My old development machine (bought in 2019) is ready for replacement as it's BSODing more and more, so I'm switching to a shiny new dev system over this weekend and likely some time into next week as I'm building it myself, which is always fun. (not!)
Huge thanks to all supporters for making this possible.
The new PC is built, installed and configured with all my dev environment.
Back in business.
Mainly for my reference, trying to distil the ridiculously bloated documentation about SSTV into useful and succinct information. I.e. the way it should be anyway. If I have anything wrong here, by all means correct it in the comments.
Line Component Breakdown
Sync Pulse
1200 Hz
9.0 ms
Start porch
1500 Hz
3.0 ms
Luminance
1500 Hz (dark) to 2300 Hz (light)
88.0 ms (275 us/pixe...
Thought it prudent to give some kind of status report. Although this is mentioned on the "What I'm working on" post as "In Progress" the SSTV system is proving EXTREMELY difficult.
I may have a proof of concept video up soon, but seriously, this is one of the hardest challenges yet.
Please don't post PDFs, articles or source code about SSTV, I can guarantee you whatever you post, I would have read.
2025-11-12 11:52:46 +0000 UTC View PostBy request, here is the nicFW880 remote protocol
Remote Activation
To begin send the "Change BAUD" sequence at 38400 baud
0xaa
0x70
[4 bytes little endian, New BAUD rate]
The radio will acknowledge with
0x70
at this point change the host's BAUD rate to match. 100ms later the radio will send another acknowledge at the new BAUD rate
0x70 2025-11-10 17:23:02 +0000 UTC View Post
This firmware enables a diagnostic console over the serial port. After flashing, open a terminal emulator (such as putty) and connect to the COM port of the radio at 115200 baud. It allows a degree of experimentation by probing the GPIO ports.
Use the terminal emulator to send commands:
A-E
Change GPIO Base GPIOA, GPIOB, GPIOC etc..
+/-
Change Pin 0 to 15
I or i...
2025-11-09 20:19:37 +0000 UTC View PostThis is not a functional firmware, it's a proof of concept. Basically it demonstrates I can get my code to flash and run on the RT-950 Pro.
You do not need to flash this unless you want to see some blinky lights and/or verify that my code is indeed running.
That's all it does, flash the green led, backlight and keypad, and you need to pull the battery to turn it off.
The RMS distributions DO NOT CONTAIN VIRUSES. If your browser or computer tells you they do then it's a false positive. I don't distribute malware and I don't appreciate direct or indirect accusations (I'm talking to you Patreon) that I do.
This release was mainly to level things out of beta, but there are a few upgrades to functionality.
This is just a post allowing me to create the 950 releases collection.
I'm still actively working on the RT-880 , this is just preparation.
This will be the 5th radio to get nicFWed
2025-11-03 16:17:11 +0000 UTC View PostFor Andre S
2025-11-02 18:18:51 +0000 UTC View Post
As always please review previous release notes before asking questions. I do not repeat the features and updates from previous versions in these release posts. Also make sure you're using the RMS that comes from the same release post as the firmware does.
Just to show you all my process.
2025-10-28 17:14:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Type into your TaskBar search, or right click the start button and select 'Search'
File Explorer Options
Click the "Best Match" which should should show as:
File Explorer Options
Control panel
Select the 'View' tab.
Make sure the option
Hide extensions for known file types
is unticked
2025-10-28 01:56:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
As always please review previous release notes before asking questions. I do not repeat the features and updates from previous versions in these release posts. Also make sure you're using the RMS that comes from the same release post as the firmware does. No matter how many times I say this, it doesn't seem to sink in.
This is a compilation of release notes and usage hints that have been kindly put together by Ramon Martinez Palomares, huge thanks to him for doing all this for us all.
2025-10-26 22:07:43 +0000 UTC View PostPlease make sure you read and understand the previous release notes before posting any comment. I do not repeat myself in these release posts.
Remote Button Labels (T9 and others)
Added T9 (and related) labels to the remote buttons in the RMS for improved usability.
Mixed VFO Support in Multiwatch
Previously, mixing HF and non-HF VFOs in Multiwatch was disallowed because it ...
These are images I took from my own radios. I do not own Bajeton or other duplicate models so I can't supply images for those, however if anyone would like to email me those images I will add them to the list here. Be aware that images need to be taken FROM A NEW RADIO, not after they've been used for a while.
These images can be restored (or created) using the nicFW880 RMS. I have no idea if Radtel/iRadio offer any solutions for doing this kind of thing.
2025-10-22 00:50:22 +0000 UTC View Post
I’ll keep this post updated regularly as I work on features between releases.
Please note: the features and updates mentioned here won’t be available until a future release, usually the next one, but not always.
Quick note: please read the previous release notes if you haven’t already, I don’t repeat earlier items in these posts.
Added Remote tab.
Important: BOTH firmware 05E and RMS 05E are required for this feature to work.
When the Remote Connection is active, no other RMS tabs may be selected.
On startup the Remot...
2025-10-20 11:22:29 +0000 UTC View PostSomething I didn't mention in the video: the BAUD rate for KISS mode is 38400
2025-10-19 13:12:10 +0000 UTC View PostThe tool to do this can be downloaded here.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/td-h3-font-logo-128947404?collection=1499403
There are two new icons for APRS and GPS added. If you use a custom skin you'll need to adjust the positions of the icons. The skins in the extras.zip file have been updated.
GPS Icon
This icon has two states.
The dish pointing down means that GPS functionality is enabled, but no GPS lock is acquired.
The dish pointing up means GPS is...
2025-10-15 12:17:47 +0000 UTC View PostHold EMG while powering on.
After power on wait for red triangle to vanish.
Configure via -> APRS Menu
SSID: 0-7
2025-10-13 19:58:28 +0000 UTC
View Post
Here's the actual files uploaded here for retention purposes, although the PDFs are available easily enough from the Github link.
https://github.com/wb2osz/aprsspec
So as I research this, APRS has a whole bunch of different standards. They couldn't just use one and stick to it could they? Oh no! And what's more, the standards themselves have a further bunch of caveats and sub-standards.
Coding something to deal with all of this would be a challenging nightmare in a high level language like C#, but in C? Low level embedded C for that matter that has no real advanced string manipulation? It would take a team of dozens months.
I don't even know ...
2025-10-11 08:07:00 +0000 UTC View PostExperiment, created for Greg Koster, this will attempt to boost the volume of the RX in normal radio mode.
Audio boost can be enabled via Main Menu -> Advanced -> Audio Boost
2025-10-09 22:09:46 +0000 UTC View PostCharge battery fully. I.E. FULLY CHARGED
Open the Main Menu.
Select 'Calibration'
Adjust 'Batt V Cal' until the reading in the Extra Info area shows '8.4V'
Adjust 'Batt Full' to the same ADC value as shown in the Extra Info area.
Allow the battery to drain to what you consider to be almost flat.
Open the Main Menu.
Select 'Calibration'
Adjust 'Batt Flat' to the same ...
2025-10-09 09:39:02 +0000 UTC View PostWell THAT was without a doubt the single most difficult thing I've ever done firmware wise, by a mile.
04C can be downloaded here, very basic for now.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/140430310
The "high pitched whine" I mentioned I just realized is just the background noise from my work room.
2025-10-05 13:38:15 +0000 UTC View Post