1.0-rc7

New features

STM32

• very first RC for SoftRF Dongle and Retro Editions

• modes: Normal (default) or UAV
• hardware:

  • AcSiP S76G
    GNSS: built-in
    Radio: built-in
    Output:
         default: UART (PA9/PA10) 115200, 8E1
         optional: USB CDC ACM
    Display:
         optional: 0.96" I²C OLED
    Sensor(s):
         optional: BMP(E)280

  • "Blue Pill" (STM32F103C8 128k)
    Radio: RFM95 (SX1276)
    Output:
         default: UART (PA9/PA10) 38400, 8N1
         optional: USB CDC ACM
    Sensor(s):
         optional: BMP(E)280
    Optional:
         genuine OGN low-level RF IC driver(s): ¹
             RFM69 (SX1231)
             SX1272
             SX1276
             Si4032

    ¹ - OGNTP is the only radio protocol available with OGN driver(s)

TI CC1310

• very first RC for SoftRF UAT Receiver
• modes: Receiver (default), Bridge, UAV, Normal.
• hardware:
  • SoftRF-UAT
  • TI SimpleLink CC1310 LaunchPad

Major improvements

Common

• UAT (ADS-B 978 MHz) data packets decoder
• better MAVLINK 1.0 compliance
• use of protocol supplied aircraft's callsign, when able (GDL90 & UAT)
• improved 'parity' of Legacy data
• fix for baro altitude and vertical speed reporting over OGNTP protocol
• fix for incorrect medium and high altitude reporting over FANET radio protocol #64
• fix for 'parity' of OGNTP data
• improved PFLAU NMEA sentence handling

ESP32

• been built against of most recent ESP32 Arduino Core 1.0.4
• support for TTGO T-Beam V10 (a.k.a. V1.0)
• fix of Web firmware update method
• can receive UAT traffic with use of SoftRF-UAT module ²
• power saving feature: turn Wi-Fi off after 10 minutes of no activity
• turn Prime Mk2's status LED on when power is up ³
• flash with Prime Mk2's status LED when battery level is becoming low ³
• turn Prime Mk2 off ( 'standby' ) when battery level is very low
• fix of u-blox NEO-M8N detection (certain GPS f/w revision affected) #59
• BLE improvements

² - valid for Standalone Edition only
³ - valid for TTGO T-Beam V05-V07. May or may not work on V10.

ESP8266

• been built against of most recent ESP8266 Arduino Core 2.5.2
• fix for regression of UAV mode since RC4
• power saving feature: turn Wi-Fi off after 10 minutes of no activity

Raspberry Pi

• can receive UAT traffic with use of SoftRF-UAT module
• improved SX1276 radio detection and warmup
• fix for operation with nRF905 radio
• better format compliance of vertical speed reporting in PFLAA sentences

Please, read commits history for more information.

Known issues

• may fail to boot on a board if it uses PICO-D4 variant of ESP32
• may fail to operate on Raspberry Pi 4

Binary downloads and flashing instructions

WARNING

1. ESP8266 and ESP32. This upgrade will reset your SoftRF settings to factory default values. Please, follow these "backup and restore" procedures before doing the update
2. ESP32 only. "Web update" method is NOT applicable for this upgrade: ⁴
   • follow First-time firmware installation procedure instructions instead, and
   • make full flash ERASE prior to firmware write operation, and
   • disconnect any of I2C devices from ESP32's GPIO2 pad. See this ticket for details.

⁴ - you may try "Web update" if your current firmware version is 1.0-rc6+ .

Prime MkII owners! I will reject any claims if you, by any reason, will fail to upgrade or fail to recover after un-successful update!
If you are not sure that you can manage the update successfully - think about to stay on RC6 or to buy a new board with pre-installed RC7.

Source code build instructions

1.0-rc6

New features:

ESP32

• NMEA TCP Service on port 2000 (AIrConnect compatible)

Raspberry Pi

• very first RC for SoftRF Raspberry Edition

Major improvements:

Common

• light increase of RF transmit power ¹
• more GDL90 and D1090 output options to choose from
• GDL90 ForeFlight Id message
• 866 MHz RF band for India
• minor "legacy" radio protocol compatibility improvements
• 2-color WebUI battery voltage value

¹ - valid for SX1276 radio and for certain world regions only

ESP32

• been built against of most recent ESP32 Arduino Core 1.0.1
• work around incorrect geoid separation value in GGA NMEA sentence of certain low-end GNSS chipsets
• GDL90 and D1090 Bluetooth output options are available
• watchdog reset timer (5 seconds)

Please, read commits history for more information.

Known issues

• To be compatible with most of EFB software on the market, MSL Ownship Geometric altitude is reported over GDL90 data link.
  This approach is a deviation from official GDL90 standard.
  SkyDemon EFB seems to be the only exception - it follows the specs and expects to receive an altitude, relative to WGS-84 ellipsoid.
  Those of SkyDemon users who fly in an areas where geoid separation value is significant (more than VDOP)
  should consider to terminate GDL90 and operate with NMEA TCP ("AirConnect") connection method instead.

• Web firmware update feature is inoperative on ESP32

Binary downloads and flashing instructions

WARNING

1. ESP8266 and ESP32. This upgrade will reset your SoftRF settings to factory default values. Please, follow these "backup and restore" procedures before doing the update
2. ESP32 only. "Web update" method is NOT applicable for this upgrade:
   • follow First-time firmware installation procedure instructions instead, and
   • make full flash ERASE prior to firmware write operation, and
   • disconnect any of I2C devices from ESP32's GPIO2 pad. See this ticket for details.

