lesson.

v1.1.194 · September 24, 2026

Keyer and CW Link preserve the Box's rig-output settings

Fixed: an issue caused opening the Keyer to switch off CW Output and PTT on the OpenShack Box. The Box still beeped, but the transceiver could not go on the air until the Box was restarted or PTT and CW Output were switched on again in Hardware Settings. The Keyer, the Flex Keyer and CW Link leave PTT and CW Output exactly as you set them in Hardware Settings, also when the Keyer is opened from Remote Station. On a Remote Station client, the Local PTT out and Local KEY out checkboxes keep deciding what the local Box may key.
New: Hardware Settings, PTT+CW tab: "CW & PTT out in CW WORLD apps". Off by default, so the trainers, games, chat and the Paddle Analyzer keep using the Box for sidetone only and switch CW Output and PTT back on when they close. Switch it on when their keying should also reach your rig or an external code-practice oscillator; the programs then leave PTT and CW Output as set on the Box.
Improved: Balloon Burst and CW Summit now show larger KEY and TYPE selectors beside the main controls, making the answer method easier to see and switch while keeping leaderboard eligibility details visible.
Improved: the Windows Firewall question for the web-listening helper on a Remote Station host now shows the OpenShack icon and the name OpenShack Listen Publisher instead of a bare file name.
Fixed: on a new Remote Station host, the ICOM waterfall's CI-V address is now filled in from the selected ICOM model right away.
Changed: ICOM Waterfall Support on a Remote Station host can only be switched on once the optional additional CAT port is set up, because the waterfall runs over that port. The ICOM card says so while the port is missing.
Improved: when Remote Station cannot connect because the Station-ID, Operator-ID or secret is missing, a message now says what is missing and then takes you to the field to fill in.
Improved: when audio cannot start on a Remote Station client because the configured audio source or target is not connected (a Bluetooth headset that is switched off, for example), a message now names the device and offers to take you to the Audio settings page. The Audio light reads "Device not connected" until an available device is selected, and picking one starts audio right away.
Fixed: an issue could make the Remote Station client give up on audio after a minute when a configured audio device was unavailable. It waits quietly and starts audio as soon as the device is back, and it tells the host to start its audio at the same moment.
Improved: the Remote Station Audio tab lists newly connected sound devices each time it is opened, so a headset or sound card plugged in during a session can be selected without restarting.
New: Remote Station clients can keep the PC sidetone while an OpenShack Box is connected ("Also with a Box connected" on the Audio tab), for a Box whose audio output is not in use. The tone is simulated from the text and speed sent to the Box; paddle keying at the Box is not covered. Off by default.

v1.1.193 · September 23, 2026

CW Link radio recovery and more reliable Remote Station and Morse training

Improved: CW Link automatically recovers FlexRadio and Elecraft K4 connections after the radio or network becomes temporarily unavailable, and shows when the radio is ready for keying.
Improved: the waterfall spot overlay now defaults to the same filtered spots shown in the DX Cluster window.
Fixed: an issue could end a healthy Remote Station session when the signaling service was temporarily unavailable even though the direct audio and control connection was still working.
Improved: Remote Station channel names are removed from new logs and from exported log bundles.
Changed: the external VFO knob now uses Ctrl+Shift with number-row keys 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 instead of function keys, matching the current OpenShack VFO Programmer layout.
Improved: receive-only Remote Station guests can request a host log bundle for support; only one bundle can be prepared or sent at a time.
Fixed: an issue could finish a Morse Trainer or Advanced Trainer answer while a straight-key mark was still held.
Improved: CW screens use the familiar terms dot and dash instead of dit and dah.
Improved: Morse Trainer straight-key recognition adapts to the timing of each attempt, making hand-keyed dots and dashes more tolerant of natural speed variation.
Improved: Morse Trainer keeps correctly answered characters in regular review instead of letting newly introduced characters dominate a session.
Improved: Morse Trainer lesson numbering starts at lesson 1, and unclear straight-key input is reported without displaying partial pseudo-characters.
Fixed: an issue could reset the Morse Trainer audio source to the Box instead of keeping the user's selected source.
Improved: the SPE amplifier Power button fits its card and shows a red indicator while the amplifier is off.
Fixed: an issue could make CW Summit start its answer pause before the complete feedback sound had finished.

