Build release notes

Here are the release notes for Version 3, Build 1016:

BUILD 1016 - IMPORTANT NOTES (Last public release: Build 1011)
* Fixed bugs which may have, under some conditions, prevented the auto-city-location feature from functioning, even if more than 2 characters were typed in a city name.
* Fixed bugs which prevented the proper updating of global ionospheric map great-circle paths when the location of the transmitter or receiver are moved.
* Fixed bugs that prevented the proper labeling of the receiver end-points on 2D ray-traced screens when the location of the transmitter and/or receiver were changed from one ray-tracing session to the next.
* Updated the users manual to include a "proper-use" discussion of the settable ionospheric parameters such as the sunspot number, the IG index, x-ray and geomagnetic indices.

BUILD 1011 - IMPORTANT NOTES (Last public release: Build 1008)
* Increased resolution of Broadcast Coverage Maps to less than 1 square degree for substantially more detail, if desired.
* A specific configuration can exist in which the MUF calculation hangs in an endless loop. If this configuration is detected, Proplab will now issue a warning and allow for an orderly abortion of the calculations.
* Utility included to convert ray-traced database into exportable formats suitable for applications such as Excel spreadsheets, etc.
* Other minor bug fixes and a few aesthetic changes.

BUILD 1008 - IMPORTANT NOTES (Last public release: Build 1003)

Changes in this build include:

* Fixed bug causing a floating-point error when displaying Global Ionospheric Maps and unclicking the Great-Circle checkbox.
* Fixed bug that prevented manual entries of the ap[13] index from properly updating the ap.
* Typo in interface: Ap(13) should be "ap(13)" instead. Ap refers to the daily planetary A-index. ap refers to the individual three-hour a-index values.
* Added 13 user-adjustable ap-index boxes so users can add their own three-hour ap-values into the system. The ap(13) index is then computed from those values.
* Fixed bug preventing the STORM-time model from updating properly (related to the ap bugs above). Proper operation of STORM has now been confirmed.

BUILD 1003 - IMPORTANT NOTES

Proplab-Pro Version 3, Build 1003 includes the following changes (and some that are not listed here). If you observe any additional bugs, please report them to: admin@spacew.com.

The changes include:

* Critical bug fix for the 3D ray-tracing engine. It improperly computed electron density gradients under some circumstances and may have resulted in incorrectly traced rays (sometimes seriously deviating from reality).
* Corrected a bug that caused the system to crash and hang when bad x-ray data was downloaded into the system.
* Increased the resolution of broadcast coverage maps from 1 square degree to as little as 0.1 square degrees. To minimize memory usage (which would have exhausted resources on some home computers), the computational table is swapped to the hard-disk. This prolongs computations somewhat, but reduces resource requirements.
* Incorrect geomagnetic pole locations were given in the model. The current coordinates are valid and use the geomagnetic poles determined from the IGRF model (International Geomagnetic Reference Field). Proplab-Pro 3 MUST use a dipole-equivalent determination of the magnetic poles (NOT the true poles) because the model requires antipodal poles and the true magnetic poles are not antipodal.
* Sometimes, improper ground-bounce information was recorded in 3D mode.
* Added a "Local" elevation angle statistic to the 3D ray-tracing window that shows the current local elevation angle of the wave as it is being refracted. It is useful for determining precisely when reflection occurs.
* The Ap index erroneously reported negative values if internet communications to obtain the data fails.
* The Ap13 option has been made editable. That is, it is no longer grayed out and can be user-specified. It is only used when the Storm-Time model is engaged.
* A new export utility has been included ("Convert.exe") which will allow the ground-based results to be exported into a text file (comma or tab delimited) for use in external spreadsheet (or other) software.
* Very short-path MUF computations caused Proplab to hang. This problem cannot be easily rectified using the current approach due to the stepping rates employed in the code. As a result, the software displays a notice in the status bar (bottom of the Proplab screen) if it is unable to resolve the MUF at any point.
* The hint on the main map screen suggested +=west when in fact it should have read - = west.
* The ground gyrofrequency units in the 3D options section was improperly labeled as "Hz". It now correctly reads "MHz."
* Printing of most of the screens produced by Proplab now print using all but 5% of the margin space on the page. In other words, print-outs are bigger.
* Time and date information has been included on the global ionospheric maps. Note that global maps still have a contouring problem when little or no data is available to contour (as when displaying spread-F probabilities). This problem has persisted through the current version and will be rectified as soon as our 3rd party code for the contouring algorithm corrects the problem (they haven't yet).
* The manual has been updated.

BUILD 1002 - IMPORTANT NOTES

Proplab-Pro Version 3, Build 1002 includes the following changes. If you observe any additional bugs, please report them to: admin@spacew.com.

The changes include:

* 3D ray-traces excluding effects of the Earth's magnetic field included a computational error that may have prevented some rays from being traced completely. This problem only affected 3D ray-traces that excluded the magnetic field.
* Corrected a problem that caused "jagged" E-MUF calculations in the MUF tab.
* Added the ability to selectively choose plot lines in the MUF chart.
* Also added the ability to display (or not) the legend in the MUF chart.