aethersdr/AetherSDR v26.6.2

AetherSDR v26.6.2 — theming, HID controllers, packet radio & Windows Store

on GitHub

206 commits across 18 contributors since v26.5.3. This is a consolidated v26.6.2 that rolls up the 26.6.1 feature wave, the v26.6.1.1 hotfixes, and a large block of new work landed since — headlined by the runtime theming system, new HID controllers, and a full packet-radio suite. Full detail in CHANGELOG.md.

Theming foundation (early beta) 🎨

A runtime theming system, opt-in via Settings → Theme Editor; Default Dark remains the shipped default. Token names, the .aethertheme format, and the editor UX are expected to change before stabilising — file issues with the theme label if you try it.

• ThemeManager foundation + 51-token design taxonomy, gradient + alpha support
• Theme Editor dialog with live colour editing, gradient editor, font + sizing pickers
• New Default Light theme; .aethertheme import/export with drag-and-drop
• Embedded DSEG Modern 7- and 14-segment fonts (SIL OFL 1.1)

HID input devices 🎛️

Three new physical-device classes, all opt-in so the macOS Input Monitoring prompt never surfaces unless an operator enables one:

• Elgato StreamDeck+ — encoders, LCD buttons, touchscreen with live labels (#3236)
• Ulanzi Dial — cross-platform on Linux evdev, Windows, and macOS (#3238, #3239)
• Native Icom RC-28 encoder support (#3293, #3298)

Packet radio — KISS TNC, BBS terminal & mailbox 📻

AetherModem grows from a decoder into a complete packet station, all over its built-in 1200-baud VHF (Bell 202) AFSK modem — no external TNC hardware required:

• KISS-over-TCP TNC server (#3279) — turns AetherSDR into a software TNC for any host packet/APRS app (Xastir, YAAC, APRSdroid, UISS, Dire Wolf-style clients, terminal programs). Cross-platform QTcpServer with multiple simultaneous clients, resync-safe KISS framing (FEND/FESC), and proper lifecycle handling — TCP keepalive, slow-consumer write-backlog cap, and an idle sweep so dead clients are reaped, not leaked. Enable TNC, Start on Startup, and TCP port (default 8001) controls, all persisted.
• Standalone packet terminal (#3381) — a built-in connected-mode AX.25 client in a new Terminal tab: call a 1200-baud VHF packet BBS, read and send messages, and disconnect, with reliable error correction (T1 retries) over the half-duplex link. ✅ Verified on the air against a live BBS (SJVBBS-1) — reads and sends, retries hold, no session drops.
• Personal Mailbox System (PMS) — the answering-side counterpart: your own connected-mode AX.25 mailbox other stations can connect to, sharing the same Ax25Connection data-link state machine as the terminal.
• Built on the AX.25 1200-baud VHF (Bell 202) RX + TX profiles from earlier in the cycle (#3253, #3256).

Windows Store — one-click install & automatic updates 🪟

AetherSDR is heading to the Microsoft Store as an MSIX package, so Windows operators get one-click installation and automatic background updates instead of chasing installers:

• MSIX packaging groundwork + Store app identity (#3178, #3225)
• Lean Store payload — DFNR neural-denoiser weights embedded for the Store build, with the model archive excluded from the MSIX package to keep it small (#3225, #3205)
• CI builds and attaches the MSIX / .msixupload to every release, with the Store-submission automation plan documented (#3281)

Other new work since v26.6.1

• Accessibility, Phase 2 (#3303) — accessible widget names, live screen-reader announcements, VFO tab navigation, and full keyboard navigation. First contribution from @w9fyi.
• Ulanzi Studio sibling plugin (#3227) — ulanzi-aethersdr alongside the in-app mapper.
• Filter passband shading fix (#3294) — premultiplied-alpha double-multiply on the GPU path corrected.

