Poll POTA activations¶
AetherSDR can periodically fetch current Parks on the Air (POTA) activations from api.pota.app and display them as spots on your panadapter. This lets you find active POTA operators without a separate web browser or cluster feed.
Before you start¶
- AetherSDR must be running. A radio connection is not required to configure this feature.
- Outbound HTTP access to
api.pota.appmust not be blocked by a firewall.
Steps¶
- Click
Settings > SpotHub...to open the SpotHub dialog. - Click the POTA tab.
- Review the Server: indicator, which shows
api.pota.app (HTTP polling). This endpoint is fixed and cannot be changed. - Set Poll Interval: to the number of seconds between each poll. This value is persisted as
PotaPollInterval. - Click Start to begin polling. The status indicator changes to Polling when active. Click Stop to halt polling at any time.
- To change the color used for POTA spots on the panadapter, click Spot Color:. Select a color from the picker. This is persisted as
PotaSpotColor. - To start polling automatically each time AetherSDR launches, click Auto-start on startup so it is active. This is persisted as
PotaAutoStart. - Monitor incoming activations in the POTA Activations console on the same tab.
What each control does¶
| Control | Kind | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Server: | Indicator | Shows the fixed polling endpoint: api.pota.app (HTTP polling). Not configurable. |
| Poll Interval: | Spinbox | Seconds between POTA API polls. Persisted as PotaPollInterval. |
| Start / Stop | Push button | Starts or stops POTA polling. |
| Auto-start on startup | Toggle button | Automatically starts POTA polling when AetherSDR launches. Persisted as PotaAutoStart. |
| POTA Activations | Text field | Read-only console showing the activation feed. |
| Spot Color: | Push button | Opens a color picker for POTA spots on the panadapter. Persisted as PotaSpotColor. |
| Total Spots: | Indicator | 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 Spots is pressed. |
| Spot Lines: | Toggle button | Draws vertical lines from the spectrum up to each spot label. Enabled by default. Disable during contests to reduce visual clutter. Persisted as IsSpotsLinesEnabled. New in v0.9.7. |
FreeDV Reporter controls (FreeDV tab)¶
The following controls appear in the Station Reporting group box on the FreeDV tab. They are only present in builds compiled with HAVE_WEBSOCKETS.
| Control | Kind | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Enable FreeDV Reporter reporting when RADE is active | Checkbox | Reports your station to the public FreeDV Reporter map at qso.freedv.org whenever the RADE modem is active. If either the callsign or grid square field is blank when you check this box, a warning dialog appears and the checkbox reverts to unchecked. Persisted as FreeDvAutoReport. On Windows, also requires a build compiled with HAVE_RADE. |
| Callsign: | Text field | Callsign sent to the FreeDV Reporter map. Becomes read-only when Use radio is checked. Persisted as FreeDvMyCallsign. |
| Use radio | Checkbox | Pre-fills the Callsign: field from the radio's configured callsign and locks the field read-only. Updates automatically if the callsign changes in Radio Setup. Persisted as FreeDvUseRadioCallsign. Default: enabled. |
| Grid Square: | Text field | Maidenhead grid square sent to the FreeDV Reporter map. Becomes read-only when Use GPS is checked. Persisted as FreeDvMyGrid. |
| Use GPS | Checkbox | Pre-fills the Grid Square: field from the radio's GPS module and locks the field read-only. Only shown on radio models that have GPS hardware. Persisted as FreeDvUseGpsGrid. Default: enabled. |
| Station Msg: | Text field | Optional free-text message shown beside your callsign on the public FreeDV Reporter map. Persisted as FreeDvMyMessage. |
Enabling FreeDV Reporter reporting¶
Before enabling Enable FreeDV Reporter reporting when RADE is active, AetherSDR resolves your effective callsign and grid square in this order:
- If Use radio is checked and the radio has a non-empty callsign configured, that callsign is used. Otherwise the text entered in Callsign: is used.
- If Use GPS is shown and checked and the radio's GPS module provides a non-empty grid square, that grid is used. Otherwise the text entered in Grid Square: is used.
If either the resolved callsign or grid square is empty, AetherSDR displays a warning and leaves the checkbox unchecked. Fill in both fields before trying again.
Auto Mode default change¶
As of v0.9.5.1, the Auto Mode: toggle on the Display tab defaults to Enabled. The setting is persisted as SpotAutoSwitchMode. If you previously left this at its default, it will now be active after a fresh installation. Existing installations retain whatever value was last saved.
Tune to a spot by double-clicking the spot list¶
As of v0.9.7, double-clicking a row in the Spot List tab tunes your radio to the spot frequency and also forwards a mode hint derived from the spot comment. AetherSDR will switch the active slice to CW, SSB, or the appropriate digital mode to match the spot, rather than only changing the frequency. If the spot comment contains no recognizable mode token, the slice mode is left unchanged.
Tips¶
- POTA spots appear in the unified Spot List tab alongside spots from other sources. The Source column identifies them.
- Double-clicking a POTA spot row in the Spot List tunes your radio to that frequency and switches the slice mode to match the spot where possible. See Tune to a spot by double-clicking the spot list.
- If spots are not visible on the panadapter, confirm that the Spots: master toggle on the Display tab is set to Enabled (
IsSpotsEnabled). - To reduce panadapter clutter during a contest, set Spot Lines: to Disabled on the Display tab. This hides the vertical lines while keeping spot labels visible.
Troubleshooting¶
- Status stays at Stopped after clicking Start — The application cannot reach
api.pota.app. Check your internet connection and confirm no firewall or proxy is blocking outbound HTTP. - No spots appear on the panadapter despite Polling status — Verify that Spots: on the Display tab is Enabled. Also check that the current band is not filtered out in the Spot List tab's Bands: checkboxes.
- POTA Activations console is empty — There may be no active POTA activations at this time, or the poll has not yet completed. Wait for the next poll interval to elapse.
- FreeDV Reporter checkbox immediately unchecks — Either the Callsign: or Grid Square: field is empty. Enter a valid callsign and Maidenhead grid square (or enable Use radio / Use GPS if the radio supplies them), then check the box again.
- Auto Mode: defaults to Enabled on new installations — As of v0.9.5.1, Auto Mode: defaults to Enabled. If you prefer that clicking a spot does not automatically switch the slice mode, set Auto Mode: to Disabled on the Display tab and the preference will be saved.
- Double-clicking a spot switches to the wrong mode — Mode is inferred from the spot comment text. If the comment does not contain a standard mode token, the slice mode is not changed. Edit the filter settings on the relevant source tab to improve comment quality, or switch the mode manually after tuning.