Work to develop/build Expert Controller Plus is complete and its Beta testing is also almost complete. The first, production-ready, public release is expected in August 2026.
When a production-ready release is available it will be made available to purchase in the Apple App Store and, at a later date, on this website.
The first test phase started in December 2025 and was known as Alpha testing. During Alpha testing new features were implemented and those not working as they should were mostly fixed. Unfortunately the feedback I received was limited, especially from those with an Expert 1K-FA amplifier however, feedback from those with other amplifiers was positive.
Beta testing started in March 2026 and is going well with only minor issues being identified and fixes required. The latest Beta version is stable, working, and contains the features that will be in the first public, production-ready release.
If you spot that something isn’t working or just doesn’t seem right, please do let me know as I can then investigate and resolve the issue. Please send all feedback using the Contact page.
Expert Controller Plus may be downloaded by following a link in the table below. Each test version has a lifetime of 60 days. The downloadable file has been code-signed and notarised by Apple.
Prior to version 0.4.1 the downloaded file was a .dmg package. Starting with version 0.4.1 I’ve moved to a .pkg package as this format permits a better installation experience. To install, double-click the downloaded .dmg/.pkg file and follow the on-screen instructions. Once installed the .dmg file can be closed, ejected and removed. The .pkg file should automatically close and can then be removed.
Requirements:
- macOS 14 or later
- A USB/Serial interface supported by macOS or
- A TCP/IP network connection to a network/serial adapter that is connected to a supported amplifier.
Supported amplifiers:
- SPE Expert 1K-FA Series II or Series III
- SPE Expert 1.3K-FA
- SPE Expert 1.5K-FA
- SPE Expert 1.5K-Taurus
- SPE Expert 2K-FA.
| Version | Release date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| V0.7.3-1005 | 29-May-2026 | Two interface protocols for the Expert 1K-FA are now supported. The SPE Rev 2.0 specification and a variant observed in at least a Series III, Firmware 21-12-09H. |
| V0.7.2-967 | 22-May-2026 | Each Connection using a serial interface may now use DTR signalling to wake/sleep amplifiers in addition to RTS signalling. |
| V0.7.1-904 | 21-May-2026 | When selecting the Expert 1K-FA amplifier for a Connection its serial bitrate is defaulted to 9600. MODBUS renamed to Modbus throughout the App. |
| V0.7.0-891 | 14-May-2026 | Added User Guide to Help menu and updated package dependencies. |
| V0.6.0-884 | 17-Apr-2026 | Further cosmetic changes to the LED panel, the LCD panel and the LCD and buttons panel. |
| V0.5.0-782 | 17-Apr-2026 | The ‘Button panel’ windows now show amplifier state related to the buttons, the ‘LCD panel’ window is now resizable and cosmetic changes to the ‘LCD buttons’ window. See here for more information. |
| V0.4.3-682 | 12-Apr-2026 | Squashed a bug that caused the App to become sluggish when using a TCP/IP network with larger than anticipated jitter. This impacted comms with all amplifier models except the Expert 1k-fa. |
| V0.4.2-666 | 11-Apr-2026 | Beta test release. Minor improvements to date/time stamping of received messages and logging. |
| V0.4.1-655 | 10-Apr-2026 | Beta test release. Polling of amplifier status revised to improve robustness |
| V0.4.0-620 | 10-Feb-2026 | Alpha test release. Addition of a window that presents circular gauges for RF Power, Volts, Amps and Temperature |
| V0.3.0-612 | 3-Feb-2026 | Alpha test release. Inclusion of Software update functionality & VoiceOver improvements for Stepper controls. |
| V0.2.3-566 | 31-Jan-2026 | Alpha test release. Keyboard shortcuts now identified with Apple Accessibility Keyboard shortcuts added for menu options: Announcements, Activation | Groups and Activation | Connections Numerous improvements to Apple Accessibility labelling and hints. |
| V0.2.2-539 | 16-Dec-2025 | Alpha test release. See this post for a list of changes. |
| V0.2.1-521 | 1-Dec-2025 | Alpha test release. Tweaked ‘Sleep’ button behaviour. |
| V0.2.0-515 | 1-Dec-2025 | First Alpha test release. SPE Expert 1K-FA functionality remains largely untested with actual Expert 1K-FA amplifiers. All feedback gratefully appreciated. |