The same applies to hardware. I just bought a new Android tablet … a Fusion 5 4G … and the documentation is worse than useless! It is in microscopic print, requiring a magnifying glass to read it, and when you do manage to decipher it you wish you hadn’t bothered. It’s worse than useless and has actually been written for a different tablet in their range! Fortunately I was already familiar with the Android OS, so I was able to find my way around without too much difficulty.
Walt (G3NYY)
Some damn fine USB hardware in there. 
I always miss decodes Wade, so I don’t worry! 
Nothing is perfect, not even with this mode.
So far, I’ve only used the USB port for charging the battery! What else can it do?
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
Modern tablets are like modern smart phones, they can act as a host as well as a client. What that means is that if you connect them to a PC you can see what’s on their internal disk and transfer files backward and forwards between the two platforms. So the tablet of Smart phone looks like a USB memory key to the PC. In this situation the PC is the Host or master.
However… with the addition of what is called an “on the go” or OTG adapter in the USB socket of the tablet or Smartphone, (this is a hardware cable or socket adapter), the tablet become the Host and can then do many of the things that your PC can do. You can, for example, plug an external USB keyboard into the tablet or Smart Phone so as to avoid having to use the on-screen keyboard. You can also plug a mouse in, or both via a simple hub. You can use your tablet as the remote control console for yourrRig, (or for digital modes such as those supported in WSJT-x) if the rig is one of the modern ones with a USB interface (or you have a rig to USB adapter - the same as you would need with your PC). You need the correct software of course for this functon but if this is a windows tablet it’s the same software as you would use on your PC. Simply put with a good USB interface in the tablet and a cheap OTG cable your tablet can do almost everything that your PC can.
Ed.
Pay for Andy’s retirement.
Come on guys don’ forget CW, NO Manual required. I worked 5 European stations on CW yesterday from VK6/SW-039 as VI6PAX. Guess what if you were on digital modes I wouldn’t have worked you.
Please don’t GIVE UP on CW just yet 
73
John VK6NU
And don’t give up on doing it “the hard way” with SSB as well.
Actually John, well done on the CW contacts from VK6 to EU the other day when there didn’t seem to be any chance with the propagation of contact on ANY mode!
But this thread is about the WSJT-x digital modes that some are interested in, in addition to the other modes. I don’t believe anyone here is writing off CW or SSB.
73 Ed.
True Ed and I haven’t given up on SSB. I was just having a Tongue in Cheek joke about you could have had a long path SOTA Contact on CW but not on WJST as no one was using it.
Bit like trying phoning someone on a mobile with a flat battery and getting no reply when the land line would have worked perfectly.
Anyway , no more smart comments from me, leave you guys to discuss WJST and enjoy. Have fun with your digital modes.
73
John VK6NU
Well some say CW was the “first digital mode” and with that smart comment I’ll shut-up.
73 Ed.
And Then there was RC5 …
(from RC5 Release notes):
Release Candidate 5 (“RC5”) is stable, works well, and fixes the known
problems in RC4. It is likely that the General Availability (GA)
release of WSJT-X 2.0 will be nearly identical to RC5.
Changes from WSJT-X 2.0-rc4 include the following:
PLEASE NOTE: As far as WSJT-X 2.0 (RC4, RC5, and GA releases) are
concerned, signals using the old FT8 protocol are undecodable
interference. This means that regenerated replicas cannot be
subtracted from received data, and consequently second- and third-pass
decodes may be impeded. Full performance of the 77-bit decoder will
not be realized until most signals on a crowded band are using the
new FT8 protocol.
Thanks for keeping us informed Ed about the latest happening with the WSJT-X update.
At least when the clocks change for daylight saving time, almost everyone gets it right and do the changeover of the hour at the same time!
With this software upgrade one wonders if they are may encourage operators to head for the turn of the year 31st December 2018.
Maybe FT8 and machine mode users should aim to download the RC5 software (Or whatever RC is issued then) in the last days of 2018 and then changover to learning and using the new candidate on New Years Day.
73 Phil
As the release notes say - this “Should” be the final version. Of course, there was originally only intended to be 3 release candidates for v 2.00 - but compter projects often go this way!!
73 Ed.
I have seen no evidence of anyone having upgraded to Version 2 yet. I am still using Ver 1.9.1 and if I monitor 14.074 MHz, I see dozens of clearly decodable FT8 signals, and none at all that are non-decodable.
I predict that the uptake of Ver 2 (RC or otherwise) will be extremely slow, except by the small minority who are interested in contesting.
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
I did.
I went to upgrade to RC3 to find it was RC 4 and then next day RC5. I’ll wait for RC10 till I take the next step!!
Hi Walt,
The comments in the release notes point out that those using e.g. v 1.91 will cause false decodes and are therefore considered as QRM. From the other side, those using 2.0 Rc4/5 or final with the extended features (which which could be useful for transferring SOTA data as well as contest info) will not be decodable by those using V 1.91 and hence seen as QRM from their side.
So as you say there seems to be a split in the community and as the later RCs have moved back to the “old” FT8 frequencies, this is going to be a difficult time.
V 2.00 RC3 is the “sweet spot” as it can talk to both the old and the new protocols.
Compton - if we believe the release notes, RC5 IS the last test version and the full V 2.00 version will come out soon. We’ll have to see what the take-up is on this version vs sticking with the old version.
I wonder if any “back-door” was built into v 1.91 so that it can be disabled - now there’s a conspirary rumour started …
Please don’t shoot the reporter!
73 Ed.
However, it is no longer available as it has been removed from the download site.
Also, if you have a copy, it says it cannot be used after 30 November 2018.
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
There’s always the old trick of setting the PC clock back a year (but that can mess other things up).
I wonder what the expiry date in the v 1.91. is set to? Dec 31st. perhaps …
73 Ed.
LOL! I did wonder about the expiry date of Ver 1.9.1.
Just for fun, I installed Ver 2.0.0-RC3 and tried it on 20m. On a full band (about 50 FT8 signals on the waterfall), only three were using Ver 2. I worked all of them, but there were no more. In RC3, you have to manually set it to transmit Ver 2 encoding, otherwise it defaults to transmitting Ver 1 even though it is able to receive both versions.
What fun!
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
As you say - what fun …
or better WHAT fun?
Many, many people don’t like using beta or RC versions of programs and those with RC1,2 or 3 probably run in the non-77bit mode at the moment to be able to talk to the old systems.
We’ll only know where we stand once the 1.9.1 version expires …
73 Ed.