Adjust spot background opacity¶
Use this page to control how transparent or opaque the background behind spot labels appears on the panadapter. Reducing opacity lets the spectrum show through; increasing it makes spot text easier to read against busy signals.
Before you start¶
- Open the Spot Settings dialog by right-clicking the spots overlay on the panadapter.
- Confirm that "Override Background: Enabled" toggle shows "Enabled" text and green background. The opacity slider has no visible effect if the background is disabled.
Steps¶
- In the Spot Settings dialog, locate the Background Opacity: row.
- Drag the slider left to decrease opacity (more transparent) or right to increase it (more opaque).
- The numeric readout next to the slider updates immediately to reflect the current value.
- Close the dialog. The change is saved automatically to
SpotsBackgroundOpacity.
What each control does¶
| Control | Default | Valid range |
|---|---|---|
| Background Opacity: slider | 48 | 0 – 100 |
| Override Background: toggle | Enabled | Enabled / Disabled |
| Override Background: Auto toggle | Enabled | Enabled / Disabled |
| Spot background color picker | #000000 |
Any color |
| Spots: toggle | Enabled | Enabled / Disabled |
| Memories: toggle | Disabled | Enabled / Disabled |
| Levels: slider | 3 | 1 – 10 |
| Position: slider | 50 | 0 – 100 |
| Font Size: slider | 16 | 8 – 32 |
| Spot Lifetime: slider | Varies | 10 sec – 24 hrs (non-linear steps) |
| Override Colors: toggle | Disabled | Enabled / Disabled |
| Spot text color picker | #FFFF00 |
Any color |
| Spot Lines: toggle | Enabled | Enabled / Disabled |
| Clear All Spots button | N/A | N/A |
Tips¶
- A value of 0 makes the background fully transparent; spot text will still appear but with no backing fill.
- A value of 100 makes the background fully opaque. This can obscure weak signals beneath a spot label.
- When "Override Background: Auto" is Enabled, AetherSDR picks the background color automatically for contrast. The opacity slider still applies on top of that auto-selected color.
- If you want a specific background color, disable "Override Background: Auto" first, then use the spot background color picker to choose a color before adjusting opacity.
- The Spot Lines: toggle controls whether vertical lines are drawn from the spectrum baseline up to each spot label. This setting is stored in
IsSpotsLinesEnabled. Disable it during contests to reduce visual clutter. - Toggle buttons display "Enabled" or "Disabled" text and use green/red background color indicators to show state.
Troubleshooting¶
- Moving the slider has no effect — Confirm "Override Background:" toggle shows "Enabled" with green background. If it shows "Disabled" with red background, click it to enable the background and then adjust the slider.
- Toggle buttons show the wrong state — Each toggle button updates its text automatically when clicked. If the text doesn't match the background color, close and reopen the Spot Settings dialog to refresh.