SpotHub (DX Cluster Dialog)
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
Click Settings > SpotHub... on the main menu.
Connecting to a DX Cluster
Click the Cluster tab.
Enter the hostname in Server: (default: dxc.nc7j.com).
Enter the telnet port in Port: (default: 7373).
Enter your callsign in Callsign: .
Click Connect . The button label changes to Disconnect when connected.
Optional: Toggle Auto-connect on startup to connect automatically on launch.
Cluster Console
View raw telnet traffic in the read-only console area.
Type commands in the text field beside Send and click Send to transmit.
Spot Color
Click Spot Color: to open a color picker and choose a unique color for DX cluster spots on the panadapter.
Connecting to the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN)
Click the RBN tab.
Enter the hostname in Server: (default: telnet.reversebeacon.net).
Enter the port in Port: (default: 7000).
Enter your callsign in Callsign: .
Set the Rate Limit: to cap spots per second (prevents overload on busy bands).
Click Connect . The button label changes to Disconnect when connected.
Optional: Toggle Auto-connect on startup to connect automatically on launch.
RBN Console
View raw RBN traffic in the read-only console area.
Type commands in the text field beside Send and click Send to transmit.
RBN Spot Color
Click Spot Color: to open a color picker for RBN spots.
Receiving WSJT-X Spots
Click the WSJT-X tab.
Enter the UDP bind address in Address: (default: 127.0.0.1).
Enter the UDP port in Port: (default: 2237).
Click Start . The button label changes to Stop when listening.
Optional: Toggle Auto-start on startup to start the listener automatically on launch.
WSJT-X Filters
Select which decodes appear as spots:
CQ — Show only CQ calls.CQ POTA — Show CQ POTA calls.Calling Me — Show only decodes addressed to your callsign.
WSJT-X Colors
Assign colors to each decode category:
CQ color — Click to set color for CQ spots.POTA color — Click to set color for CQ POTA spots.Calling Me color — Click to set color for spots calling you.Default color — Click to set default color for all other spots.
WSJT-X Decodes Console
View decoded transmissions in the read-only area.
Spot Life
Use Spot Life: spinbox to set how many seconds WSJT-X spots remain on the panadapter (default: 60 s).
Connecting to SpotCollector
Click the SpotCollector tab.
Enter the UDP port in UDP Port: (default: 7373).
Click Start . The button label changes to Stop when listening.
Optional: Toggle Auto-start on startup to start the listener automatically on launch.
SpotCollector Spots Console
View received SpotCollector spots in the read-only area.
Polling POTA Spots
Click the POTA tab.
The server field shows api.pota.app (HTTP polling) — this is fixed.
Set the Poll Interval: in seconds (default: 60).
Click Start . The button label changes to Stop when polling.
Optional: Toggle Auto-start on startup to start polling automatically on launch.
POTA Activations Console
View the activation feed in the read-only area.
POTA Spot Color
Click Spot Color: to open a color picker for POTA spots.
Connecting to FreeDV
Click the FreeDV tab.
The server field shows qso.freedv.org (WebSocket) — this is fixed.
Click Start . The button label changes to Stop when connected.
Optional: Toggle Auto-start on startup to connect automatically on launch.
FreeDV Spots Console
View FreeDV activity in the read-only area.
FreeDV Spot Color
Click Spot Color: to open a color picker for FreeDV spots.
Using the Spot List
Click the Spot List tab to view all live spots in a unified, sortable table.
Use the Bands: checkboxes to filter by band (160m, 80m, 60m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m, 2m, etc.). Band filter checkboxes wrap to new rows when the dialog is narrow to keep labels readable.
Click Clear to empty the current spot list.
Double-click any row in the Spot table to tune your radio to that frequency.
The Spot table columns are:
Column
Description
Time
Time the spot was received
Freq
Frequency in MHz
DX Call
The station being spotted
Comment
Spotter's comment
Spotter
The station that posted the spot
Band
Band name
Mode
Mode (e.g., CW, FT8, RTTY)
Source
Which source provided the spot (Cluster, RBN, WSJT-X, SpotCollector, POTA, FreeDV)
Hiding and showing table columns
Right-click the spot table header row to open a context menu where you can show or hide individual columns. The menu stays open while you toggle checkable columns, so you can show or hide several columns in one pass instead of reopening the menu for each column.
