What does each mode actually do?

Regular voice/broadcast audio — amateur SSB, aircraft AM, VHF/UHF FM, and FM broadcast. Just tune in and listen; nothing decodes automatically.

WFM also shows the station name and RadioText from RDS (when the tuned station broadcasts it) in a small bar above the display, if this receiver supports RDS.

Encrypted-sounding digital voice repeater/simplex traffic, decoded to clear audio automatically when you tune to one of these primary modes.

Live talker/station info (callsign, talkgroup, etc., whatever the protocol actually carries) appears in a status bar above the display while it's active — not the message table.

The standard amateur-radio weak-signal digital modes — short, highly compressed contacts (callsigns, grid squares, signal reports) that pull signals out of the noise far below what voice or CW could ever copy.

Each decode is a row in the message table. *If the decode includes a grid locator, that station may also show up as a dot on the map.

Very low-power propagation-beacon modes — stations send a short "I'm here, on this band, at this power" beacon rather than having a two-way contact.

Same as above: a table row per beacon, plus a map dot when a grid locator is included.

A keyboard-to-keyboard weak-signal chat mode built on the same technology as FT8, but designed for actual back-and-forth conversation and relaying messages through other stations.

Gets its own conversation-threaded panel (grouped by callsign) rather than a flat table, since it's meant to be read as a chat. Heartbeat/compound frames that include a grid locator also show up on the map.

Classic amateur and commercial teleprinter-style modes — continuous streams of typed text (PSK31/RTTY for ham keyboard chat, SITOR-B for older maritime traffic, plain CW for Morse code).

These decode as one continuous scrolling stream of characters rather than discrete message rows, since there's no natural "start of message" marker in the signal itself.

Instead of decoding one signal at a time, a skimmer scans the entire tuned passband at once and reports every CW or RTTY signal it can hear simultaneously.

Shows as a live table, one row per currently-active signal, tagged with the exact frequency each one is on — great for spotting activity across a whole band at a glance.

Digital Selective Calling — the maritime VHF system used for routed calls and distress alerts, identifying vessels by their MMSI number.

Decoded calls appear as rows in the message table.

Maritime safety broadcasts (weather, navigation warnings) sent as slow narrow-band text.

This station's software version doesn't actually deliver decoded NAVTEX text — a known limitation on the server side, not something this page's client can work around. You'll see the mode tune in, but no message content.

The Automatic Packet Reporting System — the amateur radio network hams use for GPS position beacons, short messages, and weather station data.

Decoded packets appear as message-table rows, and any that include a position also show up as dots on the map.

The Automatic Identification System — the transponder every commercial ship (and most larger boats) broadcasts with its position, heading, and speed.

Same as APRS: message-table rows plus live dots on the map, with each vessel's course/speed/name in its popup.

Aircraft position transponders — ADS-B on 1090MHz (used worldwide), UAT on 978MHz (mostly US general aviation).

These are pure position feeds, no message text, so they get their own live aircraft table on the main page (one row per plane, updated in place) rather than a scrolling log — plus the same aircraft show up on the map.

Old-style pager network protocols — still used by some hospitals, fire departments, and industrial sites.

Decoded pages appear as message-table rows.

SelCall/ZVEI are older tone-based selective-calling systems; EAS is the US Emergency Alert System's data burst (the SAME tones you hear before an emergency broadcast).

Decoded as message-table rows when a valid sequence is heard.

The catch-all 433MHz "smart device" band — weather stations, tire-pressure sensors, utility smart meters, garage remotes, and hundreds of other consumer devices.

Gets its own live table (one row per device seen), since there's no fixed message format across the huge variety of devices that use this band.

Weather-balloon telemetry — altitude, GPS position, temperature, and humidity, broadcast by the small transmitter every balloon carries.

Live table on the main page (one row per balloon, tracked by its serial number) and also shown as a moving dot on the map while it's in flight.

Real airliner datalink traffic — actual operational messages between aircraft and their airline, not just position: ATC handoffs, weather requests, maintenance reports, free text. HFDL rides on shortwave, VDL2 and ACARS on VHF.

Each decoded message is a row in the message table. These aircraft also show up on the map — click a plane's dot to see its position and a running history of everything it's said recently, in the popup.

Long-range, low-power mesh/tracker protocols built on LoRa radio — LoRa-APRS carries ham APRS-style position beacons, FANET is used by paragliders, the others are their own independent mesh networks.

Message-table rows for everything decoded; *LoRa-APRS packets that resolve to a real position also show as dots on the map, same as regular APRS.

The popular open-source LoRa mesh-networking project used for off-grid text messaging and GPS tracking.

Message-table rows, plus nodes with a position show up on the map.

Slow-Scan TV and radiofax — actual pictures sent over radio, drawn in one line at a time rather than all at once (SSTV is popular with hams; FAX is used for weather charts).

Gets its own scrolling image gallery on the main page, filling in scanline-by-scanline as it's received — click a finished picture to save it.