Skip to content

SpotHub Display tab reference

The Display tab in SpotHub controls how spot labels appear on the panadapter: how many stack vertically, where they sit, how large the text is, and how long each spot lives before it fades. It also includes Signal History marker controls and DXCC coloring options. Adjust these settings to reduce clutter on a busy band or make spots more readable on a small screen.

Before you start

  • AetherSDR must be running. A radio connection is not required to change these settings.
  • At least one spot source (DX cluster, RBN, WSJT-X, SpotCollector, POTA, or FreeDV) should be active so you can see the effect of your changes in real time.
  • The master spot overlay must be on. On the Display tab, confirm the Spots: toggle reads Enabled.

Steps

  1. Open Settings > SpotHub....
  2. Click the Display tab.
  3. Confirm Spots: is set to Enabled. If it is not, click it to enable the overlay.
  4. To show or hide memory-channel overlays on the panadapter, click Memories:.
  5. To control how many spots stack vertically before they start overlapping, drag the Levels: slider. Higher values allow more rows of spot labels.
  6. To move the spot labels up or down on the panadapter, drag the Position: slider.
  7. To change the text size of spot labels, drag the Font Size: slider.
  8. To set how long a spot remains visible before it disappears, drag the Spot Lifetime: slider. The value is in seconds.
  9. Auto: is enabled by default. When on, AetherSDR automatically switches the slice mode when you click a spot that carries mode information (e.g. CW, FT8, RTTY). Click Auto: to toggle this behaviour.
  10. To show or hide Signal History voice signal markers, click Signals (Signal History):.
  11. To show or hide QRM markers, click QRM (Signal History):.
  12. To clear all DX spots, memory feed, Signal History markers, and QRM markers from the spectrum, click Clear All.
  13. To set the override color for all spots, click Override Colors: to enable, then click the color picker button next to it to choose a color.
  14. To enable custom spot background colors, click Override Background: Enabled. To have the background color auto-picked for contrast, click Override Background: Auto.
  15. To set background opacity, drag the Background Opacity: slider.
  16. To show or hide the vertical lines drawn from the spectrum up to each spot label, click Spot Lines:. The button displays Enabled when the feature is on. Disable this during contests to reduce visual clutter.
  17. To enable DXCC coloring, click DXCC Colors: and load an ADIF log file using Log File (ADIF):.
  18. Click the color swatches under the DXCC Coloring section to choose colors for New DXCC, New Band, New Mode, and Worked statuses.
  19. Adjust Signal History marker behaviour using the Marker Lifetime:, QRM Gate:, and Edge Threshold: sliders.
  20. Click the color swatches under the Signal History section to choose colors for Signals and QRM markers.
  21. Toggle Snap to Step: to round S-History click-to-tune to the nearest multiple of the active slice's step size.
  22. Close the dialog. Changes take effect immediately.

