Request preparation
What would you like?
Feature Proposal: Customizable Band Plan Overlay
Problem
The band plan overlay currently uses a hardcoded ARRL US band plan (BandPlan.h). Users outside the US — or users who simply want to highlight different frequency
segments — have no way to customize what is displayed. The ARRL plan does not match IARU Region 1 (Europe, Africa) or Region 3 (Asia-Pacific) allocations, making the
overlay misleading for the majority of amateur radio operators worldwide.
Proposed Solution
- External band plan files
Move band plan definitions out of the compiled binary into user-editable files. A natural location would be ~/.config/AetherSDR/bandplans/. Each file defines one
complete band plan in a simple format (JSON or XML, consistent with existing AetherSDR settings). A file contains an array of segments, each with: low frequency, high
frequency, label, license class (optional), and color.
- Ship built-in presets
Bundle several commonly used band plans as read-only defaults:
- ARRL (US, current default)
- IARU Region 1 (Europe, Africa, Middle East)
- IARU Region 2 (Americas — overlaps ARRL but includes non-US countries)
- IARU Region 3 (Asia-Pacific, Oceania)
These would be installed alongside the application and copied to the user directory on first launch (or loaded as fallbacks).
- Band plan selection in the UI
Add a band plan selector to an appropriate location — either in the existing View → Band Plan submenu (which currently only controls display size) or in Radio Setup.
The selector would list all available plans (built-in + user-created). The active plan name is persisted in AppSettings.
- User-defined band plans
Users can duplicate an existing plan and edit it, or create one from scratch by placing a new file in the bandplans directory. No in-app editor is required for an
initial implementation — a well-documented file format with clear examples is sufficient. A future enhancement could add a graphical segment editor.
- Band spot markers
The same approach applies to the kBandSpots array (calling frequencies, FT8, WSPR, etc.). These could either be part of the band plan file or a separate companion
file, since spot frequencies are less region-dependent but still worth customizing.
Scope
- Does not change the existing display rendering in SpectrumWidget — only the data source
- Does not affect BandDefs.h (band definitions for tuning/band stack are separate)
- Backward-compatible: if no user files exist, the current ARRL plan loads as default
Benefit
Makes AetherSDR usable and accurate for operators in all three IARU regions, and gives contesters, SWL operators, or users with custom allocations (e.g. XVTR bands) the flexibility to define exactly what they want to see on their waterfall.
Request preparation
What would you like?
Feature Proposal: Customizable Band Plan Overlay
Problem
The band plan overlay currently uses a hardcoded ARRL US band plan (BandPlan.h). Users outside the US — or users who simply want to highlight different frequency
segments — have no way to customize what is displayed. The ARRL plan does not match IARU Region 1 (Europe, Africa) or Region 3 (Asia-Pacific) allocations, making the
overlay misleading for the majority of amateur radio operators worldwide.
Proposed Solution
Move band plan definitions out of the compiled binary into user-editable files. A natural location would be ~/.config/AetherSDR/bandplans/. Each file defines one
complete band plan in a simple format (JSON or XML, consistent with existing AetherSDR settings). A file contains an array of segments, each with: low frequency, high
frequency, label, license class (optional), and color.
Bundle several commonly used band plans as read-only defaults:
These would be installed alongside the application and copied to the user directory on first launch (or loaded as fallbacks).
Add a band plan selector to an appropriate location — either in the existing View → Band Plan submenu (which currently only controls display size) or in Radio Setup.
The selector would list all available plans (built-in + user-created). The active plan name is persisted in AppSettings.
Users can duplicate an existing plan and edit it, or create one from scratch by placing a new file in the bandplans directory. No in-app editor is required for an
initial implementation — a well-documented file format with clear examples is sufficient. A future enhancement could add a graphical segment editor.
The same approach applies to the kBandSpots array (calling frequencies, FT8, WSPR, etc.). These could either be part of the band plan file or a separate companion
file, since spot frequencies are less region-dependent but still worth customizing.
Scope
Benefit
Makes AetherSDR usable and accurate for operators in all three IARU regions, and gives contesters, SWL operators, or users with custom allocations (e.g. XVTR bands) the flexibility to define exactly what they want to see on their waterfall.