Configuring Spot Display
Click the Display tab.
Use the following toggles and controls:
Master Toggles
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
Global Controls
Control
Default
Range
Behavior
Setting key
Clear All —
—
Clears all DX spots, memory feed, Signal History markers and QRM markers from the spectrum
—
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: —
10 sec – 24 hrs (non-linear steps)
Seconds before a spot fades away
DxClusterSpotLifetimeSec
Color Overrides
Control
Default
Behavior
Setting key
Override Colors: Off
Forces a single text color for all spots
IsSpotsOverrideColorsEnabled
Spot text color picker
#FFFF00Opens color picker to choose override 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
#000000Opens color picker for spot background color
SpotsOverrideBgColor
Background Opacity: 48
0–100
Opacity of spot background color
Spot Lines
Control
Default
Behavior
Setting key
Spot Lines: Enabled
Draws vertical lines from the spectrum up to each spot label. Disable during contests to reduce visual clutter
IsSpotsLinesEnabled
Total Spots
Total Spots: indicator shows the live count of spots currently tracked across all sources.
DXCC Coloring
In the Display tab, the DXCC Coloring section controls color-coding spots based on your log.
Click Load ADIF Log to select an ADIF log file (uses DxccAdifFilePath setting).
After loading, the Imported: indicator shows <N> QSOs / <M> entities.
Control
Default
Behavior
Setting key
DXCC Colors: Off
Colors spots by worked/confirmed/needed DXCC status
IsDxccColoringEnabled
Log File (ADIF): —
Opens file dialog to select an ADIF log. Auto-watches file for changes
DxccAdifFilePath
Imported: (no log loaded)
Shows QSO count and entity count
—
DXCC Color Settings
Control
Behavior
Setting key
New DXCC color swatch
Opens color picker for new entity spots
DxccColorNewEntity
New Band color swatch
Opens color picker for new band spots
DxccColorNewBand
New Mode color swatch
Opens color picker for new mode spots
DxccColorNewMode
Worked color swatch
Opens color picker for already-worked spots
DxccColorWorked
Signal History
In the Display tab, the Signal History section configures markers for voice-width signals and QRM.
Control
Default
Range
Behavior
Setting key
Signals (Signal History) Disabled
On/Off
Gold markers for detected voice-width signals
SHistoryMarkersEnabled
QRM (Signal History) Disabled
On/Off
Red markers for persistent carriers and wideband interference
SHistoryQrmEnabled
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. Lower = closer to carrier but more noise-sensitive
SHistorySoftEdgeDb
Snap to Step: Disabled
On/Off
Rounds S-History click-to-tune to the nearest multiple of the active slice's step size, hiding the small carrier offset
SHistorySnapToStep
Signal History Color Settings
Control
Default
Behavior
Setting key
Signals color swatch
#FFC800Opens color picker for voice signal markers (gold)
SHistoryColorSignals
QRM color swatch
#FF0000Opens color picker for QRM markers (red)
SHistoryColorQrm
Tips
All slider controls support left-double-click to reset to their stored default value.
The SpotHub dialog uses your current theme colors for status labels and tab styling. Connected status appears in the accent color, disconnected in the label color, and error messages in the danger accent color.
The Spot List band-filter checkboxes wrap to new rows when the dialog is narrow, keeping labels readable (#4157).
Right-click the Spot List table header to show/hide columns; the menu stays open while you toggle multiple columns in one pass (#4157).
Snap to Step only affects clicks on Signal History markers — it does not change how the slice tunes when you click the spectrum directly.
Troubleshooting
Spot List band-filter checkboxes are unreadable when the dialog is narrow — The band-filter checkboxes now wrap to a new row when they run out of horizontal space. If they still appear compressed, drag the dialog wider.Clicking a marker still tunes to the exact carrier frequency — Make sure the Snap to Step toggle shows a green fill. If it's still gray, click it once to enable.