SpotHub

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 the SpotHub

1. Open Settings > SpotHub....

SpotHub overview

The SpotHub dialog contains multiple tabs, each dedicated to a different spot source, plus a Display tab for panadapter appearance.

Cluster tab

Connects to a traditional DX cluster via telnet.

1. Click the Cluster tab.
2. Enter the cluster hostname in Server:. This value is saved as ClusterHost.
3. Enter the telnet port in Port:. Valid range: 1–65535. This value is saved as ClusterPort.
4. Enter your callsign in Callsign:. This value is saved as ClusterCallsign.
5. Click Connect.
6. Confirm the status indicator changes to Connected. Raw telnet traffic appears in the Cluster Console.
7. To send a command, type in the command line field and click Send.
8. To set the spot color, click Spot Color: and pick a color. This value is saved as ClusterSpotColor.
9. To have the cluster connect automatically every time AetherSDR launches, enable Auto-connect on startup. This is saved as ClusterAutoConnect.

Startup commands for cluster

Click Startup Commands… to open a dialog where you can enter one command per line. These commands are sent to the cluster server automatically after every login.

Typical commands include: - SET/NAME — set your name - SET/QTH — set your location - ACCEPT/SPOT — configure spot filtering

Commands are stored as DxClusterStartupCommands.

RBN tab

Connects to the Reverse Beacon Network via telnet with rate limiting.

1. Click the RBN tab.
2. Enter the RBN hostname in Server:. This value is saved as RbnHost.
3. Enter the telnet port in Port:. Valid range: 1–65535. This value is saved as RbnPort.
4. Enter your callsign in Callsign:. This value is saved as RbnCallsign.
5. Set the Rate Limit: to cap the number of spots per second. This value is saved as RbnRateLimit.
6. Click Connect.
7. Confirm the status indicator changes to Connected. Raw telnet traffic appears in the RBN Console.
8. To send a command, type in the command line field and click Send.
9. To set the spot color, click Spot Color: and pick a color. This value is saved as RbnSpotColor.
10. To have the RBN connect automatically every time AetherSDR launches, enable Auto-connect on startup. This is saved as RbnAutoConnect.

Startup commands for RBN

Click Startup Commands… to open a dialog where you can enter one command per line. These commands are sent to the RBN server automatically after every login.

Commands are stored as RbnStartupCommands.

WSJT-X tab

Listens for UDP broadcasts from WSJT-X and displays decoded spots.

1. Click the WSJT-X tab.
2. Enter the UDP bind address in Address:. This value is saved as WsjtxAddress.
3. Enter the UDP port in Port:. Valid range: 1–65535. This value is saved as WsjtxPort.
4. Click Start.
5. Confirm the status indicator changes to Listening. Decoded transmissions appear in the WSJT-X Decodes console.
6. To have the listener start automatically every time AetherSDR launches, enable Auto-start on startup. This is saved as WsjtxAutoStart.
7. Use the filter checkboxes to control which spots are shown:
8. CQ — show only CQ calls. Saved as WsjtxFilterCQ.
9. CQ POTA — show CQ POTA calls. Saved as WsjtxFilterPOTA.
10. Calling Me — show only decodes addressed to your callsign. Saved as WsjtxFilterCallingMe.
11. Click each color swatch to set the color for that category:
12. CQ color — WsjtxColorCQ
13. POTA color — WsjtxColorPOTA
14. Calling Me color — WsjtxColorCallingMe
15. Default color — WsjtxColorDefault
16. Set Spot Life: to control how many seconds WSJT-X spots remain on the panadapter. This value is saved as WsjtxSpotLife.

SpotCollector tab

Receives DX spots broadcast by Ham Radio Deluxe's SpotCollector over UDP.

1. Click the SpotCollector tab.
2. Set UDP Port: to the port SpotCollector is broadcasting on. Valid range: 1–65535. This value is saved as SpotCollectorPort.
3. Click Start.
4. Confirm the status indicator changes to Listening. Incoming spots appear in the SpotCollector Spots console as they arrive.
5. To have the listener start automatically every time AetherSDR launches, enable Auto-start on startup. This is saved as SpotCollectorAutoStart.

POTA tab

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

1. Click the POTA tab.
2. The Server: indicator shows api.pota.app (HTTP polling).
3. Set Poll Interval: to control how many seconds between polls. This value is saved as PotaPollInterval.
4. Click Start.
5. Confirm the status indicator changes to Polling. The activation feed appears in the POTA Activations console.
6. To set the spot color, click Spot Color: and pick a color. This value is saved as PotaSpotColor.
7. To have the polling start automatically every time AetherSDR launches, enable Auto-start on startup. This is saved as PotaAutoStart.

