Gunamoi Software

RadcomSearch - Version History

RadcomSearch

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The following release notes describe the program changes up to previous version 2.7.
To see what's new in the latest version click here.

Version 2.8

Release Date: August 2024

Free Features (all users)

New "D,M,S..." buttons allow user to manually enter site location in traditional deg;min;sec format if desired.
Added new P.2148 0.01% wind data to climate database, now available as Data Source for plotting on Data Map Grid panel.
Added Cloud Liquid Water Content (P.840-9 2023) as Data Source for plotting on Data Map Grid panel.
When converting from an Extraction file to a GIS map data file, the program will now optimise the GIS file by removing any duplicate site labels.
When converting from an Extraction file to a GIS map data file, point to point links will now be coloured yellow, while transmit labels are red, and receive only sites are blue.
When converting from an Extraction file, or a PFD calculation file, to a TxPlan Carrier data file, the user now has an option to choose how to label the output Carriers.
When converting from an Extraction file, or a PFD calculation file, to a TxPlan Carrier data file, the program will now optimise the Carrier file by removing duplicated carriers.

Pro Features (registered users)

PFD Single Site and PFD Map Grid panels now include option for user to select the Input Extraction File before clicking Execute, but will still allow user to select the file after clicking Execute if the panel option is left blank.
When doing path loss or PFD interference calculations, the user will be presented with an option to choose whether to use bare terrain, or add clutter height, as per P.452-18 (2023) Table 3. Note that clutter height has very little impact on interference PFD calculation results when looking at low probability anomalous propagation cases, such as 0.01% probability ducting etc.
Path Profile dialog now includes a button to select the Clutter Height option, and a second path profile is drawn on the chart including the selected clutter height.

Bug Fixes & Other Refinements

When loading a location From File, app will now attempt to parse location in deg;min;sec format if such is encountered.
When loading a location From File, if the file contains a "height above ground" value, the user is given the option to use this value for Antenna Height.
When loading a site From File, user may now select KMZ file format, and the program will access the zipped KML files within the KMZ.
Fixed bug where a KML file containing a STYLE tag without an ID would cause an error message.
Fix bug where after entering AMG location via "AMG..." button, the program might look up the incorrect site altitude in the DEM.
Fix bug colour selection shown on Font dialog, removed, colours on Path Profile plots are set separate to fonts.
Fix bug in About dialog if registered user name includes non-English characters.
All calculations checked and updated to latest 2023 ITU-R Recommendations.
Updated code libraries to latest versions.

Version 2.7

Release Date: January 2023

Free Features (all users)

When converting an extraction to a TxPlan Carrier file, program will use new carrier colours feature to make Transmit assignments as Red carriers, and Receive assignments as Blue carriers.
Program log file now writes to AppData folder, may be useful for debugging of database or network issues.

Pro Features (registered users)

All propagation and interference calculations checked and updated to latest ITU-R Recommendations.
Path Profile display dialog, now includes the option of a vertical cursor on the chart, with display of the distance and altitude at the cursor position. Cursor position selected by left-click on chart, and moved by mouse wheel. Cursor turned off by left clicking anywhere in window outside the chart area.

Bug Fixes & Other Refinements

Updated code libraries to latest versions.
New faster code library used to handle JSON files (GeoJSON GIS map data and JSON Carrier files).
Improve output file name suggestions to remove decimal points which may cause windows file name issues.
Fix bug reading JSON files containing strings with escaped unicode characters.
Fix bugs related to wxWidgets Debug Alert at program start on some non-English language machines.
Fix possible bug error message about missing config file when closing newly installed program.
Fix bug labelling vertical Path Profile axis if user selects scale upper limit higher than default.
Ensure output text files are always UTF8 encoded.
Some minor code optimisation.

Version 2.6

Release Date: November 2021

Free Features (all users)

New DEM option to take higher resolution gridded terrain altitude data from user supplied NASA SRTM files in HGT format.
New DEM option to take altitude data from a user supplied GIS Contours file (e.g. KML or OSM format) containing detailed terrain contours.
New Tools Menu option to directly download the latest spectra_rrl.zip file from ACMA website.
After using the AMG button to enter site location in AMG coordinates, the program now queries user whether to use DEM altitude or manual entry.
Data Map Grid tab now includes option to map the magnetic declination per latest WMM-2020.
Default output file names for Path Profile and PFD Calculations now also include the DEM type.
Path Profile tab now includes option to enter altitude for each site, as well as a Check DEM button for each.
Path Profile tab now includes a button that allows user to swap the Transmit and Receive ends of the path.

Pro Features (registered users)

All Climate data and propagation/interference calculations from ITU-R Recommendations were reviewed and updated with the latest versions where applicable.
Add menus to Path Profile window.
Add option on Path Profile window to save path profile to GIS map file.
Add View options to Path Profile window to allow user to change default colours, fonts, and plot title.
Output CSV file for PFD Single Site calculation now includes columns for both True and Magnetic azimuth bearings of each interference signal.

Bug Fixes & Other Refinements

All web access improved to use secure https:.
Updated code libraries to latest versions.
Various minor improvements to coding and window layout.
Windows XP no longer supported by this program.

