SpotHub overview

SpotHub is AetherSDR's central hub for receiving DX spots from multiple sources and displaying them as overlays on the panadapter. Use it to connect to traditional DX clusters, the Reverse Beacon Network, WSJT-X, SpotCollector, POTA, and FreeDV — all from one dialog.

Before you start

• Open SpotHub via Settings > SpotHub.... No radio connection is required.
• Have your login callsign ready if you plan to connect to a DX cluster or RBN.
• Have an ADIF log file available if you want DXCC coloring.

How it works

SpotHub aggregates spots from up to six independent sources. Each source runs independently — you can enable any combination simultaneously. All incoming spots are merged into a unified list and rendered as frequency markers on the panadapter.

Spots from each source are color-coded separately so you can distinguish their origin at a glance. A global display layer (the Display tab) controls how all spots appear on the panadapter, regardless of source.

Sources

Cluster tab — Connects to a DX cluster via a telnet session. You provide the hostname (ClusterHost), port (ClusterPort, 1–65535), and login callsign (ClusterCallsign). The Cluster Console shows raw telnet traffic. You can type cluster commands in the command line field and send them with Send. Spot color is set via Spot Color:, persisted as ClusterSpotColor.

The Startup Commands… button opens an editor for cluster commands sent automatically after every login. Enter one command per line — for example SET/NAME, SET/QTH, ACCEPT/SPOT. The commands are persisted as DxClusterStartupCommands and replayed by the cluster client after each login.

RBN tab — Connects to the Reverse Beacon Network via telnet. Configuration mirrors the Cluster tab: RbnHost, RbnPort (1–65535), RbnCallsign. The Rate Limit: spinbox (RbnRateLimit) caps the number of spots accepted per second, which is useful because RBN traffic volume can be very high. The RBN Console shows raw traffic. Spot color is set via Spot Color: (RbnSpotColor).

The Startup Commands… button opens an editor for RBN-specific cluster commands sent automatically after every login. Enter one command per line. The commands are persisted as RbnStartupCommands and replayed independently from the DX cluster startup commands.

WSJT-X tab — Listens for UDP datagrams broadcast by a running WSJT-X instance. Set the bind address (WsjtxAddress) and port (WsjtxPort, 1–65535), then click Start. Three checkboxes filter which decodes appear as spots: CQ (WsjtxFilterCQ), CQ POTA (WsjtxFilterPOTA), and Calling Me (WsjtxFilterCallingMe). Each category has its own color picker: CQ color (WsjtxColorCQ), POTA color (WsjtxColorPOTA), Calling Me color (WsjtxColorCallingMe), and Default color (WsjtxColorDefault). Spot Life: (WsjtxSpotLife) controls how long WSJT-X spots remain on the panadapter. The WSJT-X Decodes console shows the raw decode stream.

SpotCollector tab — Listens on a UDP port for spot broadcasts from Ham Radio Deluxe SpotCollector. Set UDP Port: (SpotCollectorPort, 1–65535) and click Start. The SpotCollector Spots console shows received spots.

POTA tab — Polls api.pota.app over HTTP at a configurable interval (Poll Interval:, PotaPollInterval). The server address is fixed and shown as an indicator. The POTA Activations console shows the activation feed. Spot color is set via Spot Color: (PotaSpotColor).

FreeDV tab — Connects to the FreeDV QSO Reporter via WebSocket at qso.freedv.org. The server address is fixed. The FreeDV Spots console shows activity. Spot color is set via Spot Color: (FreeDvSpotColor). This tab is only present in builds that include WebSocket support.

Auto-connect and auto-start

Each source has an Auto-connect on startup or Auto-start on startup toggle. When enabled, that source connects or starts automatically every time AetherSDR launches, without manual intervention. The persisted keys are ClusterAutoConnect, RbnAutoConnect, WsjtxAutoStart, SpotCollectorAutoStart, PotaAutoStart, and FreeDvAutoStart.

Spot List tab

The Spot List tab shows a unified, sortable table of all live spots from all active sources. Columns are: Time, Freq (kHz), DX Call, Mode, Comment, Spotter, Band, and Source. Per-band checkboxes under Bands: toggle visibility for each amateur band. Click Clear to empty the current list. Double-click any row to tune the active VFO to that spot's frequency and, where the spot carries mode information (for example CW, FT8, or RTTY), automatically switch the slice to that mode.

Display tab

The Display tab controls how spots appear on the panadapter.