Hotfixes folded in (originally v26.6.1.1)

• macOS DMG release build unblocked (#3349) — a removed background image plus a masked || true broke create-dmg; Apple Silicon DMG now builds, signs, and notarizes cleanly.
• Tuning-step toast no longer fires on radio syncs (#3337).
• Radio Setup tall tabs stay reachable (#3347) — tab pages wrapped in a scroll area.

Windows hardening

• PerMonitorV2 DPI awareness (#3208), discrete-GPU preference on hybrid laptops (#3299)
• Windows Snap restoration for the frameless title bar (#3069), WASAPI CW sidetone routing (#3241)

New protocol surfaces

• SmartCAT TCP server — TS-2000 + FlexCAT dialects (#3131)
• Unified RADE TX pipeline — EOO frame transmission + callsign encoding (#3221)
• SSDR-parity PWR/SWR metering on PGXL/TGXL amplifier applets (#3277)
• TCI clicked_on_spot event for Log4OM interoperability (#3145)

Reliability sweep

• Faster connect times — ~1.3 s cut off the connect handshake by skipping the peek when multiFLEX is on and pipelining the serial subscriptions (#3391)
• Steadier discovery — the re-bind loop now pauses while connected and fully quiesces on routed/WAN links, so reconnects stop fighting the discovery socket (#3420, #3422)
• 7-year-old NR2 Gamma crackling fix — SpectralNR Bessel function variants corrected (#3275)
• Multi-monitor main-window restore under Minimal Mode (#3174)
• Multi-pan TCI spot freeze — spot-marker rebuilds coalesced (#3310)
• FreeDV / Quindar interactions (#3317, #3320) + RADE filter passband alignment (#3301)

Build, CI, and packaging

• check-windows + check-macos always run on every PR (#3244)
• Sanitizer step pinned to bash so pipefail works (#3155); SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH reproducible builds (#3165)
• System-library opt-in flags + lowercase binary name + Linux 256×256 icon + .desktop description (#3135, #3138, #3143, #3074 — @dawkagaming)
• Debian multiarch tuple for Qt6GuiPrivate probe (#3159 — @K5PTB)

Contributors

Big thanks to @ten9876 (maintainer, 45 commits — theming system end-to-end, HID device backends, CI gating), @aethersdr-agent (the AetherClaude orchestrator, 39 commits — automated fixes across slices, controllers, and applet paths), @jensenpat (38 commits — the entire packet-radio suite: KISS TNC, BBS terminal, PMS mailbox, AX.25 1200-baud, plus UI and slice work), @M7HNF-Ian (15 commits — meters, WASAPI sidetone, spectrum tooltips, CI paths), @NF0T (13 commits — RADE TX pipeline, NR2 Gamma fix, Quindar interactions), @K5PTB (9 commits — SmartCAT server, MQTT publish topics, Debian multiarch), @nigelfenton (9 commits — TCI mic/AF handlers, theme namespaces, Ulanzi sibling plugin), @chibondking (6 commits — PWR/SWR metering, adaptive throttle), @rfoust (4 commits — panadapter context slice, waterfall rate), @mvanhorn (2 commits — theme migration tool cleanup), and @Ozy311 (2 commits — meters + slices). Dependabot contributed 2 dependency and security bumps.

We are excited to welcome our first-time contributors this cycle: @dawkagaming, @w5jwp, @motoham88, @w9fyi, @ea5wa, @svabi79, and @VU3ESV.

73, Pat KI6BCJ & Claude (AI dev partner)

Downloads

Linux AppImage (x86_64 / aarch64), macOS DMG (Apple Silicon + Intel, signed + notarized), Windows installer (setup.exe) + portable ZIP, and the Stream Deck plugin are attached below — built and signed by CI workflows on this tag.

Full diff: v26.5.3...v26.6.2

Verifying releases: see docs/VERIFYING-RELEASES.md. Signing key: docs/RELEASE-SIGNING-KEY.pub.asc.