710 Version 0.2.38
Fixed
- The app always starts on the normal console. It no longer jumps straight into the dedicated CW
console just because the radio happened to already be in CW when the app connected - the CW
console opens when you select CW in the app.
Version 0.2.37
Changed
- Reworked the dedicated CW console to the layout designed with a CW operator: band and CW mode,
key speed, pitch and delay and the internal keyer on the left; large PO/SWR/ALC/S meters and a
compact VFO with USB/CW, RX bandwidth, AGC and step across the top; the spectrum and waterfall
in the centre; and a single control row beneath it for CW filter width, CW zero / tune,
break-in, RIT/XIT and keyboard CW text. The tab strip stays available at the bottom.
- The PO, SWR, ALC and S meters are redrawn to match the spectrum scope: the same blue, a
near-black face and a clean emitted-light glow, with the over-range end of the S and power
meters in red.
New
- CW ZERO centres receive on the CW signal using the FT-710's own auto zero-in over CAT.
- RIT and XIT now have offset adjusters and a clear control, and CW filter width has quick
50 / 100 / 200 / 300 / 500 / 1000 Hz presets - all using the verified FT-710 CAT commands.
Version 0.2.36
New
- Added a dedicated full-screen CW operating console with a large VFO-A display, live meters,
genuine FT-710 spectrum and waterfall data, a prominent CW tuning reference, and compact
controls designed for narrow-signal operation.
- Selecting the CW tab now changes the radio to CW and opens the dedicated console automatically.
- Added a clear Back / Normal View control. Changing the radio away from CW also restores the
normal console.
- The CW console shares the existing CAT connection, radio state and Direct3D/FT4222 rendering
path; it does not create a second radio or scope-data service.
Changed
- CW controls only expose functions implemented by the verified FT-710 CAT layer. External
Standard-COM DTR keyboard keying is labelled separately from radio CAT controls.
- CW band changes preserve CW mode instead of returning the radio to USB.
Version 0.2.35
Changed
- The RF scope and AF-FFT audio spectrum now use the smooth "aquarium" renderer as standard,
with a fluid spring-animated spectrum and glass passband. The experimental on/off toggle has
been removed.
- The AF-FFT audio spectrum is drawn as a clean, smooth curve with a crisp crest to match the
RX DSP filter display, instead of the previous blocky trace.
Version 0.2.34
Fixed
- CAT now uses the configured FT-710 baud rate consistently when opening and reconnecting.
- The app verifies a real radio response before reporting CAT as connected.
- If the saved rate does not respond, the app safely detects the working FT-710 CAT rate without changing radio settings and remembers it.
- Added clearer CAT connection diagnostics and baud-rate selection in Setup and Connection settings.
Version 0.2.33
New
- Full keyboard CW support for the FT-710.
- Keyboard CW uses the FT-710 Standard COM port with DTR keying while normal CAT remains on the Enhanced COM port.
- Local PC CW sidetone with adjustable pitch and volume.
- SEND, STOP / ABORT and CLEAR controls with immediate safe key release.
- CW controls for key speed, pitch, delay and break-in.
- FT-710 radio memory playback remains separate from keyboard CW.
- Automatic Standard COM detection and CW keying readiness status.
Fixed
- Preserves USB Audio Compatibility Mode and all existing 0.2.32 functionality.
Version 0.2.32
New
- Added an optional USB Audio Compatibility Mode for systems where arming the PC microphone can
interrupt FT-710 USB receive audio. The normal production audio path remains the default.
Validated
- Normal and compatibility audio modes were manually confirmed on a real FT-710, including RX,
repeated PTT cycles, PC microphone TX audio, TX-render cleanup and VOX operation.
Version 0.2.31
New
- Scope settings now include selectable 30 or 60 FPS presentation limits. Radio scope frames
continue to be collected at the rate supplied by the radio.
- The audio oscilloscope now has display-only timebase and vertical sensitivity controls.
