Set up HAM4LIFE with Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD)

A complete walkthrough — from creating your account to a live, published page — for stations running Ham Radio Deluxe. HRD needs no UDP setup: the feeder reads the frequency and mode straight from HRD's built-in IP Server over TCP.

Step 1 — Create an account

Create an account

Step 2 — Register your callsign

On your dashboard, choose Register callsign and enter your call (for example PA6Y). A portable suffix like /P becomes its own page (/live/pa6y-p). Your public page will be at https://dashboard.ham4life.com/live/pa6y.

You must be the rightful holder of the callsign you register. Callsigns are not verified — we trust you on this. Registering a callsign that is not yours is abuse and leads to your account being blocked and the callsign released. (If a callsign you hold is already taken by someone else, use the request takeover option instead.)

Step 3 — Generate your API key

Open your callsign and click Generate API key. One key per callsign — it is shared by every feeder (feed) of that callsign, and you paste it into the feeder's API key field.

API key with a Copy button — Use the **Copy** button next to the key to copy it to your clipboard.

Your API key is saved to your account. It is shown on screen, is emailed to you, and you can view it again anytime on your callsign's manage page. If you ever want to replace it, click Generate API key for a new one, then paste the new key into every feeder (the old key stops working immediately).

Step 4 — Add a feed

A feed is one feeder = one live card. Give it a unique feed ID (e.g. pa6y-1) — that is all you set. There is no card-type setting: the card type is detected automatically from the incoming data. Multiple feeders posting to the same callsign each use a different feed ID but the same API key.

Feed ID and Label fields — **Feed ID** (required) is exactly what you type into the feeder's ID field — one per feeder/radio. **Label** (optional) is just a friendly name shown to you and on the card.

⚠ The Feed ID must match EXACTLY. Type the same Feed ID here and in the feeder's ID field — character for character. It is case-sensitive: PA6Y-1, pa6y-1 and Pa6y-1 are three different feeds. Any mismatch — a capital letter, a dash, a space — and your data never reaches this card.

Step 5 — Install & configure the Web Dashboard Feeder

Install the feeder on the PC running your logger. It has a tab per destination and can post to several at once; each tab has its own enable checkbox, ID, API key and update interval.

Download Web Dashboard Feeder v1.6.2

Open the H4L Dashboard tab (the HAM4LIFE destination), tick Enable posting to DASHBOARD (the server URL is fixed — you don't type it), then set:

Dashboard ID: the feed ID you created in Step 4 (e.g. pa6y-1)
API key: the callsign API key from Step 3
Update interval: how often this destination is posted

Feeder — HAM4LIFE / H4L Dashboard tab — H4L Dashboard tab — enable it, then set the ID (feed ID) and API key.

Step 6 — Connect Ham Radio Deluxe

Two things to set: the feeder (the HRD tab) and HRD (its IP Server running).

6a — Feeder: enable the HRD (TCP) source

In the feeder open the HRD (TCP) tab and tick Enable HRD, then set:

HRD host / port — where HRD's IP Server runs; default 127.0.0.1 : 7809 on the same PC.
MyCall / Operator — HRD does not send these, so type them here; they show on your card.
Poll interval — how often the feeder reads the radio.

Feeder — HRD (TCP) tab: enable it, point it at HRD's IP Server (host/port), and type your call/operator.

6b — HRD: run the IP Server

In Ham Radio Deluxe, make sure the IP Server is running (Tools → Programs Interface / IP Server) on the same port the feeder points at (default 7809). That is all — no per-QSO or broadcast setup is needed.

HRD does not report the worked callsign or an event name, so those rows do not appear on an HRD card — it shows call/operator, frequency, band, mode and radio. Check the feeder's Live Status tab: it should show the frequency and mode once HRD is connected to your radio.

Step 7 — Build your event page

Open your callsign and fill in the event editor. Every field is optional except the status — set that to Published when you are ready to go public. Here is what each field does:

Title & intro

The Title is the heading of your public page; the Intro is a single catchy line shown just below it.

Event title field — Title — e.g. "Field Day 2026".

Event intro field — Intro — one line, e.g. "Watch me live while activating my event!".

Website (optional)

A link to your own site. When filled in it appears as a button on the public event page.

Website field — Optional — leave empty to hide the website button.

Body

The full description. Use the toolbar for bold, italic, headings, lists, links and tables; the </> Code button toggles raw-HTML editing.

Event start & end

The dates of your activity. Click the field to pick a date from the calendar; the end date cannot be before the start.

Event start and end dates — Event start / end — shown on the public page and in the directory.

Fields shown on the cards

Tick which rows appear on your live cards. Fields that don't apply to your logger are hidden automatically — so you only turn off what you want to hide on purpose.

Photos

Add photos of your station or event, each with an optional caption. They are arranged automatically on the page. The count and size limit shown above the uploader are the current maximums.

Photo uploader — Pick a file, add an optional caption, and click **Upload** — repeat for each photo.

Status

Set to Published (public) to make the page live; keep it on Draft while you are still preparing it.

Danger zone

At the bottom of the page you can remove things. Delete event page clears only the page (your callsign, API key and feeds stay). Delete callsign removes everything — callsign, feeds, API key and event page. Both ask for confirmation.

Done

When your feeder is running and a QSO/frequency change occurs, your card turns ON AIR and updates live. Your page appears in the live feeds.