v1.1.192 · September 18, 2026

Bluetooth LE for the Remote CW Box: a wireless alternative to native USB

New: Remote CW Box firmware dated 2026-09-17 adds Bluetooth LE (BLE), so compatible browser apps and the Android and iOS Remote and CW apps can use the Box wirelessly. BLE is an alternative to native USB. On mobile devices, BLE is recommended over connecting the Box through WiFi or another network.
New: Hardware Settings now has a Bluetooth tab for switching Box BLE on or off, opening the fixed 60-second pairing window, and clearing saved pairings. On the Box, press and hold Button 2 (+WPM) for 3 seconds to switch BLE pairing on, or for 6 seconds to switch BLE off. The pairing code is 737373.
New: Remote Station hosts can send optional custom CAT commands after the radio becomes ready at session start and before it powers off at session end.
Fixed: an issue could make a custom Icom startup command time out or mark the radio ready before the command had completed.
Fixed: an issue could let liveness data from an earlier Remote Station session interfere with timeout handling for a newly accepted session.

v1.1.191 · September 15, 2026

Icom waterfall stays responsive when a local CAT bridge stalls

Fixed: an issue could make an Icom waterfall stop updating and the Stations Stop action freeze when an optional local CAT bridge stalled or was unavailable.
Fixed: an issue in the light theme could make callsign and result-sharing fields unreadable, and could clip the Advanced Trainer's copy comparison.
Fixed: an issue in the light theme could make the source, issue and category fields in Import TX Text difficult to read.
Improved: muted labels on dark readout areas, including the Morse Alphabet keying display, remain readable in the light theme.

v1.1.190 · September 13, 2026

RX-only Remote Station access, stronger station presence, CW Summit and TX practice

New: Remote Station hosts can hand out an RX-only secret for guests who may listen, view the scope and tune the radio without transmitting or controlling station equipment.
Fixed: an issue could make hosting stations temporarily lose their Online status after repeated connections, disconnects or network interruptions.
Fixed: an issue could delay Stations tab updates or prevent monitoring from resuming after connecting or disconnecting.
Improved: Hosts now see immediately when a client connected with the RX-only secret, with “RX only” shown in My Station and the Session tab as soon as the session starts.
Improved: The Stations list now explains the web-listening headphone icon, and clicking it on your own live station opens the listen-link window.
Improved: The Stations list button for your current connection now disconnects directly, while busy stations identify their operator and RX-only guests consistently.
Fixed: an issue could leave a station row grey and marked Offline after disconnecting even though the host remained online.
Improved: Amplifiers and tuners now power down together with the host's Remote Station window.
New: CW Link modes with a USB box can now key from N1MM+, Win-Test and other WinKeyer loggers through the OpenShack Winkey port.
New: CW Summit now lets you set the pause after each answer in milliseconds, and its feedback sounds no longer overlap the next Morse item.
Improved: CW Summit results now link to the completed leaderboard run and keep your leaderboard scroll position after publishing.
Improved: Competition result summaries now open the exact completed run in your leaderboard or local highscores; local TX/RX summaries also show immediately when you have set a new highscore.
New: TX competition practice now supports IARU HST assessment rules and shows the timing and spacing measurements behind each result.
Fixed: an issue in TX competition practice could count partial corrections or repeated playback as duplicate or unfinished answers.
New: You can import external TX reference texts for review and lock them to an attempt. PDF export is optional.

