Connect to the Reverse Beacon Network¶

The Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) provides automated CW, RTTY, and digital skimmer spots. This page shows how to configure and connect AetherSDR's RBN telnet feed so that RBN spots appear on your panadapter.

Before you start¶

Know the RBN telnet server hostname and port (the public server is telnet.reversebeacon.net, port 7000 for CW skimmers).
Know the callsign you will use to log in to the RBN.
Spots will only appear on the panadapter if the master spot overlay is enabled (IsSpotsEnabled defaults to Enabled).

Steps¶

Open Settings > SpotHub....
Click the RBN tab.
In the Server: field, enter the RBN telnet hostname (e.g., telnet.reversebeacon.net). This persists as RbnHost.
Set Port: to the telnet port for the skimmer feed you want. Valid range: 1–65535. This persists as RbnPort.
In the Callsign: field, enter your callsign. This persists as RbnCallsign.
If the RBN feed produces more spots than you need, set Rate Limit: to cap the number of spots processed per second. This persists as RbnRateLimit.
Click Connect. The button label changes to Disconnect when the session is established, and the RBN Console shows incoming traffic.
To have AetherSDR connect to the RBN automatically on every launch, enable Auto-connect on startup. This persists as RbnAutoConnect.

What each control does¶

Control	Behavior	Setting key
Server:	RBN telnet hostname	`RbnHost`
Port:	RBN telnet port	`RbnPort`
Callsign:	Login callsign sent to RBN	`RbnCallsign`
Rate Limit:	Maximum RBN spots accepted per second	`RbnRateLimit`
Connect / Disconnect	Toggles the RBN telnet session	—
Auto-connect on startup	Connects to RBN automatically on launch	`RbnAutoConnect`
RBN Console	Read-only display of raw RBN traffic	—
Send	Sends a typed command to the RBN session	—
Spot Color:	Opens a color picker for RBN spots on the panadapter	`RbnSpotColor`
Spot Lines:	Draws vertical lines from the spectrum up to each spot label. Disable during contests to reduce visual clutter.	`IsSpotsLinesEnabled`
Total Spots:	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.	—

Double-clicking a spot now forwards mode hints¶

Starting in v0.9.7, double-clicking a row in the Spot List tab tunes the receiver to the spot frequency and also switches the receiver mode to match the spot. For example, double-clicking a CW spot switches the receiver to CW, and double-clicking an FT8 spot switches it to the appropriate digital mode, rather than only changing the frequency. The mode is resolved from the spot comment by the SpotModeResolver logic shared across all spot sources.

Spot Lines¶

The Display tab now includes a Spot Lines: toggle (new in v0.9.7). When Enabled (the default), AetherSDR draws a short vertical line from the spectrum trace up to each spot label on the panadapter, making it easier to see exactly which frequency a spot corresponds to. Set it to Disabled during contests or other high-spot-density operating sessions to reduce visual clutter. This persists as IsSpotsLinesEnabled.

FreeDV Reporter station reporting¶

The FreeDV tab contains a Station Reporting section that lets AetherSDR broadcast your station's activity to the public FreeDV Reporter map at qso.freedv.org whenever the RADE modem is active. This feature is build-gated by HAVE_WEBSOCKETS; on Windows it also requires the HAVE_RADE inner guard.

Controls¶

Control	Behavior	Setting key
Enable FreeDV Reporter reporting when RADE is active	Enables station reporting to the public FreeDV Reporter map whenever the RADE modem is active. The checkbox refuses to enable if either the callsign or grid square field resolves to an empty value.	`FreeDvAutoReport`
Callsign:	Callsign reported to the FreeDV Reporter map. Becomes read-only when Use radio is checked.	`FreeDvMyCallsign`
Use radio	Pre-fills the callsign field from the radio's configured callsign and locks the field read-only. When the radio's callsign changes (for example, in Radio Setup), the field updates automatically.	`FreeDvUseRadioCallsign`
Grid Square:	Maidenhead grid square reported. Becomes read-only when Use GPS is checked.	`FreeDvMyGrid`
Use GPS	Pre-fills the grid field from the radio's GPS module and locks the field read-only. Only shown on radio models that have GPS hardware.	`FreeDvUseGpsGrid`
Station Msg:	Optional free-text message shown beside the callsign on the public FreeDV Reporter map.	`FreeDvMyMessage`

Enabling station reporting¶

Click the FreeDV tab inside Settings > SpotHub....
In the Station Reporting group, enter or confirm your Callsign:. Check Use radio to pull it from the radio automatically.
Enter or confirm your Grid Square:. On radios with GPS hardware, check Use GPS to populate it automatically.
Optionally fill in Station Msg: with a short free-text note.
Check Enable FreeDV Reporter reporting when RADE is active.
If either the callsign or grid square resolves to an empty value, a warning dialog appears and the checkbox reverts to unchecked. Fill in the missing field and try again.
When enabled, the setting persists as FreeDvAutoReport.

Note: The FreeDV Reporter map is a public, community-shared resource. AetherSDR blocks enabling this feature if the callsign or grid square is blank to prevent placeholder values such as N0CALL or AA00 from appearing on the map.

Auto Mode default change¶

In v0.9.5.1 the Auto Mode: toggle on the Display tab defaults to Enabled for new installations. The setting persists as SpotAutoSwitchMode. Existing installations where the value has been saved explicitly are not affected.

Tips¶

The RBN Console is read-only and shows raw telnet lines as they arrive. Use the Send command line below it to issue filter commands directly to the RBN server (e.g., set/skimmer or band-filter commands supported by the RBN).
If the panadapter becomes cluttered during a contest, lower Rate Limit: to reduce spot density without disconnecting. You can also disable Spot Lines: on the Display tab to reduce visual clutter further.
To change how spots look on the panadapter — size, position, lifetime, and stacking — see Tune spot density, position, font size and lifetime.
RBN spots use the color set by Spot Color: on the RBN tab. To override all spot source colors with a single color, use the Override Colors: toggle on the Display tab.

Troubleshooting¶

Connect button returns to Connect immediately with an error in the console — The hostname or port is wrong, or the RBN server is unreachable. Verify RbnHost and RbnPort and check your network connection.
No spots appear on the panadapter after connecting — Confirm that Spots: on the Display tab is set to Enabled (IsSpotsEnabled). Also check that the band you are monitoring is not hidden in the Spot List tab band filter checkboxes.
Panadapter is flooded with spots — Reduce Rate Limit: to a lower value to cap incoming spot rate. Alternatively, disable Spot Lines: (IsSpotsLinesEnabled) on the Display tab to make dense spot areas easier to read without reducing the number of spots shown.
Double-clicking a spot changes frequency but does not change mode — The spot comment may not contain a recognizable mode token. Mode switching depends on the spot comment containing a known mode string (e.g., CW, FT8, SSB). If the spotter did not include a mode in the comment, only the frequency changes.
FreeDV Reporter checkbox reverts to unchecked immediately — A callsign or grid square value could not be resolved. Enter values in the Callsign: and Grid Square: fields, or enable Use radio and Use GPS so AetherSDR can read them from the radio.
Auto Mode: is now Enabled after upgrading — v0.9.5.1 changed the default for SpotAutoSwitchMode from False to True. If you prefer the previous behavior, open Settings > SpotHub..., click the Display tab, and click Auto Mode: to set it to Disabled.