Pick colors for each spot source

AetherSDR can display spots from up to six sources simultaneously. Assigning a distinct color to each source makes it easy to tell them apart on the panadapter at a glance.

Before you start

• Open SpotHub: Settings > SpotHub...
• At least one spot source should be configured so you can see the effect of your color choice.

Steps

DX Cluster spot color

1. In SpotHub, click the Cluster tab.
2. Click the Spot Color: button.
3. Choose a color in the color picker that opens and confirm your selection.
4. The new color is saved to ClusterSpotColor and applied immediately to cluster spots on the panadapter.

RBN spot color

1. Click the RBN tab.
2. Click the Spot Color: button.
3. Choose a color and confirm.
4. Saved to RbnSpotColor.

WSJT-X spot colors

WSJT-X supports four separate colors, one per decode category.

1. Click the WSJT-X tab.
2. Click the color button for each category you want to change:
3. CQ color — spots decoded as CQ calls. Saved to WsjtxColorCQ.
4. POTA color — spots decoded as CQ POTA calls. Saved to WsjtxColorPOTA.
5. Calling Me color — decodes addressed to your callsign. Saved to WsjtxColorCallingMe.
6. Default color — all other WSJT-X decodes. Saved to WsjtxColorDefault.
7. Confirm each color in the color picker before moving to the next.

POTA spot color

1. Click the POTA tab.
2. Click the Spot Color: button.
3. Choose a color and confirm.
4. Saved to PotaSpotColor.

FreeDV spot color

1. Click the FreeDV tab.
2. Click the Spot Color: button.
3. Choose a color and confirm.
4. Saved to FreeDvSpotColor.

Note: The FreeDV tab is present only if AetherSDR was built with WebSocket support.

SpotCollector

SpotCollector does not have a dedicated spot-color picker in SpotHub. See the Display tab options below if you need a uniform override for all sources.

What each control does

Control	Tab	Saved setting
Spot Color:	Cluster	ClusterSpotColor
Spot Color:	RBN	RbnSpotColor
CQ color	WSJT-X	WsjtxColorCQ
POTA color	WSJT-X	WsjtxColorPOTA
Calling Me color	WSJT-X	WsjtxColorCallingMe
Default color	WSJT-X	WsjtxColorDefault
Spot Color:	POTA	PotaSpotColor
Spot Color:	FreeDV	FreeDvSpotColor
Enable FreeDV Reporter reporting when RADE is active	FreeDV	FreeDvAutoReport
Callsign:	FreeDV — Station Reporting	FreeDvMyCallsign
Use radio (callsign)	FreeDV — Station Reporting	FreeDvUseRadioCallsign
Grid Square:	FreeDV — Station Reporting	FreeDvMyGrid
Use GPS (grid)	FreeDV — Station Reporting	FreeDvUseGpsGrid
Station Msg:	FreeDV — Station Reporting	FreeDvMyMessage
Auto Mode:	Display	SpotsAutoMode — default changed to Enabled in v0.9.5.1
Spot Lines:	Display	IsSpotsLinesEnabled — new in v0.9.7
Total spots count	Status bar	Live readout of how many spots are currently tracked across all sources. Updated whenever spots are added or cleared. Resets to 0 when Clear All Spots is pressed.

FreeDV Reporter — Station Reporting

v0.9.3 adds a Station Reporting group inside the FreeDV tab. When enabled, AetherSDR broadcasts your station's activity to the public FreeDV Reporter map at qso.freedv.org whenever the RADE modem is active.

Note: Station Reporting is present only if AetherSDR was built with WebSocket support (HAVE_WEBSOCKETS). On Windows builds it additionally requires HAVE_RADE.

Enable reporting

1. Click the FreeDV tab in SpotHub.
2. In the Station Reporting group, fill in a valid callsign and grid square (see below) before enabling the checkbox.
3. Check Enable FreeDV Reporter reporting when RADE is active.
4. If either the callsign or grid square field is blank when you check the box, a warning dialog appears and the checkbox reverts to unchecked. Fill both fields first, then try again.
5. The setting is saved to FreeDvAutoReport.

Callsign field

• The Callsign: field (FreeDvMyCallsign) sets the callsign reported to the public map.
• When Use radio is checked (default), the field is pre-filled from the radio's configured callsign and locked read-only. The field updates automatically if you change the callsign in Radio Setup.
• Uncheck Use radio to type a callsign manually. The value is saved to FreeDvMyCallsign and uppercased on exit.
• Use radio is saved to FreeDvUseRadioCallsign.

Grid Square field

• The Grid Square: field (FreeDvMyGrid) sets the Maidenhead locator reported to the public map.
• On radio models with GPS hardware, a Use GPS checkbox appears. When checked (default), the field is pre-filled from the radio's GPS module and locked read-only.
• Uncheck Use GPS to type a grid square manually. The value is saved to FreeDvMyGrid and uppercased on exit.
• Use GPS is saved to FreeDvUseGpsGrid. The checkbox is hidden on radio models that have no GPS hardware.

Station message

• The optional Station Msg: field (FreeDvMyMessage) accepts free text that appears beside your callsign on the public FreeDV Reporter map. Leave it blank if you have nothing to add.

Auto Mode default changed in v0.9.5.1

The Auto Mode: toggle on the Display tab now defaults to Enabled for new installations. If you are upgrading from an earlier version and SpotsAutoMode was not previously set, AetherSDR will treat it as enabled after the update. To disable it, open the Display tab and click Auto Mode: until it shows Disabled.

Spot Lines (new in v0.9.7)

The Spot Lines: toggle on the Display tab controls whether vertical lines are drawn from the spectrum baseline up to each spot label on the panadapter. The setting is saved to IsSpotsLinesEnabled and defaults to Enabled.

To turn off spot lines:

1. Open SpotHub: Settings > SpotHub...
2. Click the Display tab.
3. Click Spot Lines: until it shows Disabled.

Disabling spot lines reduces visual clutter during contests or when spot density is high.

Tuning from the Spot List (updated in v0.9.7)

Double-clicking a row in the Spot List tab tunes the active receiver to that spot's frequency. Starting with v0.9.7, AetherSDR also passes the spot's mode hint to the receiver, so the mode (for example CW or SSB) switches automatically to match the spot rather than only changing frequency.

Tips

• If all per-source colors are too subtle to distinguish, use Override Colors: on the Display tab to force a single text color across every source, saved to IsSpotsOverrideColorsEnabled.
• DXCC coloring (enabled with DXCC Coloring on the Display tab) can override per-source colors to indicate worked, confirmed, or needed status. If your spot colors are not appearing as set, check whether DxccColoringEnabled is active.

Related

• SpotHub overview
• Start WSJT-X UDP listener and filter for CQ, POTA or calls to me
• Poll POTA activations
• Enable FreeDV QSO reporter WebSocket
• Enable DXCC coloring from an ADIF log
• Tune spot density, position, font size and lifetime