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SpotHub (DX Cluster Dialog)

The SpotHub dialog 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.

Opening SpotHub

  1. Click Settings > SpotHub... in the main menu.
  2. The SpotHub dialog opens with tabs for each spot source and a Display tab for visualization settings.

Spot Sources

Cluster (Tab)

Connect to a traditional DX cluster via telnet.

Control Setting key Behavior
Server: ClusterHost Hostname of DX cluster to connect to.
Port: ClusterPort Telnet port on DX cluster. Range: 1–65535.
Callsign: ClusterCallsign Login callsign sent to cluster.
Connect / Disconnect — Toggles telnet connection to the cluster.
Auto-connect on startup ClusterAutoConnect Auto-connects cluster on launch.
Cluster Console — Read-only telnet console of raw cluster traffic.
Send — Sends a typed command to the cluster.
Spot Color: ClusterSpotColor Opens a color picker for cluster spots.

RBN (Tab)

Connect to the Reverse Beacon Network telnet source with rate limiting.

Control Setting key Behavior
Server: RbnHost RBN telnet hostname.
Port: RbnPort RBN telnet port. Range: 1–65535.
Callsign: RbnCallsign Login callsign to RBN.
Rate Limit: RbnRateLimit Caps RBN spots per second.
Connect / Disconnect (RBN) — Toggles RBN connection.
Auto-connect on startup (RBN) RbnAutoConnect Starts RBN automatically.
RBN Console — Read-only console of RBN traffic.
Send (RBN) — Sends command to RBN.
Spot Color: (RBN) RbnSpotColor Color picker for RBN spots.

WSJT-X (Tab)

Listen for WSJT-X UDP broadcasts with filters and colors.

Control Setting key Behavior
Address: WsjtxAddress UDP bind address for WSJT-X messages.
Port: WsjtxPort UDP port for WSJT-X. Range: 1–65535.
Start / Stop — Starts or stops UDP listener.
Auto-start on startup (WSJT-X) WsjtxAutoStart Auto-starts listener on launch.
CQ WsjtxFilterCQ Show only CQ calls from WSJT-X.
CQ POTA WsjtxFilterPOTA Show CQ POTA calls.
Calling Me WsjtxFilterCallingMe Show only decodes addressed to your callsign.
CQ color WsjtxColorCQ Color picker for CQ spots.
POTA color WsjtxColorPOTA Color picker for POTA spots.
Calling Me color WsjtxColorCallingMe Color picker for Calling Me spots.
Default color WsjtxColorDefault Color picker for other WSJT-X spots.
WSJT-X Decodes — Console of decoded transmissions.
Spot Life: WsjtxSpotLife Seconds WSJT-X spots remain on panadapter.

SpotCollector (Tab)

Listen for Ham Radio Deluxe SpotCollector UDP broadcasts.

Control Setting key Behavior
UDP Port: SpotCollectorPort UDP port SpotCollector broadcasts on. Range: 1–65535.
Start / Stop (SpotCollector) — Starts or stops UDP listener.
Auto-start on startup (SpotCollector) SpotCollectorAutoStart Auto-starts listener on launch.
SpotCollector Spots — Console of received SpotCollector spots.

POTA (Tab)

Poll api.pota.app for current Parks on the Air activations.

Control Setting key Behavior
Server: — Fixed endpoint: api.pota.app (HTTP polling).
Poll Interval: PotaPollInterval Seconds between POTA polls.
Start / Stop (POTA) — Starts or stops POTA polling.
Auto-start on startup (POTA) PotaAutoStart Auto-starts POTA on launch.
POTA Activations — Console of activation feed.
Spot Color: (POTA) PotaSpotColor Color picker for POTA spots.

FreeDV (Tab)

Connect to the FreeDV QSO reporter WebSocket feed.

Control Setting key Behavior
Server: — Fixed endpoint: qso.freedv.org (WebSocket).
Start / Stop (FreeDV) — Connects or disconnects the FreeDV WebSocket.
Auto-start on startup (FreeDV) FreeDvAutoStart Auto-starts FreeDV on launch.
FreeDV Spots — Console of FreeDV activity.
Spot Color: (FreeDV) FreeDvSpotColor Color picker for FreeDV spots.

Spot List (Tab)

Unified searchable table of all live spots from all sources.