Changed
- SWR sweeps use one continuous low-power CW carrier while stepping through frequencies, with
brief receive breaks on long sweeps. Measurements use five meter samples per point.
- SWR results now show a smooth shape-preserving curve and visible markers for every actual
measurement. Best SWR and the measured below-2:1 range come from real readings.
- CB plan buttons now tune the selected plan, and USA channels 36–40 default to LSB.
Version 0.2.30
New
- Added the Polish PL 40-channel CB plan using the standard zero frequencies (26.960 to
27.400 MHz).
Changed
- 11 m is now a free-tuning VFO preset. Mouse-wheel and scope tuning follow the selected STEP
instead of jumping between CB channels.
- The 710 Console title now uses the same Chakra Petch typeface as 710console.co.uk while keeping
the application's existing colours.
Version 0.2.27
If you are updating from an earlier beta, please uninstall 710 Console first and then run this
installer once. That makes sure the radio drivers are reinstalled cleanly. Your settings, logbook,
memories, CQ clips and recordings are kept. After this the app updates itself.
Fixed
- Receive audio staying off after the radio's USB audio briefly dropped out. When Windows reports
the device has gone, the app now releases it, waits for the radio to reappear and reconnects to
it, retrying for about 15 seconds instead of once. Help > Audio check logs how long it took.
Version 0.2.26
Changed
- CB mode takes less room: the 40 channels are laid out 8 across, with 11m DX and the UK / CEPT /
USA channel plans on one row beneath, so the sidebar fits on smaller windows.
Fixed
- CB channel buttons flickered when the mouse moved over them.
Version 0.2.25
Changed
- CB channel buttons are spaced and edged like the band buttons, so the highlight moves
smoothly from button to button.
- Audio check also shows each device's own Windows format (e.g. 16 bit, 48000 Hz), whether the
radio is transmitting or on VOX, and Windows' Communications setting, which can turn receive
audio down when a microphone is in use.
Version 0.2.24
New
- Help > Audio check. A report of how Windows has your audio devices set up (sample rate,
exclusive mode, which programs are using each one), which devices the app is using, and a log
of what the receive audio has done this session. Copy report gives you text to send to support.
It only reads settings and changes nothing.
Version 0.2.15
Changed
- Switching to CB mode tunes VFO-A to channel 38 (27.385 MHz LSB) and VFO-B to 27.555 MHz USB.
Switching back to HAM mode puts VFO-A on 20 m (14.250 USB) and VFO-B on 40 m (7.150 LSB).
- The channel number in the VFO header now shows in full ("CH 19"), and the CB details on each VFO
follow that VFO's own frequency.
- Menu entries that can be switched on show a tick (HAM mode / CB mode, Share usage statistics),
and the menu divider is dark instead of white.
Fixed
- Choosing HAM mode while already in HAM mode switched to CB mode.
Version 0.2.14
New
- CB mode (Settings > CB mode). Swaps the band buttons for the 40 CB channels, with CH 9, CH 19 and
11m DX (27.555 USB) shortcuts and a choice of UK 40, CEPT 40 or USA 40 channel plans. Picking a
channel tunes the radio in FM (AM for the USA plan); the tuning knob and +/- step a channel at a
time; and the VFO shows the channel number. Switch back with Settings > HAM mode.
Fixed
- Receive audio could go silent after transmitting with the PC microphone, until you reconnected.
The app now rebuilds the audio by itself within a few seconds if the radio's audio stream drops.
Version 0.2.13
New
- Anonymous usage statistics. The app now reports how long it is open, the radio connected,
transmitting, receiving and in remote sessions, with the app version and country - no callsigns,
frequencies, audio, logbook, location or anything you type. It is on by default; untick
Help > Share usage statistics to turn it off. Details: 710console.co.uk/#privacy
Changed
- The RX / TX badge on the VFOs is the same blue as the RX BW value.
- DX tab band and mode buttons no longer keep a blue outline after being clicked.