FreeDV tab

Connects to a WebSocket feed of FreeDV QSO reporter spots.

1. Click the FreeDV tab.
2. The Server: indicator shows qso.freedv.org (WebSocket).
3. Click Start.
4. Confirm the status indicator changes to Connected. FreeDV activity appears in the FreeDV Spots console.
5. To set the spot color, click Spot Color: and pick a color. This value is saved as FreeDvSpotColor.
6. To have the connection start automatically every time AetherSDR launches, enable Auto-start on startup. This is saved as FreeDvAutoStart.

FreeDV Reporter reporting

The FreeDV tab also contains station reporting controls that broadcast your activity to the public FreeDV Reporter map.

Requirements before enabling

• A valid callsign must be available — either from the radio (when Use radio is checked) or typed into the Callsign: field.
• A valid Maidenhead grid square must be available — either from the radio's GPS module (when Use GPS is checked, on supported hardware) or typed into the Grid Square: field.

If either value is missing when you attempt to enable reporting, AetherSDR displays a warning and leaves the checkbox unchecked.

Steps to enable reporting

1. Click the FreeDV tab.
2. In the station reporting section, confirm the Callsign: field shows your callsign.
3. If Use radio is checked, the field is populated automatically from the radio's configured callsign and is read-only. Uncheck Use radio to enter a callsign manually.
4. Confirm the Grid Square: field shows your Maidenhead locator.
5. On radios with GPS hardware, check Use GPS to populate it automatically. Uncheck Use GPS to type a grid square manually.
6. Optionally enter a short message in Station Msg: — it appears beside your callsign on the map.
7. Check Enable FreeDV Reporter reporting when RADE is active.
8. If either the callsign or grid square is blank, a warning dialog appears. Fill in the missing value and try again.
9. Reporting is now active whenever the RADE modem is running.

Spot List tab

Displays a unified, searchable table of all live spots from all sources.

1. Click the Spot List tab.
2. Use the Bands: checkboxes to toggle visibility in the table. One checkbox per band (160m, 80m, 60m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m, 2m, etc.).
3. Click Clear to empty the current spot list.
4. The Spot table shows all spots with columns: Time, Freq, DX Call, Comment, Spotter, Band, Mode, Source. Double-click any row to tune the active slice to that frequency. AetherSDR reads the mode hint from the spot comment and switches the slice to the correct mode at the same time.

Display tab

Controls how spots appear on the panadapter, plus Signal History markers and DXCC coloring.

1. Click the Display tab.

Top toggle row

Toggle	Description	Setting key
Spots:	Master toggle for DX spot overlay. Default is Enabled.	IsSpotsEnabled
Memories:	Toggles memory-channel overlay on panadapter. Default is Disabled.	IsMemorySpotsEnabled
Auto:	Automatically switches slice mode when clicking a spot that includes mode info (e.g. CW, FT8, RTTY). Default is Enabled.	SpotAutoSwitchMode
Signals	Gold markers for detected voice-width signals on the panadapter. Default is Disabled. Same toggle as View > Signal History Markers.	SHistoryMarkersEnabled
QRM	Red markers for persistent carriers and wideband interference. Default is Disabled. Same toggle as View > QRM History Markers.	SHistoryQrmEnabled
Clear All	Clears all DX spots, memory feed, Signal History markers and QRM markers from the spectrum.	—

Common sliders

Slider	Description	Setting key
Levels:	Number of vertical stacking rows for spots. Range 1–10, default 3.	SpotsMaxLevel
Position:	Vertical position on panadapter. Range 0–100, default 50.	SpotsStartingHeightPercentage
Font Size:	Spot text size. Range 8–32, default 16.	SpotFontSize
Spot Lifetime:	Seconds before a spot fades away. Non-linear steps from 10 sec to 24 hrs.	DxClusterSpotLifetimeSec

Override colors section

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

DXCC Coloring section

Controls in the left column below the divider.

Control	Description	Setting key
DXCC Colors:	Colors spots by worked/confirmed/needed DXCC status.	IsDxccColoringEnabled
Log File (ADIF):	Loads an ADIF log file to drive DXCC coloring. Auto-watches the file for changes after selection. Auto-Reload is always enabled when a file is selected.	DxccAdifFilePath
Imported:	Shows QSO count and entity count when a log is loaded. Format: ' QSOs / entities'.	—
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

Controls in the right column below the divider.

Control	Description	Setting key
Marker Lifetime:	How long an inactive Signal History marker persists before being removed. Slider, range 15–300