v1.1.189 · September 11, 2026

Alphabet decoder, CW Link logger keying, resilient audio settings, .NET 10

New: CW Link modes with a USB box ("OpenShack Box connected by USB", "USB Box → FlexRadio", "USB Box → Elecraft K4") can now key from your logger as well. Choose the Winkey COM port on the Keying source tab and N1MM+, Win-Test or any other WinKeyer logger sends through your box, exactly like the paddle. The Setup choices are now named "Network Host → …", "USB Box → …" and "No Box – Winkey Emulator only".
Improved: OpenShack now detects an unusable IPv6 route at startup and falls back to IPv4 automatically, so Remote Station host names still connect on networks that advertise IPv6 without providing a working IPv6 path.
Fixed: an issue could lose saved audio-device choices when Windows re-numbered sound devices. OpenShack remembers devices by name and finds them again under their new entries.
Changed: OpenShack now uses .NET 10 LTS and includes Hamlib 4.7.2 for radio control.
New: the Morse Alphabet sheet now decodes keying from an OpenShack Box, shows the recognised text, and highlights the corresponding character card. It also uses the same dark console theme as the rest of OpenShack.
New: Advanced Trainer can practise A-Z-only groups and now shares the same character and group-length controls as the other training games.
New: Remote Station hosts with an Elecraft K4 can stream the radio's panadapter to remote operators, and CW Link adds setups for keying a local or remote K4 over its network connection.
Fixed: an issue could make Remote Station alternate between VFO and non-VFO frequency information while the host radio was switched off.
Fixed: an issue could make Balloon Burst use different flight times at different window sizes.
Changed: Remote Control now opens automatically when the first Remote Station connection is established, and Icom Noise Blanker controls remain steady during radio readback.

v1.1.188 · September 4, 2026

Remote Connect: issue with leftover session state fixed

Fixed: when a Remote host powered up its radio during connection, the host could send all auxiliary-device status before the client had accepted the session. Constant-state controls such as URL Switcher then stayed empty until a second connection. Their state is now sent after WebRTC connects, and switching stations clears old slot labels so a previous host's device name cannot appear in the new host's window.
Fixed: an issue could briefly carry host/client values from the previous Remote Connect session into a new connection, including offered services, web listening links, waterfall identity, PTT timeout and rig VFO hints. Those values are cleared before reconnecting.
Hardened: service-control, auxiliary-device and waterfall messages now require the accepted-session identity. Untokened or delayed messages from an earlier session are rejected; all connected DTM clients and hosts must use this build or newer.

v1.1.187 · September 2, 2026

Web listening: doubled audio during transmit fixed

Fixed: web listeners on a station whose receive audio also picks up the operator's own transmission (rig TX monitor on LINE OUT, or an audio interface loopback) could hear that transmission twice — once live, once delayed. The host's "Mute RX during TX" switch now also mutes the web-listening feed for exactly the time the radio is keyed, with no extra delay added at release.

v1.1.186 · August 28, 2026

Remote Connect reconnect reliability

Fixed: Remote Connect could receive a client's connection request but fail to get the host's acceptance back to it until the host app was restarted. Signaling sends are now confirmed by the server, unanswered handshakes are retried on an internet-friendly schedule, and one stale signaling channel is replaced automatically before the attempt is abandoned.
Fixed: repeatedly opening or reconnecting Remote Connect could leave old signaling sockets and a WebRTC startup probe behind. They are now closed and disposed completely, preventing stale duplicate messages and exhausted media ports after a long-running host has handled many reconnects.
Fixed: an issue could allow a second DTM process to advertise the same station as a host at the same time. The second process is stopped before connecting instead of competing for the same remote operator.

v1.1.186 · August 27, 2026

Icom noise blanker depth & width controls

Supported Icom radios (IC-7300, IC-7300 Mark II, IC-7610, IC-7760) now show two extra Noise Blanker controls in the Remote Control window — NB Depth and NB Width — for finer noise-blanker shaping beyond the standard NB level slider. Both read the radio's actual stored value when you connect and confirm every change against the radio before the control moves.

v1.1.185 · August 27, 2026

Compact Keyer layout, WinKey reconnect fix

The Keyer window's CW tab is now more compact, ending right below the F10 macro row instead of leaving blank space beneath it.
Fixed: after a brief Remote connection drop, the WinKey CW interface used by logging software (for example Wavelog or N1MM) could lose its session and force the logger to reconnect. Reconnects now restore WinKey without disturbing your logging software's session.

v1.1.185 · August 26, 2026

Smoother RIT/XIT knob tuning

Turning a physical RIT/XIT knob quickly in the Remote Control window is now smoother and more responsive — detents are combined the same way VFO tuning already works, instead of sending a command for every tick.

