This page lists release notes for the last major version of Aether, version 1.5. To see a list of changes specific to this release, please see this page.

IMPORTANT: The file format Aether uses to store logs has been updated and logs opened or saved in version 1.5 will no longer be readable by earlier versions of Aether. It's always a good idea to make backups of important files, and it is recommended that you make backup copies of your logs before using them in Aether 1.5.

As always, please report any bugs or suggestions for improvement by emailing support@aetherlog.com.

New Features

• Logbook of The World integration, including support for all functions of the TQSL program.
• eQSL.cc integration, including automatic and manual syncing of QSOs.
• Awards tracking/reporting, including support for realtime indication if a contact is needed for an award.
• Powerful new QSL tracking support.
• Aether can now export KML files to enable the display of QSO locations in Google Earth.
• Aether is now a 64/32-bit Universal application.

Improvements

• Updated Italian localization, which is now complete. Many thanks to Normando Marcolongo.
• Added confirmation alert when deleting QSOs.
• Added 70cm to the band combo box drop down.
• The notes field is now integrated into the main log window. It appears to the right of the Callbook Info area when the log window is wider than 1000 pixels. The floating notes window is still available by selecting "Show Note Inspector" from the View menu.
• In addition to DXCC and ITU zone, CQ zone can now be automatically filled in when logging QSOs. ITU zone data is also more complete.
• Aether now uses country files from http://www.country-files.com/ for callsign prefix data. User can download file from http://www.country-files.com/cty/cty.csv and put in /Library/Application Support/Aether/ and Aether will use that file rather than its internal file, facilitating user updates of callsign prefix data.
• Added support for the Yaesu FTdx5000.
• When an Aether document is resized to be wide enough, a notes box is displayed to the right of the Callbook Info fields.
• Callbook lookups are now much faster. Free callbook lookups now use WM7D.net.
• Looking up callbook info for multiple QSOs no longer causes Aether to stop responding to user input.
• IOTA is now available as a column in the QSO table.
• Distance and beam heading is now calculated using grid square if latitude/longitude is not filled in.
• Aether has a more fully featured AppleScript dictionary now.
• The default file format for Aether is now Aether DB. This format offers greatly improved performance compared to Aether XML. Aether XML remains fully supported however.
• Callsign field and grid square field are now capitalized properly as they're filled in.
• Changed keyboard shortcut for "Delete Selected QSO" to command-backspace so that it can be invoked no matter which user interface element is currently selected.
• Performance when deleting QSOs in large logs is significantly improved.
• Many other performance and user interface improvements.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a hang that could occur when looking up a very small number callsigns.
• The band column now sorts in the expected order, based on frequency rather than alphabetically. For example, 6m is no longer placed between 40m and 80m.
• The QSL field in QSL Info labels now shows "PSE" if a QSL card for that QSO has not been received, "TNX" if it has. Previously, it read "TNX" even if a QSL card had not been received.
• When callbook lookup fails for a large number of QSOs, the alert with failed callsigns is now limited in size to avoid overflowing the screen.
• Aether no longer hangs if it is quit then restarted after sleeping and waking with rig control on.
• Minor security issue with storing passwords for LoTW, eQSL.cc, QRZ.com, and TQSL certificates is now fixed.
• IOTA is now filled in when doing a callbook lookup using the QRZ.com Subscription XML feed if it's present.
• Fixed bug that caused DXCC, ITU Zone and CQ Zone to not be filled in when doing callbook lookups in certain cases.
• Fixes for FT950 rig control.
• Country, DXCC, ITU Zone and CQ Zone are filled in when doing a callbook lookup.
• Fixed a bug that caused an incorrect DXCC entity to be filled in in the station info panel in rare cases.
• Fixed a bug that made it so it was impossible to delete the frequency from a QSO.
• Fixed Cabrillo format for VHF contests.
• Distance and beam heading are now updated immediately when grid square or latitude/longitude are changed.
• The QSO dupe indicator is properly updated when deleting a QSO.
• The power field is now hidden in the rig info area at the bottom left corner of the log window for Yaesu rigs that don't support reading power over the CAT connection.
• Fixed bugs that caused incorrect beam heading results.
• Fixed a bug that caused Aether to fail to save logs in rare cases.
• Fixed a crash when clicking the Make Default button in the Station Info panel twice.
• When printing, the short date format from the user's system language preferences is now used, (for example, 21/08/2010 for the UK instead of forcing the US format of 08/21/00).
• Fixed a bug that caused the station info panel to be cut off at the bottom sometimes.