Control Behavior
Bands: Per-band checkboxes toggle visibility in table. Checkboxes are arranged in a flow layout that wraps to new rows when the dialog is narrow, keeping labels readable.
Clear Empties current spot list.
Spot table Sortable table of spots. Double-click a row to tune to that frequency. Columns: Time, Freq, DX Call, Comment, Spotter, Band, Mode, Source. Right-click the header row to show or hide columns — checkable actions toggle column visibility without closing the menu, letting you adjust multiple columns in one pass.

Display (Tab)

Configure how spots appear on the panadapter.

Master Toggles

Control Setting key Default Behavior
Spots: IsSpotsEnabled Enabled Master toggle for DX spot overlay.
Memories: IsMemorySpotsEnabled Disabled Toggles memory-channel overlay on panadapter.
Auto: SpotAutoSwitchMode Enabled Automatically switch slice mode when clicking a spot that includes mode info (e.g. CW, FT8, RTTY).
Signals (Signal History) SHistoryMarkersEnabled Disabled Gold markers for detected voice-width signals on the panadapter.
QRM (Signal History) SHistoryQrmEnabled Disabled Red markers for persistent carriers and wideband interference.

Clear and Position Controls

Control Setting key Range Behavior
Clear All — — Clears all DX spots, memory feed, Signal History markers and QRM markers from the spectrum.
Levels: SpotsMaxLevel 1–10 (default: 3) Number of vertical stacking rows for spots.
Position: SpotsStartingHeightPercentage 0–100 (default: 50) Vertical position on panadapter.
Font Size: SpotFontSize 8–32 (default: 16) Spot text size.
Spot Lifetime: DxClusterSpotLifetimeSec 10 sec – 24 hrs Seconds before a spot fades away. Non-linear steps.

Color Overrides

Control Setting key Default Behavior
Override Colors: IsSpotsOverrideColorsEnabled — Forces a single text color for all spots.
Spot text color picker SpotsOverrideColor #FFFF00 Opens color picker to choose spot text color.
Override Background: Enabled IsSpotsOverrideBackgroundColorsEnabled Enabled Enables custom spot background color.
Override Background: Auto IsSpotsOverrideToAutoBackgroundColorEnabled Enabled Auto-picks background color for contrast.
Spot background color picker SpotsOverrideBgColor #000000 Opens color picker for spot background color.
Background Opacity: SpotsBackgroundOpacity 0–100 (default: 48) Opacity of spot background color.
Spot Lines: IsSpotsLinesEnabled Enabled Draws vertical lines from the spectrum up to each spot label. Disable during contests to reduce visual clutter.

Status Indicators

Indicator Behavior
Total Spots: Live count of spots currently tracked across all sources.

DXCC Coloring (Section)

Control Setting key Behavior
DXCC Colors: IsDxccColoringEnabled Colors spots by worked/confirmed/needed DXCC status.
Log File (ADIF): DxccAdifFilePath Loads an ADIF log file to drive DXCC coloring. Auto-watches the file for changes after selection.
Imported: — Shows QSO count and entity count when a log is loaded. Format: <N> QSOs / <M> entities.
New DXCC color DxccColorNewEntity Color picker for unworked entities.
New Band color DxccColorNewBand Color picker for new band contacts.
New Mode color DxccColorNewMode Color picker for new mode contacts.
Worked color DxccColorWorked Color picker for already worked entities.

Signal History (Section)

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

Visual Feedback

  • Status labels for each source show current connection state: Disconnected, Connected, Stopped, Listening, or Polling.
  • The SpotHub dialog uses theme-aware colors: accent color when connected, label color when disconnected, and danger color on error.
  • Toggle buttons display their default text ("Enabled" or "Disabled") — toggle state is indicated by the button's pressed state and background styling, not by the label text.

Tips

  • QRM markers are independent from Signal History voice markers. Enable one, both, or neither.
  • Use the QRM Gate slider to ignore brief transmissions and only mark signals that persist long enough to be interference.
  • Double-click any slider knob in the Signal History section to instantly reset it to its factory default value.
  • The Spot List tab uses a flow layout for band checkboxes, so they wrap to new rows when the dialog is narrow instead of being compressed.
  • Right-click the spot table header to show or hide columns — the column visibility menu stays open while you toggle multiple checkboxes.
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