v1.1.185 · August 25, 2026

Right-click split, OM Power frequency, waterfall QSY fixes

Right-click in the spectrum or waterfall now sets your split (VFO B) frequency instead of tuning. Left-click still tunes as before, so working split you can put your transmit frequency straight onto the spot you want without leaving the panadapter. Right-clicking a DX spot label puts the split on that spot's exact frequency. Split itself is not switched on for you — the frequency is simply placed and ready.
The OM Power tab now shows the exact frequency the amplifier reports, next to the band — the quickest way to confirm the amp has really followed you.
Fixed: a switched-off amplifier reported "Fault: OFF" in red, which read like something had gone wrong. The amplifier status line now shows a plain "OFF" or "OK", puts the OM Power tube warm-up and cool-down countdowns in amber, and reserves the red "Fault:" wording for an actual fault.
Fixed: on an Icom, working split made the VFO A and VFO B readouts in the Remote Control window swap over while transmitting, then right themselves when you let go. The Remote Control window no longer asks for frequency and mode while you transmit, ignores any late reply already on its way, and re-reads both as soon as you unkey.
Fixed: on a slow connection a late answer from the radio could be matched to the following question, which for the two frequency reads meant VFO B's frequency could land in the VFO A display and the other way round. Answers now carry their VFO with them.
Fixed: clicking a frequency in the waterfall or clicking a DX spot did not always bring the rest of the station along — an amplifier or antenna tuner watching the rig control link could miss the new frequency. Every tuning gesture in the waterfall now takes the same route as the VFO knob, and spot/waterfall clicks now also QSY when the Remote Control window is closed.
New "OpenShack Server" entry in the DX Cluster server list — a spot feed run by us that reaches you over a normal secure web connection, for networks that block telnet cluster ports. It needs no callsign and is receive-only. New installations start on it by default.
Fixed: the DX Cluster window could report "Connected" to a server that had not actually accepted the session. It now says Connected only once the node has really answered, tells you what went wrong when it does not, and lets you cancel a hanging connection attempt.

v1.1.184 · August 24, 2026

Station presence fix

Fixed: the Stations list could stop showing who else was online after a change on the connection service side, so hosts or clients could appear offline even while connected. Station presence now stays in sync again.

v1.1.183 · August 19, 2026

Remote Station host stays available after failed connections

Fixed: after a few failed remote connection attempts, the Remote Station host could stop hosting entirely and require a manual restart. The host now keeps waiting for a new client instead of giving up, and each new connection attempt gets a fresh chance to succeed instead of inheriting failures from an earlier session.

v1.1.183 · August 18, 2026

Duplicate-connection protection, TLS-only relay option

Fixed: a duplicate connection attempt from an already-connected remote client could disrupt your live rig-control link mid-session, and a rejected second client's audio/jitter settings could leak into your active session. Remote sessions now strictly ignore anything not coming from your accepted peer.
New "Relay via TLS only" option (Remote Connect, Advanced) for client networks whose firewall silently blocks the encrypted media connection even though the link looks fine at first — routes everything through the relay server over TLS/443 instead.
Fixed: repeated dropped-audio log entries during a brief network hiccup recovery could flood the log; these are now summarized instead.

v1.1.183 · August 16, 2026

Keyer paddle/mode settings fix

Fixed: after closing the Keyer, the box's paddle/mode settings could end up altered or reversed (for example, stuck in Ultimatic mode) the next time it was used. A leftover Keyer session could re-send stale settings while shutting down; this no longer happens.

v1.1.183 · August 16, 2026

OpenShack Box firmware 1.58

Fixed: keyer settings (paddle mode, reversal, and similar) could be corrupted or lost when a host app controlled the box.

v1.1.182 · August 14, 2026

Keyer fix, touchpad scrolling

Fixed: an issue prevented the Keyer from keying the remote transmitter when run as a client without your own box on that PC. It reaches the remote station with sidetone in your headphones as usual; TUNE and PTT in the Remote Control window also work without a local box.
Fixed: an issue could cause slow two-finger scrolling on laptop touchpads to be ignored in the Remote Control window until a faster gesture was made.
Fixed: an issue could prevent one-step mouse-wheel tuning over the spectrum and waterfall until the window had been clicked.

