SpotHub

The SpotHub is the central hub for connecting to DX spot sources — DX cluster, Reverse Beacon Network, WSJT-X, SpotCollector, POTA and FreeDV — and configuring how spots are displayed on the panadapter.

Before you start

• AetherSDR must be connected to a FLEX-8600 radio.
• For each spot source, you'll need the appropriate server address, port, and login credentials (where applicable).

Opening SpotHub

1. Click Settings > SpotHub....
2. The SpotHub dialog opens with seven tabs: Cluster, RBN, WSJT-X, SpotCollector, POTA, FreeDV, Spot List, and Display.

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Cluster (tab)

The Cluster tab provides a telnet connection to a traditional DX cluster.

1. In the Server: field, enter the hostname of the DX cluster (e.g., dxc.nc7j.com).
2. In the Port: field, enter the telnet port (default 7300, range 1–65535). This setting is stored in ClusterPort.
3. In the Callsign: field, enter your login callsign. This setting is stored in ClusterCallsign.
4. Click Connect to initiate the telnet connection. The button changes to Disconnect while connected.
5. Enable Auto-connect on startup to have AetherSDR automatically connect to the cluster when the application launches. This setting is stored in ClusterAutoConnect.
6. The Cluster Console shows raw telnet traffic (read-only).
7. Type a command in the text field next to Send and click Send to send it to the cluster.
8. Click Spot Color: to open a color picker and choose the color for spots received from this cluster. This setting is stored in ClusterSpotColor.

RBN (tab)

The RBN tab provides a telnet connection to the Reverse Beacon Network with rate limiting.

1. In the Server: field, enter the RBN telnet hostname (e.g., telnet.reversebeacon.net).
2. In the Port: field, enter the RBN telnet port (e.g., 7000, range 1–65535). This setting is stored in RbnPort.
3. In the Callsign: field, enter your login callsign. This setting is stored in RbnCallsign.
4. In the Rate Limit: field, set the maximum number of RBN spots per second. This setting is stored in RbnRateLimit.
5. Click Connect to initiate the RBN telnet connection. The button changes to Disconnect while connected.
6. Enable Auto-connect on startup to have AetherSDR automatically connect to RBN on launch. This setting is stored in RbnAutoConnect.
7. The RBN Console shows raw RBN traffic (read-only).
8. Type a command and click Send to send it to RBN.
9. Click Spot Color: to open a color picker for RBN spots. This setting is stored in RbnSpotColor.

WSJT-X (tab)

The WSJT-X tab listens for UDP decodes from WSJT-X.

1. In the Address: field, enter the UDP bind address for WSJT-X messages. This setting is stored in WsjtxAddress.
2. In the Port: field, enter the UDP port (range 1–65535). This setting is stored in WsjtxPort.
3. Click Start to begin listening for WSJT-X UDP messages. The button changes to Stop while listening.
4. Enable Auto-start on startup to have the listener start automatically on launch. This setting is stored in WsjtxAutoStart.
5. Use the CQ checkbox to show only CQ calls from WSJT-X. This setting is stored in WsjtxFilterCQ.
6. Use the CQ POTA checkbox to show only CQ POTA calls. This setting is stored in WsjtxFilterPOTA.
7. Use the Calling Me checkbox to show only decodes addressed to your callsign. This setting is stored in WsjtxFilterCallingMe.
8. Click the color buttons to set colors for each category: CQ color, POTA color, Calling Me color, and Default color. These are stored in WsjtxColorCQ, WsjtxColorPOTA, WsjtxColorCallingMe, and WsjtxColorDefault.
9. The WSJT-X Decodes console shows decoded transmissions (read-only).
10. Use Spot Life: to set how many seconds WSJT-X spots remain on the panadapter. This setting is stored in WsjtxSpotLife.

SpotCollector (tab)

The SpotCollector tab listens for Ham Radio Deluxe SpotCollector UDP broadcasts.

1. In the UDP Port: field, enter the port SpotCollector broadcasts on (range 1–65535). This setting is stored in SpotCollectorPort.
2. Click Start to begin listening. The button changes to Stop while listening.
3. Enable Auto-start on startup to have the listener start automatically on launch. This setting is stored in SpotCollectorAutoStart.
4. The SpotCollector Spots console shows received spots (read-only).

POTA (tab)

The POTA tab polls api.pota.app for current Parks On The Air activations.

1. The Server: indicator shows the fixed endpoint api.pota.app (HTTP polling).
2. Set the Poll Interval: in seconds between POTA polls. This setting is stored in PotaPollInterval.
3. Click Start to begin polling. The button changes to Stop while polling.
4. Enable Auto-start on startup to have polling start automatically on launch. This setting is stored in PotaAutoStart.
5. The POTA Activations console shows the activation feed (read-only).
6. Click Spot Color: to open a color picker for POTA spots. This setting is stored in PotaSpotColor.

FreeDV (tab)

The FreeDV tab connects via WebSocket to the FreeDV QSO reporter (build-gated by HAVE_WEBSOCKETS).