Known Issues

• No known issues at this time.

Changes in Aether 1.5.1

This is a minor update to fix several issues reported in version 1.5.0.

Improvements

• Added IC-7600 as a supported radio.
• Improved accuracy of Google Maps for U.S. callsigns when using free callbook lookup.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a crash that occurred when trying to sync with Logbook of The World if no LoTW certificates were installed.
• Several minor bug fixes for eQSL.cc integration.
• Double clicking the note indicator icon in the notes column (when it's narrow) now properly shows the new integrated notes field instead of the old floating notes panel.
• The time separator under Tiger now shows up correctly as ":" instead of "/".
• Fixed a bug that caused the Add to Address Book feature to fail in certain cases.
• Fixed a bug that caused QSL info label printing to fail often.
• Fixed other bugs related to QSL info label printing.
• Added workaround for bug in TQSL application that was causing it to report errors when signing ADIF files generated using Aether 1.5.
• Fixed a bug that caused the registered user's name to fail to appear in the registration window in the Italian version.

Known Issues

• No known issues at this time.

Changes in Aether 1.5.2

This is a minor update to fix several issues reported in version 1.5.1.

Improvements

• Improved callbook lookup performance.

Bug Fixes

• Minor fixes to realtime awards tracking accuracy.
• Fixed a slowdown that occurred when entering data for a QSO with realtime awards tracking enabled.
• Fixes to IC-751A support.
• Fixes for rig control stability problems.

Known Issues

• No known issues at this time.

Changes in Aether 1.5.3

This is a minor update to fix several issues reported in version 1.5.2. It also adds a German translation of Aether.

New Features

• Aether is now available in German. Thanks to Stephan Werker and Hanna Simon for the excellent translation work.

Improvements

• This version of Aether supports an upcoming change to the data returned from WM7D.net.
• Improved handling of callbook lookup for prefixed/suffixed callsigns.
• Updated built-in callsign prefix database.

Bug Fixes

• Callbook lookups of many QSOs at once are now more reliable.
• Fixed a bug that would rarely cause a hang when looking up certain callsigns via QRZ.com's XML feed.
• Fixed a bug that could inaccurate results for the Worked All States award.
• Other minor callbook lookup fixes.
• Fixed a rare crash that could occur if a log window was closed while a callbook lookup was still in progress.
• Fixed a bug that could cause the frequency and mode for the wrong VFO to be displayed when using rig control with a Yaesu FT-990.

Known Issues

• No known issues at this time.

Changes in Aether 1.5.4

This update fixes several bugs as well as adding minor new features, most notably support for connection to TEN-TEC Orion II and Jupiter radios.

New Features

• Added support for TEN-TEC Orion II.
• Added support for TEN-TEC Jupiter.
• Added support for Kenwood TS-590.

Improvements

• Added an AppleScript command to key the RTS (or DTR) line for PTT. The command is "key transmitter true/false".
• Frequency, mode and power of a connected radio can now be accessed via AppleScript.
• Improved cocoaModem integration so that rig frequency, mode and power are included in QSOs logged from cocoaModem.
• Running cocoaModem integration setup now adds the option to use Aether for cocoaModem PTT functionality.
• Improved migration of preferences when upgrading from earlier versions of Aether.
• By default, Aether now creates a new log when launched for the first time. On the second and subsequent launches, the last open log is reopened.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that caused Cabrillo import to fail in some cases.
• Addressed an issue that could cause the previous QSO indicator to stop working requiring a restart in rare cases.
• Improved AppleScript "lookup" command so that it can take either a list of QSOs or a single QSO as a parameter.
• Fixed a bug that could cause callbook lookups to stop working requiring a restart of Aether.
• Fixed a bug that could cause a hang when clicking the "Needed" button in the Worked All States award if the award had already been qualified for.
• Added preliminary support for microHam interface devices.
• Fixed a situation where a "please check your internet connection" error was returned upon failure to download an LoTW report, even though the real error was an incorrect username/password for the LoTW website.
• Fixed a bug that caused the previous QSOs indicator to remain visible in certain cases when it should be hidden.
• Removed extraneous "QSL via" checkbox under "Automatically default to most recently entered" section of Logging preferences.
• Rig control reliability improvements.
• General stability improvements.