Version 0.2.12
New
- HamQTH as a second source for station positions (optional, LOG > Settings). HamQTH is a free
callbook; when QRZ doesn't give a station's position, HamQTH's exact published position is used
before estimating from the town.
Fixed
- More stations are placed on the map. A postcode in the QTH is now used ("Dzerzhinsk 222720"),
region words like "obl." or "province" are no longer searched as the town, and name searches
only accept towns and villages, never businesses or other places.
Version 0.2.11
New
- DX tab: live DX cluster spots. Connects in the background when the app starts, using the callsign
in LOG > Settings, and fills with recent spots straight away. Filter by any mix of bands and
modes (CW, SSB, DATA, FM/AM) - your choice is remembered. Double-click a spot (or press Tune) to
set the radio's mode and frequency and put the callsign in the logbook, with its QRZ details,
map and bearing. A tick shows stations already in your log. Read-only: nothing is posted.
- QRZ Logbook upload (optional, LOG > Settings). Paste your QRZ Logbook API key and each QSO is
sent to your QRZ logbook as you log it; a QRZ column shows the result, Send to QRZ sends older
QSOs, and anything that couldn't be sent goes next time the app opens. QSOs already on QRZ are
never overwritten. QRZ only accepts uploads for logbooks with an XML subscription. The ADIF
download is unchanged.
Changed
- Selected rows in the logbook and spot list are a grey band instead of white.
- The RX DSP filter display shows a clean passband; the faint grey line along its bottom is gone.
Version 0.2.10
Fixed
- Stations whose QTH names a village and its municipality ("Ventosa - Alenquer", "Hove / Brighton")
are now placed on the map. The parts are searched together first, so a village name shared by
several places resolves to the right one, then the municipality alone.
- Every estimated location is now checked to be in the station's own country.
Version 0.2.9
Fixed
- Stations without a published grid now appear on the map far more often. Postal abbreviations are
expanded (NB -> New Brunswick), names like "Saint Antoine Nord" are matched to the town, and when
the town can't be found the station is placed at its state or province instead. Every estimate is
checked to be in the right country and state, and stays marked approximate (~).
- Stations looked up before this update are placed on the map the next time they are opened,
without another QRZ lookup.
- Scrollbars are dark to match the console instead of Windows' light grey.
- The map credit is smaller and quieter.
Version 0.2.8
New - logbook station lookup, map, distance and bearing
- QRZ callsign lookup in the LOG tab. Type a callsign and its operator's name, QTH, country, grid and
location appear (automatically after a short pause, or with Lookup QRZ). Uses QRZ's official XML
service with your QRZ login, entered under LOG > Settings; the password is stored encrypted.
Grid and coordinates need a QRZ XML subscription - without one, the station is placed from its
town and country instead, and marked as approximate (~).
- A map showing your station and theirs with the great-circle path, and the distance in km and miles
with the beam heading, e.g. 5,380 km / 3,343 mi - 289 WNW. Set your own grid or latitude/longitude
under LOG > Settings. Maps are OpenStreetMap, drawn in the console's dark colours.
- Station details are saved with each QSO, so old QSOs show their map and distance straight away.
Optional Name, Country, Grid, Distance and Bearing columns, and ADIF export now includes NAME,
QTH, COUNTRY, GRIDSQUARE and DISTANCE (estimated locations are never exported as a grid).
- QRZ.com button opens the callsign's QRZ page when you have no QRZ login.
Version 0.2.7
Fixed
- Speakers / headphones could leave out your PC's own sound card. The app treated any audio device
with "USB Audio" in its name as the radio and hid it - but many PC sound cards, headsets and docks
use the same words. Every output is now listed, with likely radio devices at the bottom, and a
device you choose is always used as chosen.
Version 0.2.6
Fixed
- No waterfall because the radio's spectrum output was switched off. The FT-710 only provides its
spectrum to a PC while the menu setting SCU-LAN10 (Operation Setting > General) is ON - with it
OFF, the spectrum interface disappears from the PC completely. The app now checks this when it
connects and switches it on for you. This is the only radio setting the app changes without
asking, because the waterfall cannot work without it. Scope check reports it as SC13.