What each control does

Control Setting key Behavior
Spots: IsSpotsEnabled Master toggle for the spot overlay on the panadapter.
Memories: IsMemorySpotsEnabled Toggles memory-channel overlay on panadapter.
Auto: SpotAutoSwitchMode Automatically switch slice mode when clicking a spot that includes mode info (e.g. CW, FT8, RTTY). Setting key changed from SpotsAutoMode in v26.5.1.
Signals (Signal History) SHistoryMarkersEnabled Gold markers for detected voice-width signals on the panadapter. New in v26.5.1. Same toggle as View > Signal History Markers.
QRM (Signal History) SHistoryQrmEnabled Red markers for persistent carriers and wideband interference. New in v26.5.1. Same toggle as View > QRM History Markers.
Clear All — Clears all DX spots, memory feed, Signal History markers and QRM markers from the spectrum.
Levels: SpotsMaxLevel Number of vertical stacking rows for spot labels.
Position: SpotsStartingHeightPercentage Vertical position of the spot label band on the panadapter.
Font Size: SpotFontSize Size of the text in each spot label.
Spot Lifetime: DxClusterSpotLifetimeSec Seconds a spot label remains visible before fading.
Spot Lines: IsSpotsLinesEnabled Draws vertical lines from the spectrum up to each spot label. Default: Enabled. Disable during contests to reduce visual clutter.
Override Colors: IsSpotsOverrideColorsEnabled Forces a single text color for all spots. The button always displays "Enabled" regardless of state. Pressing it toggles the feature on or off.
Spot text color picker SpotsOverrideColor Opens QColorDialog to pick spot text color. Default: #FFFF00.
Override Background: Enabled IsSpotsOverrideBackgroundColorsEnabled Enables custom spot background color.
Override Background: Auto IsSpotsOverrideToAutoBackgroundColorEnabled Auto-picks background color for contrast.
Spot background color picker SpotsOverrideBgColor Opens QColorDialog for spot background color. Default: #000000.
Background Opacity: SpotsBackgroundOpacity Opacity of the spot background color.
Total Spots: — Live count of spots currently tracked across all sources.
DXCC Colors: IsDxccColoringEnabled Colors spots by worked/confirmed/needed DXCC status. Setting key changed from DxccColoringEnabled in v26.5.1. The button always displays "Enabled" regardless of state.
Log File (ADIF): DxccAdifFilePath Loads an ADIF log file to drive DXCC coloring. Auto-watches the file for changes after selection. Setting key changed from DxccAdifPath in v26.5.1.
Imported: (DXCC stats) — Shows QSO count and entity count when a log is loaded. Format: <N> QSOs / <M> entities.
DXCC Color swatches (New DXCC / New Band / New Mode / Worked) DxccColorNewEntity, DxccColorNewBand, DxccColorNewMode, DxccColorWorked Opens a color picker for each DXCC status category. New in v26.5.1.
Marker Lifetime: SHistoryLifetimeS How long an inactive Signal History marker persists before being removed. Default 60 s. New in v26.5.1.
QRM Gate: SHistoryQrmGateS How long a narrow carrier or wideband signal must persist before being classified as QRM. Default 6 s. New in v26.5.1.
Edge Threshold: SHistorySoftEdgeDb Threshold above noise floor for the slope edge walk that refines the S-History carrier-side edge. Default 3.0 dB. New in v26.5.1.
Signal History color swatches (Signals / QRM) SHistoryColorSignals, SHistoryColorQrm Opens a color picker for the voice signal markers (gold) and QRM markers (red). New in v26.5.1.
Snap to Step: SHistorySnapToStep Rounds S-History click-to-tune to the nearest multiple of the active slice's step size, hiding the small carrier offset. Default Disabled. New in v26.5.1. The button always displays "Enabled" regardless of state.

Double-clicking a spot to tune

Double-clicking a row in the Spot List table tunes the active slice to the spot frequency. AetherSDR also forwards the mode extracted from the spot comment (for example CW, FT8, or SSB) so the slice mode switches automatically to match the spot, not only the frequency.

Tips

  • If spot labels overlap badly on a crowded band, increase Levels: to add more stacking rows, or decrease Spot Lifetime: so old spots clear sooner.
  • Disable Spot Lines: during contests or on very busy bands to reduce visual clutter without hiding the spot labels themselves.
  • WSJT-X spots have their own per-source lifetime setting (Spot Life: on the WSJT-X tab, stored as WsjtxSpotLife). The Spot Lifetime: slider on the Display tab applies to all other sources.
  • When Override Colors: is disabled, each spot source uses its configured color from the source's tab.
  • Signal History markers are independent of DX spots. Use Clear All to remove both simultaneously.
  • The SpotHub dialog now uses theme-aware colors. Status indicators for connection state are styled with the current theme's accent, label, and danger colors instead of hardcoded values. This ensures consistent appearance with the rest of the application.
  • Toggle buttons for Override Colors:, Spot Lines:, DXCC Colors:, and Snap to Step: always display "Enabled" regardless of their current state. The button's checked state (pressed or unpressed) indicates whether the feature is on or off.

Troubleshooting

  • Spot labels are not visible at all — Check that Spots: on the Display tab is set to Enabled (IsSpotsEnabled). Also confirm at least one spot source is connected and receiving spots.
  • Spot lines are not visible — Check that Spot Lines: is set to Enabled. If the background is light, the lines may be difficult to see.
  • DXCC coloring is not working — Confirm DXCC Colors: is enabled and that you have loaded an ADIF log file using Log File (ADIF):.
  • Signal History markers are not appearing — Check that Signals (Signal History): or QRM (Signal History): is set to Enabled. These markers only appear when the radio is receiving signals.
  • Double-clicking a spot does not switch the slice mode — Confirm Auto: is enabled. Also check that the spot comment contains a recognisable mode string. Mode extraction relies on the comment text supplied by the spot source; spots with no mode information in the comment will still tune the frequency but will not change the mode.
⚡ Athena AetherSDR Assistant
Hi! I'm Athena, the AetherSDR AI assistant. Ask me anything about installation, configuration, or troubleshooting.