v1.1.180 · August 7, 2026

Hardware Settings, Remote Station and shortcuts

Hardware Settings: the SSID field can now be typed into, not only picked from the scan list. That lets you set up a hidden network, or prepare the Box at home for the network it will run on later, without that network being in range.
Fixed: WiFi network names containing a space, such as "My Home Net", appeared shortened to the first word in Hardware Settings and could overwrite a working WiFi configuration. Such names are now shown and stored in full. Update your Box firmware to get it.
Remote Station: each rotator can now be given a park position that the station turns it to when the PC is shut down remotely or after automatic inactivity shutdown, so your beams do not sit pointing wherever the last contact left them.
Remote Station: a newly installed client now starts every service it can, including CAT, and follows the station's web-listening switch until you set it yourself.
Fixed: users who originally installed under the old DL2CC-REMOTE-CW name kept a leftover shortcut in the Start menu and on the Desktop alongside the current OpenShack one. Setup now removes those original shortcuts too.

v1.1.179 · August 6, 2026

Box firmware, Morse Trainer and Paddle Analyzer

OpenShack Box firmware: improved WinKey compatibility with logging programs, including reliable backspace handling, more natural keying weight and ratio, and better behaviour at low speeds.
Remote Station: improved compatibility with MSHV when it sends longer rig-control commands.
Morse Trainer: the sent-versus-copied feedback now appears beside the answer box, so it stays readable instead of covering what you are typing.
Paddle Analyzer: straight-key sessions now use dedicated timing analysis, display the actual key-down contact, and keep all toolbar controls visible on high-DPI or narrow displays.

v1.1.176 · August 3, 2026

Clearer CW Link and Winkey setup

Your personal settings — chat callsign, audio device choices, trainer and competition preferences — now survive program updates. Because of where Windows stored them, every update silently reset them in the past; they now live in the OpenShack data folder, and the first start after this update automatically brings back the most recent values from your previous version.
CW Link: setup is now organized around the equipment in front of you — an operator computer, a computer at the radio, or a standalone OpenShack Box. Clearer choices, labels, instructions, and status information guide you through Windows-to-Windows, mixed Windows/Box, Box-to-Box, FlexRadio, and logger setups without requiring you to translate client/host terminology.
CW Link and Remote Station: when the OpenShack installer created the Winkey virtual COM-port pair, OpenShack now selects its own port automatically for existing profiles that still have no port selected and tells you exactly which matching port to choose in N1MM+, Win-Test, or another logger.

v1.1.175 · August 2, 2026

Remote Control, Paddle Analyzer and Box firmware

Remote Control: copying VFO A to B, B to A, or swapping them now carries the mode and filter width together with the frequency. The VFO B display also shows its own mode and width, making split operation easier to verify.
Paddle Analyzer: correction signs and the <CH> prosign are now decoded in the live text, so sent corrections are shown accurately.
OpenShack Box firmware 1.55: the PTT safety timeout is now 120 seconds instead of 60 seconds, matching the current Windows app default.

v1.1.174 · July 30, 2026

Remote Station, Remote Control and Personal Best

Remote Station: voice PTT now confirms that the station rig has returned to receive after unkeying and promptly corrects the control display when it has not. This prevents a stuck transmission from appearing as receive.
Remote Control: voice-mode USB and LSB filter choices now omit impractically narrow widths below 2.4 kHz, while CW, digital and other modes keep their narrow filters.
Remote Control: the external VFO knob now uses one Win+Alt+F1 to F7 mapping for reliable operation over USB and Bluetooth. The ADV tab shows the exact button assignments.
Personal Best: each card now names the game settings a result was played with, for example "10 bursts/level" in Balloon Burst or the speed steps in CW Summit. Runs played with settings that make the game easier or harder get their own top 10, so a relaxed practice run no longer pushes a standard run out of the list. CW Summit also keeps Koch set and full set apart.
Balloon Burst and CW Summit: the HIGH SCORE on the front panel now belongs to the settings you have set up, matching the Personal Best card for that setup. Change the character set, the targets, BURSTS / LEVEL, the listen speed or the CW Summit speed steps, and the record shown changes with them, so you always see the mark you can actually beat.

July 18, 2026

Remote Station and Box firmware

Remote Station: new support for OM Power amplifiers (OM2000A+, OM1700A+, OM2501A, OM3501A, OM4001A and OM4001C) connected over the network.
Remote Station: you can now set up as many as four antenna rotators, each with its own PSTRotatorAZ connection and a name of your choice.
Balloon Burst: Listen Mode now has a front-panel WPM control that can be adjusted while playing. A new WPM Ramp per Level setting from 0 to 5 lets you keep a fixed speed or choose how quickly the game accelerates.
OpenShack Box firmware: Box-to-Box relay mode now uses relay.openshack.com and establishes its low-latency UDP path more reliably, while retaining automatic TCP fallback.

