Pick a custom background color for spots¶
Set a specific background color that appears behind spot labels on the panadapter. Use this when the automatic color contrast is not suitable for your display or operating conditions.
Before you start¶
- Open the Spot Settings dialog by right-clicking the spots overlay on a panadapter.
- Confirm that "Override Background: Enabled" is active (button reads "Enabled"). The background color picker has no effect when the background is disabled.
- Disable "Override Background: Auto" if you want your chosen color to take effect. When "Auto" is active, AetherSDR selects the background color automatically and ignores the manual color picker.
Steps¶
- Right-click the spots overlay on the panadapter and open Spot Settings.
- Locate the Override Background: row.
- If the "Enabled" button shows "Disabled", click it so it reads "Enabled". This persists to
IsSpotsOverrideBackgroundColorsEnabled. - If the "Auto" button shows "Enabled", click it so it reads "Disabled". This persists to
IsSpotsOverrideToAutoBackgroundColorEnabled. While "Auto" is active, the manual color picker is overridden. - Click the small color swatch button to the right of "Auto". This opens the system color dialog titled "Spot Background Color".
- Select your desired color and confirm the selection.
- The swatch updates immediately and the panadapter background behind spot labels changes to the chosen color. The value is persisted to
SpotsOverrideBgColor.
What each control does¶
| Label | Kind | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Override Background: Enabled | Toggle button | Enabled | Persists to IsSpotsOverrideBackgroundColorsEnabled. |
| Override Background: Auto | Toggle button | Enabled | Persists to IsSpotsOverrideToAutoBackgroundColorEnabled. When enabled, the manual color picker is ignored. |
| Spot background color picker | Push button (swatch) | #000000 |
Opens a color dialog. Persists to SpotsOverrideBgColor. |
| Background Opacity: | Slider (0–100) | 48 | Alpha of spot background. 0 = fully transparent, 100 = fully opaque. Persists to SpotsBackgroundOpacity. Setting key changed from SpotsOverrideBgOpacity in v0.9.7. |
| Spot Lines: | Toggle button | Enabled | Draws vertical lines from the spectrum baseline up to each spot label. Disable during contests to reduce visual clutter. Persists to IsSpotsLinesEnabled. New in v0.9.7. |
Tips¶
- Setting opacity to 0 makes the background fully transparent regardless of the color chosen. If the background disappears after picking a color, check the "Background Opacity:" slider.
- "Override Background: Auto" defaults to "Enabled", so a freshly opened dialog will ignore any manual color until you disable "Auto".
- "Spot Lines:" defaults to "Enabled". If vertical lines from the spectrum baseline to spot labels are adding clutter during a contest, click the toggle so it reads "Disabled". This persists to
IsSpotsLinesEnabled.
Troubleshooting¶
- Color picker has no visible effect on the panadapter — Confirm "Override Background: Enabled" reads "Enabled" and "Override Background: Auto" reads "Disabled". Both conditions must be met for a manual background color to display.
- Background is invisible despite correct toggle states — Check the "Background Opacity:" slider. If it is at 0, the background is fully transparent. See Adjust spot background opacity.
- Spot lines are not visible — Confirm "Spot Lines:" reads "Enabled". The toggle persists to
IsSpotsLinesEnabled. This control was added in v0.9.7; if you are running an earlier version, the setting is not available.