Happy New Year, SafecomLinkers! Santa sure delivered some exciting gifts this year. Let’s skip the lengthy introductions and dive straight into the good stuff—we’ve got a lot to cover!
Let’s talk about improving visibility and clarity for our advanced users. Your SafecomLink screen is likely packed with callsigns, and some of them might need a bit of extra context. Whether it’s tagging your closest friends or adding meaningful labels like “HQ” for an EmComm activity, this feature lets you organize and highlight the callsigns that matter most.
📢 Introducing: Callsign tags
A new file, "SafecomLink_callsign_tags.conf", is now available in your SafecomLink directory. To use it, simply add lines like "NC3Z,Buddy" and these tags will appear on your Beacon and HandRaise lists.
Callsign tags
Let’s talk about locators. You may have noticed that Beacons and Standard HandRaises don’t include locators. Why is that? It’s a limitation of the VARA protocol, which prioritizes using the lowest possible speed in these scenarios—allowing only the callsign to be transmitted.
But here’s the good news: what if you’ve already had a QSO with that station and have a "Last Known Locator" saved from a previous exchange? Now, we can put that information to good use!
📢 Introducing: Last known locator
In version 10.4, this new feature is enabled by default. If a "Last Known Locator" is available for a HandRaise or Beacon, it will appear alongside it with a hourglass icon. If you prefer to disable this feature, you can easily do so in the settings menu.
Last known locator
Let’s move on. Imagine you’re in a QSO and scrolling up to review previous messages. While you’re reading, a new message comes in. Previously, SafecomLink would automatically scroll back to the bottom of the data stream to display the new message. Well, not anymore!
📢 Introducing: Scroll down indicator
When you scroll up, SafecomLink will automatically display a "quick scroll down" button. However, if a new message arrives while you're focused on an earlier part of the QSO, the icon will flash green, alerting you to a new message waiting further down.
Scroll down indicator
Here’s something we should have done a long time ago, but honestly, we were too lazy to tackle it. How many times have you wanted to resize those Beacon/HandRaise/Log sections to get a clearer view of everything you need?
📢 Introducing: Adjustable Beacons/HandRaise/Log area size
You can now easily resize those sections by dragging and dropping the separators (the 3 dots) between them. Don’t worry—SafecomLink will remember your settings, so when you launch it again, everything will be just the way you left it.
Adjustable Beacons/HandRaise/Log size
Alright, now for our GPS enthusiasts! Many of you use SafecomLink on the go, whether you're participating in POTA or on an EmComm mission. Until now, SafecomLink only displayed your GPS position on the screen…
📢 Introducing: GPS Log file
Now, you can also save those GPS readings to a file for logging and analysis purposes.
Just enable the feature in the settings menu, choose a log file name, and you're all set. Your GPS data will be saved to disk automatically.
GPS logging
Now, let’s talk about SSIDs—those numbers that were common during the packet radio days when stations had a number at the end (e.g., 4Z1AC-7). These SSIDs are still widely used by VARA FM operators, especially when working with VARA digipeaters.
📢 Introducing: Full SSID support
SSIDs are now supported across most SafecomLink features, including HandRaises, Broadcasts, and even with digipeaters. However, please note that there are some limitations if you set an SSID for your own SafecomLink callsign. Don’t worry—SafecomLink will inform you of these limitations when you make the change.
SSID support
Do you enjoy checking out other stations' data? If you're already using the "Last Heard Peeking" feature to view the last 10 callsigns your QSO partners have heard, we’ve got a new peeking feature just for you!
📢 Introducing: Last heard callsign peeking
YES! You can now connect with someone and easily inquire about the last time they heard a specific station you're interested in. Just open the "Inquire" module, select "Last Heard Peeking," and you’ll have the info you need.
Last heard callsign peeking
But that’s not all—there’s even more! Take a look at these additional enhancements you’ll find in V10.4:
Enhancements/Changes:
Added new tags: <MYTIME> and <UTCTIME> to include time in your automated messages.
SafeMail Drafts folder: Store SafeMails that are "works in progress" for later updates and sending.
Added a "Skip if Active" option in the Application Launcher.
Removing queued, but yet-to-be-transmitted broadcasts once a connection is established.
Added a file explorer button next to each application in the application launcher for easy EXE selection.
Replying to an urgent SafeMail is automatically marked as urgent.
New tag <FS> to send your own frequency scheduler plan.
Removed the inquire tags from the Gestures list (to create extra space), as they now appear in the new "Inquire" module.
New GPS settings: Reconnect GPS indefinitely.
New GPS settings: Show live GPS coordinates in the bottom strip on the main SafecomLinkscreen.
You can now disable the "Leave a message" popup upon connecting to an unattended station (either from settings → QSO or from the popup itself).
In EmComm mode, you can disable QSY popups once connected on a CF (new setting).
Added custom HandRaise option "FF" for Flora & Fauna.
Send PSK-Reporter self-report if remaining on the same frequency every 4 hours.
Added an "Are you sure?" popup when canceling a SafeMail you’ve already started composing.
Customization of the default QSO log (ADIF) comment text (override the default comment "QSO with SafecomLink").
Added "Copy Selected" on the right-click menu in the message viewer popup (when double-clicking a message in the Datastream).
Made URLs clickable in the message viewer popups
Bug Fixes:
Preventing manual insertion of values into the wait time in the application launcher.
When opening the Callsign Lookup, it previously locked the SQLite DB, preventing other traffic from being written.
In Callsign History, broadcasts without a frequency were not loading.
Removing the extra character after the alert tag is added to a broadcast.
Fixing the troubleshooting link in the resources menu.
It was not possible to edit a SafeMail in the Outbox while in Linux compatibility mode.
Clicking a URL in the Datastream for a single-line message resulted in an error.
Rigctld with SparkSDR had issues due to the wrong termination character (\r instead of \n).
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