July 17, 2026

DL2CC Studio is now OpenShack

The program, its shortcuts, and the installer all carry the new OpenShack name and icon. In Windows, search for OpenShack instead of DL2CC Studio or DL2... names.
Your settings, license and virtual COM port configuration are taken over automatically on first start; no re-activation and no manual uninstall of the old version are needed.
OpenShack Box firmware now uses the OpenShack Box Bluetooth device name, matching the new product name.

July 13, 2026

Remote Station memory, Paddle Analyzer and CW Link

Remote Station now remembers band stacks, frequency memory, filters, CW/CWR choice and per-band power profiles per station and operator.
Paddle Analyzer is available from Settings, with clearer timing history, conversion metrics, switchpoint guidance and tooltips.
CW Link adds an Advanced tab for a desktop launcher and Windows autostart; Force P2P now reports direct-connection failures more clearly.

July 9, 2026

OpenShack Box firmware refresh

OpenShack Box firmware: WebFlash now carries the current July 9 build with the latest timing and slip-handling fixes for authenticated WiFi and Box-2-Box operation.

July 1, 2026

Box-2-Box status and controls

Box-2-Box: peer status is now visible in the app.
Remote Station: a new command-center window switcher makes it easier to switch between remote-session windows.
Balloon Burst: Words, Groups and Callsigns can now be used as keying targets.
Box-2-Box: connection controls and status fields were expanded.
Box-2-Box: the B2B tab is easier to use, with relay controls guarded by station mode, RHC days shown, and the tab placed before Log.

June 29, 2026

WiFi authentication and firmware safety

IMPORTANT — Remote Station: connecting to the OpenShack Box over WiFi now requires authentication for your protection. WHEN UPGRADING TO VERSION 162 OR HIGHER, THE OPENSHACK BOX FIRMWARE MUST BE UPGRADED AS WELL IF WiFi IS USED! The box now verifies the app before it accepts any keying or settings, so a box whose port is reachable from the internet can no longer be operated by anyone else. A box still running older firmware will not connect over WiFi until it is updated with WebFlash — USB connections are not affected.
OpenShack Box firmware: a lost WiFi connection now drops the transmitter out of transmit immediately instead of waiting for a timeout, improving on-air safety.

June 27, 2026

Remote Connect restore

Remote Connect: the TX Decoder window is now remembered and reopened automatically across reconnects.
Hardware Settings: paddle keyer mode labels now use the short S/A/B/U codes consistently.

June 25, 2026

Competition workflow

Competition mode: pressing Enter in the competition window now starts the selected discipline, new competitors reset the current discipline state automatically, and Pile-Up competition attempt limits are enforced consistently.

June 23, 2026

Remote CW timing and support tools

Remote Station: the built-in remote log collector can request a support bundle from the other side of a session, making remote troubleshooting easier.
Remote CW: box-less client operation has improved RTT measurement and adaptive jitter-buffer handling, reducing choppy CW/audio timing in remote sessions.
Remote CW: routine Clear Buffer handling no longer flushes the host box unnecessarily, avoiding shortened or dropped elements during live keying.
WinKey Emulator: replies and status bytes are queued off the keyer thread so slow virtual COM writes cannot disturb keying timing.
OpenShack Box firmware: host-open escape detection is more robust when 0x00 bytes arrive split across serial chunks.
Installer: the CP210x FIFO latency tweak now uses 5 ms instead of 1 ms, reducing USB chunking while still lowering latency versus the driver default.

June 22, 2026

Important settings note

IMPORTANT: The product name has changed to OpenShack. Some settings are not migrated; please verify your settings when you use the app. The local data directory is now %LOCALAPPDATA%\OpenShack.
Installer: setup now applies the CP210x low-latency FIFO registry tweak when the Silicon Labs driver is already installed.