1. The Server: indicator shows the fixed endpoint qso.freedv.org (WebSocket).
2. Click Start to connect the WebSocket. The button changes to Stop while connected.
3. Enable Auto-start on startup to have the connection start automatically on launch. This setting is stored in FreeDvAutoStart.
4. The FreeDV Spots console shows FreeDV activity (read-only).
5. Click Spot Color: to open a color picker for FreeDV spots. This setting is stored in FreeDvSpotColor.

Spot List (tab)

The Spot List tab provides a unified searchable table of all live spots from all sources.

1. Use the Bands: checkboxes to toggle visibility of spots per band (160m, 80m, 60m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m, 2m, etc.).
2. Click Clear to empty the current spot list.
3. The Spot table shows spots with columns: Time, Freq, DX Call, Comment, Spotter, Band, Mode, Source. Double-click a row to tune the radio to that frequency.

Display (tab)

The Display tab controls panadapter spot visualization, DXCC coloring, and Signal History tunables. The tab is organized as follows:

Top toggle row

Control	Default	Behavior	Setting key
Spots:	Enabled	Master toggle for DX spot overlay	IsSpotsEnabled
Memories:	Disabled	Toggles memory-channel overlay on panadapter	IsMemorySpotsEnabled
Auto:	Enabled	Automatically switch slice mode when clicking a spot that includes mode info (e.g. CW, FT8, RTTY)	SpotAutoSwitchMode
Signals (Signal History)	Disabled	Gold markers for detected voice-width signals on the panadapter	SHistoryMarkersEnabled
QRM (Signal History)	Disabled	Red markers for persistent carriers and wideband interference	SHistoryQrmEnabled
Clear All	—	Clears all DX spots, memory feed, Signal History markers and QRM markers from the spectrum	(no key)

Common sliders

Control	Default	Range	Behavior	Setting key
Levels:	3	1–10	Number of vertical stacking rows for spots	SpotsMaxLevel
Position:	50	0–100	Vertical position on panadapter	SpotsStartingHeightPercentage
Font Size:	16	8–32	Spot text size	SpotFontSize
Spot Lifetime:	Varies	10 sec – 24 hrs (non-linear steps)	Seconds before a spot fades away	DxClusterSpotLifetimeSec

Override Colors section

Control	Default	Behavior	Setting key
Override Colors:	Disabled	Forces a single text color for all spots. The button always shows Enabled when toggle is active.	IsSpotsOverrideColorsEnabled
Spot text color picker	#FFFF00	Opens QColorDialog to pick spot text color	SpotsOverrideColor
Override Background: Enabled	Enabled	Enables custom spot background color	IsSpotsOverrideBackgroundColorsEnabled
Override Background: Auto	Enabled	Auto-picks background color for contrast	IsSpotsOverrideToAutoBackgroundColorEnabled
Spot background color picker	#000000	Opens QColorDialog for spot background color	SpotsOverrideBgColor
Background Opacity:	48	0–100	Opacity of spot background color
Spot Lines:	Enabled	Draws vertical lines from the spectrum up to each spot label. Disable during contests to reduce visual clutter. The button always shows Enabled when toggle is active.	IsSpotsLinesEnabled
Total Spots:	—	Live count of spots currently tracked across all sources	(indicator)

DXCC Coloring (section)

The left column below the divider contains DXCC coloring controls.

Control	Default	Behavior	Setting key
DXCC Colors:	Disabled	Colors spots by worked/confirmed/needed DXCC status. The button always shows Enabled when toggle is active.	IsDxccColoringEnabled
Log File (ADIF):	—	Loads an ADIF log file to drive DXCC coloring. Auto-watches the file for changes after selection.	DxccAdifFilePath
Imported: (DXCC stats)	(no log loaded)	Shows QSO count and entity count when a log is loaded. Format: <N> QSOs / <M> entities	(indicator)
DXCC Color swatches (New DXCC / New Band / New Mode / Worked)	—	Opens a color picker for each DXCC status category	DxccColorNewEntity, DxccColorNewBand, DxccColorNewMode, DxccColorWorked

Signal History (section)

The right column below the divider contains Signal History tunables.

Control	Default	Range	Behavior	Setting key
Marker Lifetime:	60	15–300 sec	How long an inactive Signal History marker persists before being removed	SHistoryLifetimeS
QRM Gate:	6	3–30 sec	How long a narrow carrier or wideband signal must persist before being classified as QRM	SHistoryQrmGateS
Edge Threshold:	3.0	1.0–10.0 dB	Threshold above noise floor for the slope edge walk that refines the S-History carrier-side edge	SHistorySoftEdgeDb
Signal History color swatches (Signals / QRM)	#FFC800 / #FF0000	—	Opens a color picker for the voice signal markers (gold) and QRM markers (red)	SHistoryColorSignals, SHistoryColorQrm
Snap to Step:	Disabled	—	Rounds S-History click-to-tune to the nearest multiple of the active slice's step size, hiding the small carrier offset. The button always shows Enabled when toggle is active.	SHistorySnapToStep

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Toggle vertical spot lines for contest or casual operating

By default, AetherSDR draws a vertical line from the spectrum baseline up to each spot label on the panadapter. This section explains how to turn those lines off — useful during contests when the display becomes cluttered — and how to turn them back on for casual operating.

Before you start

• At least one spot source (DX cluster, RBN, WSJT-X, POTA, SpotCollector, or