Control	Setting key	Default
Spots:	IsSpotsEnabled	Enabled
Memories:	IsMemorySpotsEnabled	Disabled
Auto:	SpotAutoSwitchMode	Enabled
Signals (Signal History)	SHistoryMarkersEnabled	Disabled
QRM (Signal History)	SHistoryQrmEnabled	Disabled
Clear All	—	—
Levels:	SpotsMaxLevel	3
Position:	SpotsStartingHeightPercentage	50
Font Size:	SpotFontSize	16
Spot Lifetime:	DxClusterSpotLifetimeSec	—
Override Colors:	IsSpotsOverrideColorsEnabled	—
Spot text color picker	SpotsOverrideColor	#FFFF00
Override Background: Enabled	IsSpotsOverrideBackgroundColorsEnabled	Enabled
Override Background: Auto	IsSpotsOverrideToAutoBackgroundColorEnabled	Enabled
Spot background color picker	SpotsOverrideBgColor	#000000
Background Opacity:	SpotsBackgroundOpacity	48
Spot Lines:	IsSpotsLinesEnabled	Enabled
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 is pressed.
DXCC Coloring (section)	Section header for DXCC coloring controls in the left column below the divider.	—
DXCC Colors:	IsDxccColoringEnabled	—
Log File (ADIF):	DxccAdifFilePath	—
Imported: (DXCC stats)	Shows QSO count and entity count when a log is loaded.	(no log loaded)
DXCC Color swatches (New DXCC / New Band / New Mode / Worked)	DxccColorNewEntity, DxccColorNewBand, DxccColorNewMode, DxccColorWorked	—
Signal History (section)	Section header for Signal History tunables in the right column below the divider.	—
Marker Lifetime:	SHistoryLifetimeS	60 s
QRM Gate:	SHistoryQrmGateS	6 s
Edge Threshold:	SHistorySoftEdgeDb	3.0 dB
Signal History color swatches (Signals / QRM)	SHistoryColorSignals / SHistoryColorQrm	#FFC800 / #FF0000
Snap to Step:	SHistorySnapToStep	Disabled

Spot Lines: draws a vertical line from the spectrum baseline up to each spot label. Disable this during contests to reduce visual clutter. The setting is persisted as IsSpotsLinesEnabled and defaults to Enabled.

Auto: defaults to Enabled (SpotAutoSwitchMode defaults to True). If you previously relied on Auto Mode being off by default, verify this setting after upgrading.

Override Colors: button always shows "Enabled" text. When checked, it forces a single text color for all spots. The button label does not change when toggled.

DXCC Colors: button always shows "Enabled" text. When checked, it colors spots by worked/confirmed/needed DXCC status. The button label does not change when toggled.

Spot Lines: button always shows "Enabled" text. When checked, it draws vertical lines from the spectrum up to each spot label. The button label does not change when toggled.

Snap to Step: button always shows "Enabled" text. When checked, it rounds S-History click-to-tune to the nearest multiple of the active slice's step size. The button label does not change when toggled.

FreeDV Reporter reporting

The FreeDV tab includes a Station Reporting section that lets AetherSDR broadcast your station activity to the public FreeDV Reporter map at qso.freedv.org whenever the RADE modem is active. This feature is only present in builds compiled with WebSocket support.

Enable reporting

1. Open the FreeDV tab.
2. Fill in a valid callsign and grid square in the Callsign: and Grid Square: fields (see below). The checkbox refuses to enable if either field is blank or unresolvable.
3. Check Enable FreeDV Reporter reporting when RADE is active (FreeDvAutoReport). If the callsign or grid cannot be resolved, a warning dialog appears and the checkbox reverts to unchecked.

Note: Reporter data is published to a community-shared public map. Do not enable reporting with placeholder values.

Callsign field

Control	Setting key	Default	Notes
Callsign:	FreeDvMyCallsign	—	The callsign sent to the FreeDV Reporter map. Field is read-only when Use radio is checked.
Use radio	FreeDvUseRadioCallsign	True	Pre-fills the callsign from the radio's configured callsign and locks the field read-only. Updates automatically if you change the callsign in Radio Setup.

When Use radio is checked, the field displays the radio's callsign. Uncheck it to enter a callsign manually.

Grid Square field

Control	Setting key	Default	Notes
Grid Square:	FreeDvMyGrid	—	Maidenhead grid square sent to the FreeDV Reporter map. Field is read-only when Use GPS is checked.
Use GPS	FreeDvUseGpsGrid	True	Pre-fills the grid from the radio's GPS module and locks the field read-only. Only shown on radio models that have GPS hardware.

Station message

Control	Setting key	Default	Notes
Station Msg:	FreeDvMyMessage	—	Optional free-text message shown beside your callsign on the public FreeDV Reporter map.

SWR sweep overlay

V0.9.4 adds a SWR sweep overlay that plots SWR versus frequency directly on the panadapter. An external source (for example, an antenna analyzer integration) supplies the data by calling setSwrSweepPoints(). The panadapter renders the curve via the internal drawSwrSweep() layer.

Supplying sweep data

Call setSwrSweepPoints() with a vector of SwrSweepPoint values. Each point carries two fields:

Field	Type	Default	Description
freqMhz	double	0.0	Frequency of the measurement in MHz.
swr	float	1.0	SWR value at that frequency.

The method signature is:

setSwrSweepPoints(points, running, currentFreqMhz, sourceLabel)

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
points	QVector<SwrSweepPoint>	—	The sweep data to display.
running	bool	false	Pass true while a sweep is in progress to indicate a