June 19, 2026

Winkey Emulator and bundled virtual ports

Remote Station: Winkey Emulator and Winkey Proxy now give contest loggers a Winkey-compatible virtual COM port. With an OpenShack Box connected, Winkey traffic is proxied to the Box; without a client-side Box, the software emulator turns logger Winkey commands into remote CW keying over the protected remote connection.
Installer: optional driver setup now includes VB-Audio VB-CABLE and com0com virtual COM ports for CAT, TRX Emulator, and Winkey.
Installer: the driver task page now checks for existing CP210x, VB-CABLE, and DL2CC com0com setup and preselects only missing items.
Installer: setup now writes support notes and diagnostics under LocalAppData and opens the selected-driver summary in Notepad after installation.

June 13, 2026

Web listening, Stations grid and Remote V2 split handling

Web listening now keeps the enable checkbox synchronized across host and client, remembers per-side settings and shows clearer listen-in actions in the Stations tab.
CW sidetone latency in the browser listener is reduced, including the replayed-idle-gap case that could accumulate delay.
Remote V2 split and VFO handling is more reliable, with faster TS-2000 emulator behavior and restored RX/TX badges.
The Stations grid now uses clearer status LEDs and shows the listen-in headphone on the active-session row.
Remote Control documentation now includes the Icom transverter (X-VERTER) switch.

June 9, 2026

Waterfall controls

Icom scope mode and edge controls are clearer, and spot-click QSY is more reliable.

June 9, 2026

Flex Keyer and FlexRadio waterfall

A new Flex Keyer is available under Tools -> Flex Keyer for FlexRadio network CW operation.
The Flex waterfall now follows the radio VFO more accurately, including click-to-QSY, bandwidth switching and frequency-axis alignment.
The Flex Keyer window is more polished, uses the app icon, has clearer card-style controls and is covered by new user documentation.

June 8, 2026

Listen Mode and Remote Station radio details

Listen Mode decoded characters are no longer spoken twice while a message balloon is active.
Elecraft K3 power output is now shown correctly on the remote side.
Icom radios now show the actual CW and SSB filter width on the remote side.

June 7, 2026

Waterfall display, Winkey proxy and firmware

Waterfall frequency-axis labels now stay readable on top of the QRG marker, while the own-QRG marker is bolder and no longer hides spot information.
The DX cluster spot overlay adds an own "Last seen" age filter and an All/Filtered toggle.
The remote Winkey proxy no longer drops the inter-character gap at macro boundaries.
The included WebFlash firmware image is updated to the June 7, 2026 OpenShack Box build.

June 5, 2026

Remote release flow, audio reliability and keyer docs

Hosts can release the current operator while staying online; the client receives the reason and reconnects cleanly without phantom log rows.
Remote audio session setup and its default mode were improved for more stable connections.
The startup hardware/license splash now shows the installed application version.
The keyer documentation adds Iambic mode diagrams and clarifies the Pause Memory / Iambic A behavior.

May 28, 2026

Session Log, installer icon, branding and recent fixes

Remote Connect now includes a Session Log in the Log tab with start/end time, partner, role, state and comments, making recent connections and support cases easier to review.
The installer EXE now shows the OpenShack logo as its Windows Explorer file icon.
OpenShack now uses the new OpenShack logo across the app, installer, website and documentation.
Windows taskbar icons use a transparent background, while Start, Store and Splash assets keep the dark rounded tile.
The browser tools now ship matching favicons and touch icons.
Remote Connect session cleanup and shared-window ownership were tightened to avoid stale connected states and duplicate tool windows.
Host-side rigctld startup, band tracking and launcher setting changes are handled more robustly.
Line-In Mix-Through now leaves the audio path quiet when disabled.

May 23, 2026

RufzXP Classic

Typed-ahead input is kept across rounds.

May 22, 2026

Trainer and hardware settings

Hardware refresh now re-scans COM ports while disconnected.
Advanced Trainer input and default profile behavior were refined.

May 21, 2026

Remote Connect

Host selection is clearer, auto-selects new hosts and keeps sessions alive during peer re-offers.

May 20, 2026

Remembered host selection

The Remote Connect client remembers the selected host.

May 19, 2026

Privacy and stability

Browser tools now document local storage and JSON import/export.
Remote Station secret editing and host-side window restore are more robust.

Download OpenShack for Windows.

Version 1.1.197