Version 2.5

Release Date: June 2020

Free Features (all users)

Updated the built-in ITUR DEM topographic database to latest P.1511-2 (2019), with 1/12° (5 minutes) resolution.
Conversions from Extraction file to GIS map data file (maplist, KML, GeoJSON, etc) will now include altitudes, if they are available in the Extraction file.
When selecting a location from user file, when no altitude data is included, program will warn the user instead of just automatically using altitude from DEM. Gives user the chance to CheckDEM or enter an alternate value manually.
Path Profile tab now shows boxes for optional site names and includes these names on output files and on path profile plot.

Pro Features (registered users)

All Climate data and propagation/interference calculations from ITU-R Recommendations were reviewed and updated with the latest versions where applicable.

Bug Fixes & Other Refinements

Fixed bug where the preferred size of the Path Profile window was forgotten if the window was closed while maximized.
Fixed bug where coordinates from a user file in AMG format may not be correctly converted to WGS84 latitude/longitude values.
Additional checking in case DEM or RRL database files have been moved or deleted since last run.
Comment lines at end of map grid (*.warray) files marked with "//".
Various minor improvements to coding and layout.

Version 2.4

Release Date: June 2019

Free Features (all users)

Added columns to end of each line in extraction CSV file to hold information decoded from emission code, including emission bandwidth.

Bug Fixes & Other Refinements

Fixed bug where longitude<90E could be mistaken as an Aust-Wide licence (e.g. Davis station at longitude 77.96E).
Allows more decimal places to display on Path Profile window, when applicable.
Uses more decimal places when saving settings for next session, to avoid issues of lost data due to rounding.
When selecting a location from file, user may now double-click on the location name in the list.
Improved error detection & reporting.
Various minor improvements to coding and layout.

Version 2.3

Release Date: April 2018

Free Features (all users)

Added "Call Sign" column to end of each line in extraction CSV file.
Added search options on Extraction tab to filter extractions on Site State, Licence Service Type, and/or Access Area for wide area licences.
Added options to enter desired coordinates in AMG format.
GIS map data output conversion now includes GeoJSON format option.
Added item in Tools Menu to open the ACMA RRL download page in the default browser.
Removed the "Annual Rain Probability" option from the Data Map Grid tab, as this value is no longer calculated as part of the Rain Rate calculation.
Added Surface Refractivity and Delta Refractivity options to the Data Map Grid tab, these values are used in the PFD Interference and Path Loss calculations.

Pro Features (registered users)

All Climate data and calculations from ITU-R Recommendations were reviewed and updated with the latest versions where applicable.
Added "Decode Emission" item in Tools Menu to allow user to enter an ITU-R Emission Code and decipher what it means.
In addition to the actual Average Path Loss which takes into account obstructions and atmospheric effects, the Path Profile dialog now also displays the basic Free Space Loss between the two antennas.

Bug Fixes & Other Refinements

Fixed bug where "area_id" and "access_area_name" columns were incorrectly filled in extraction CSV file.
Fixed extraction to GIS map file conversion to properly cope with sites in the Antarctic.
Improved progress display when extracting or calculating, and preserve partial extraction file if user clicks Cancel.
Improvements to the installer, especially when installing in multi-user environments.
User preferences are now stored in the user's AppData\Roaming\RadcomSearch folder rather than windows registry.
All CSV output files use UTF-8 encoding, and include the UTF-8 byte order mark (BOM) so they will be loaded correctly in Excel.
Minor changes in layout and text box size to improve the appearance of some windows, depending upon the user's currently selected Windows theme.
Improved file checking and error reporting.

Version 2.2

Release Date: November 2016

Fixed "unknown eirp unit: 0" bug that seems to appear only on latest RRL files.
Improvements to error handling and reporting.
Improved updating of progress dialog when doing large extractions.
Added "Check for Updates" option in Help menu.
Minor improvements to file formatting.

Version 2.1

Release Date: September 2016

Fixed bug where program and Uninstaller was missing from Control Panel "Uninstall or change a program". This was an issue in Windows 8 or later where an Uninstall link is not allowed in the Start menu.
Improvements to the installer, especially when installing in multi-user environments.
Improved animated wait cursor for Windows 7 and later.
Minor improvements to program efficiency.

Version 2.0

Release Date: July 2016

Rewritten using a new GUI library, which resulted in some major changes in layout and function.
Added the capability to search the new format ACMA SPECTRA RRL database.
Made all of the basic Radcom search and Extraction, Path Profile generation, Data Map grid, and File Conversion functions available free of charge in the unregistered version.
Calculations and climate databases updated to the latest ITU-R Recommendations.
Added Data Map Grid tab to allow the PFD calculation input parameters (DEM & climate) to be plotted across a map grid.
Added Path Profile window to view the path profile on screen (registered Pro version only).
Added status bar at the bottom of the screen to show current Radcom and DEM selections, and status messages.
Improved progress display and program responsiveness during lengthy extractions and PFD Grid calculations.
Added ITU-R DEM as a backup in case RadDEM is not available (note this P.1511 DEM is intended for earth to space calculations, so it is not really suitable for terrestrial interference calculations, but it's better than assuming a smooth earth).

Version 1.2

Release Date: November 2013

Version 1.1

Release Date: April 2012

Version 1.0

Release Date: December 2011