Prime MkII owners! I will reject any claims if you, by any reason, will fail to upgrade or fail to recover after un-successful update!
If you are not sure that you can manage the update successfully - think about to stay on RC5 or to buy a new board with pre-installed RC6.

Source code build instructions

1.0-rc5

Major improvements:

Common

• "track_online" and "stealth" options are in Settings menu
• multiple choice of traffic alarm triggers (NMEA only)
• 'About' WebUI page
• 470 MHz RF band for China (with proper RF hardware)
• firmware web-update progress indicator
• "balloon" aircraft type is available in WebUI settings
• fix for wrong checksum of pressure altitude NMEA sentence ( see issue #24 )
• correction of altitude reported over "legacy" RF protocol
• MSL altitude adjustment for old or non-branded GNSS modules
• fix for ghosting traffic at your aircraft's position (seen in XCSoar over NMEA data link)

NodeMCU

• been built against most recent ESP8266 Arduino Core 2.4.2

ESP32

• been built against very first stable release of ESP32 Arduino Core 1.0.0
• valid Class Of Device (COD) of built-in Bluetooth (SPP only)
• improved battery voltage meter
• fix for LED ring flickering issue
• Prime Mark II (TTGO T-Beam) specific:
  • GNSS module ID,
  • GNSS UBX boot-time configuration,
  • battery voltage value,
  • status LED,
  • I2C barometric pressure sensor (optional),
  • I2C 0.96" OLED display (optional)

Please, read commits history for more information.

Known issues

• due to Espressif ESP32 chip design limitations, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi components share some RF hardware resources. In SoftRF firmware priority is given to Bluetooth. So when Bluetooth SPP connection is active - SoftRF's Wi-Fi Access Point may disappear. It is Ok - it will come up again when the Bluetooth connection is over.
  If you need rock solid operation of both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi AP at the same time - it is recommended to wire a hardware Bluetooth module (HC-05 or HM-10).

Binary downloads and flashing instructions

Source code build instructions

1.0-rc4

Maintenance release                

This release candidate is mostly focused on:

• fixing of old known issues,
• scheduled improvement of some subsystems.

No new features delivered this time. Almost...

Major improvements:

Common

• much lower Rx packets loss ratio on SoftRF LoRa (SX1276) than before
• better RF channel hopping (for world regions where it is applicable)
• better FLARM NMEA data port specs compliance
• RSSI and HDOP support

NodeMCU

• issue #13 is much more rare now
• GDL90/NMEA unicast UDPs have been fixed

ESP32

• reduced power consumption 🔋 in general and specifically for Standalone
• Bluetooth LE FIFO size is more optimal
• support for TTGO T-Beam's (Prime Edition Mark II) built-in GPS module

Please, read commits history for more information.

Known issues

• Pressing "Save and Restart" WebUI button sometimes may not complete restart of the system. Use hardware reset button or cycle power in this case.

Binary downloads and flashing instructions

Source code build instructions

1.0-rc3

New features:

NodeMCU

• support of BMP280 or MPL3115A2 barometric sensor module on SoftRF LoRa rev.1.2 I2C port
  Pressure altitude and/or vertical speed reporting over OGNTP, FANET, NMEA, GDL90, D1090 radio/data protocols. Although traffic resolution is based on GNSS altitude, knowing of baro altitude and VS may improve flight safety.

ESP32

• support of BMP280 or MPL3115A2 barometric sensor module... (same as for NodeMCU)
• NMEA over built-in Bluetooth
  Both SPP and LE (HM-10 compatible) modes are supported.
• 0.96" OLED display on TTGO Lora32 V2

Major improvements:

NodeMCU

• been built with Arduino Core 2.4.1 and lwIP 2.0 ("high bandwidth").

ESP32

• fix for #17

Known issues

Some LED artifacts (like one green constant lit LED) may appear on the Standalone's "traffic ring" when running on ESP32 platform and either built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth are active.
For a while, try to avoid simultaneous use of the LED ring and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth ( external h/w Bluetooth HC-05 or HM-10 modules are still fine ).

Binary downloads and flashing instructions

Source code build instructions

1.0-rc2

New features:

• support for ESP32 SoC
  Primary ESP32 target platform is DoIt DevKit,
  but the firmware is designed to be RF IC pin-compatible with other boards, such as popular "Lora32" combos, etc. Although I do not recommend to buy specifically Heltec V1 & V2 and TTGo V1 due to negative reports on Wi-Fi & RF design and performance.
  I've evaluated TTGo V2 with trustworthy antenna by myself and could say it that has fair RF performance, very similar to that the SoftRF LoRa module has.

Major improvements:

• better FANET+ , "legacy" compatibility
• better NTP time sync in "Tx-Rx test" mode
• alternative GNSS input source
• automatic "mute" of Wi-Fi AP while UAV is in "armed" state

Known issues

• Standalone with NodeMCU:
  default stability of Access Point in Normal mode is still not good enough to apply intensive networking.
  Use workarounds when able.

Binary downloads and flashing instructions

Source code build instructions

1.0-rc1

New features (since 0.9):

• OGN, PilotAware and FANET radio protocols
• Garmin GDL90 and dump1090 datalink protocols