Version 0.2.5
Changed
- Scope check now asks Windows directly whether it can see the radio's spectrum interface, so it can
tell "Windows cannot see it at all" (SC08 - a USB port or cable problem) apart from "Windows sees
it but has no driver" (SC09 - reinstall the drivers). The report lists what Windows found.
Version 0.2.4
New
- Help > Scope check. If the waterfall is not showing, this works through the driver, the radio's
spectrum interface and the scope data, and tells you which one is at fault with a short code
(SC01, SC03 and so on). Where it can, it offers to fix it - reinstalling the drivers or
restarting the scope - and Copy report gives you a summary to send to support.
- Listen on radio (AUDIO tab). Hear receive audio from the radio's own speaker instead of the PC,
with AF Gain setting the radio's volume. The app previously always muted the radio.
- USB drive (AUDIO tab). With the PC microphone, the radio uses its USB MOD GAIN rather than its
MIC GAIN, and this was fixed at 50 - which capped ALC however high the MIC slider went. It is
now adjustable and remembered.
- Power the radio on or off from the Radio menu. Switching on only works while the radio keeps
standby power and its USB connection. Not available to remote operators.
Fixed
- VOX delay changes were rejected by the radio, so the setting never changed. The app sent the
value in the wrong format.
- If the radio's display was left at zero brightness, it is brought back to a visible level when
the app connects.
Version 0.2.3
Fixed
- VOX did not key the radio when you spoke into the PC microphone. The radio's VOX SELECT was
listening to the microphone jack rather than the USB audio the app sends. Switching VOX on now
points it at USB automatically, and there is a VOX Source setting (Mic / USB / Rear) on the VOX
tab if you want to change it. Note the radio keeps a separate VOX gain for each source, so the
gain shown is the one for the source actually in use, and the VOX tab now says in plain words
why VOX will not key if something is set wrong.
- The notch and contour sliders jumped or ignored small mouse-wheel movements.
- The AF/OSC button kept a blue outline after being clicked.
Changed
- The SWR sweep is now drawn as a bar graph, in the style of the IC-7300, on a 1:1 to 3:1 scale with
a 2:1 line. Steps down to 1 kHz are available and 5 kHz is the default, so a narrow SWR spike is
actually measured rather than missed between readings.
- The sweep range can be typed in as well as picked from a band. Band plans differ by region, and an
antenna often resonates outside the band edges, so start and stop are now yours to set. Sweeping
outside an amateur band is flagged: transmitting there is not permitted under most licences and
the radio will normally refuse to key, so those steps are skipped rather than plotted.
- The S meter and power meter light up red past S9 and past 80 W. Only the part of the arc beyond
that point changes colour.
- The meter arcs are drawn flat, with no glow or shading, and the peak section is drawn thicker than
the rest of the arc.
- The PTT key setting has moved to the TX Profile tab, and the SYSTEM tab is now called REMOTE.
Version 0.2.2
- Published as 0.2.3; 0.2.2 was never released.
Version 0.2.1
- Drivers: installing the CAT driver on a PC that already had it made the installer stop before
installing the spectrum (FTDI) driver, which is why the waterfall did not work for some people.
Both drivers now install independently, and a driver that is already present is treated as success.
- Licence: a PC that could not reach the licence server was locked out. New installs now get a
3-day grace period and open normally while they keep retrying.
Version 0.2.0
- Copying the station share code no longer crashes the app.
- Squelch is opened and RF gain set to full when the radio connects, so receive audio is never silent
because of a setting left over from another mode.
- Settings tabs size themselves to their contents - no more scrolling to reach controls.
- SWR sweep across a band, plotted with the 2:1 range and best match.
- Automatic update checking, with the download verified before it runs.
- Choose which key works as PTT, and pick needle or glow-arc meters.
- Remote transmit failures now show the reason, and microphone audio status is shown on both PCs.