Known Issues

• None at this time

Changes in Aether 1.5.5

This update includes bug fixes, support for new radios, and other minor new features. See below for a complete list of changes.

New Features

• Added support for the Ten Tec Argonaut V.
• Added support for the Ten Tec Omni VII.
• Added support for the Ten Tec Eagle.

Improvements

• Added information about fldigi integration to Aether help.
• Support for QRZ.com policy change requiring login to access (free) callbook data.
• The cocoaModem integration script has better support for multiple PSK modes (thanks to Harry Hart).
• Added an explicit option for microHAM interfaces to the rig control preferences.
• Aether now supports an eQSL.cc account nickname. This support is global rather than per-log, and will be improved in a future release.
• Added new AppleScript commands for determining DXCC number, ITU zone and CQ zone from a callsign based on its prefix.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a crash that could occur when the serial port was in use by another program and Aether tried to use it.
• Fixed a bug that could cause a crash if a callbook lookup performed via AppleScript took longer than 10 seconds to return.
• Fixed a problem that caused importing ADIF files to fail if the file contained malformed data in the location fields.
• Aether now presents an error message when importing a TQSL certificate fails, instead of failing silently.
• Grid square field capitalization now tolerates leading spaces.
• Fixed incorrect parsing of NAQP contest Cabrillo files.
• Fixed problems with TS-940, TS-440, TS-711, TS-811 and similar Kenwood radios.
• Fixed a bug that would occasionally cause callbook lookups to fail for callsigns that had been looked up previously.
• eQSL.cc and LoTW passwords with '/' and '&' in them no longer fail to work.
• FT-817 panel is no longer locked during rig control.
• Fixes to FT-847 support.
• US Callsigns with a PO Box address are now handled properly when doing free callbook lookups.
• Several other very minor bug fixes.

Known Issues

• None at this time

Changes in Aether 1.5.6 and 1.5.7

This update includes minor new features and several bug fixes. See below for a complete list of changes. Note that Aether 1.5.7 was identical to version 1.5.6 with the exception of a bug fix for German and Italian users.

New Features

• Clicking on the distance indicator now toggles between using miles and kilometers.
• Added an "Update QSO With Current Rig Values" option to the Log menu.

Improvements

• The Mac App Store version of Aether now checks for an existing tqsl configuration upon first launch, and imports it if possible.
• The QSO table is now scrolled to the selected/current QSO upon clicking done to finish viewing QSOs with the same station.
• Dupe checking logic now handles callsigns with "slash" prefixes and suffixes better.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug that caused Aether to fail to import .tq6 certificates, often with cryptic errors.
• Fixed a bug that caused Aether to fail to import a .p12 certificate if a more recently requested certificate with the same callsign was already installed.
• Fixed a bug that caused malformed ADIF output in certain very rare cases.
• The preferences window no longer shrinks every time you click the "General" button in the Mac App Store version of Aether.
• Fixed tab order in the QSL preferences pane.
• Fixed a bug that caused the displayed QSO time to jump around when clicking on different fields in the time picker if Aether was set to display using local time.
• The date column in the QSO table now responds to changes in the displayed time zone preference without a requiring Aether to be restarted.
• Aether will now accept ADIF files with the extension ".adif".
• Aether will now accept Cabrillo files with the extension ".cab".
• Fixed a bug that caused Aether to repeatedly ask for eQSL.cc password even if the "remember password" box had been checked.
• If the eQSL.cc inbox doesn't contain any QSOs, Aether no longer presents an error saying it couldn't download a report.
• QSOs must be with stations in the U.S. to count towards the USA-CA award.
• Fixed some inconsistencies in the awards indicator's behavior.
• Minor fix to serial port settings for FT-2000.

Known Issues

• None at this time