DX Reminder Desktop for Windows and Mac: Tray and First Run

Many radio amateurs spend the evening at a computer: the logger on one screen, the waterfall on another, a browser with the cluster page somewhere behind them. For those operators the DX Reminder desktop version is the natural way to wait for a wanted callsign, because it lives in the system tray, watches the DX services in the background and raises an alarm when your station appears, even when its window is closed. This guide goes through the Windows and macOS versions of the LY4A app step by step: which file to download, why the two systems show a security warning on the first start, what the tray icon does, how the portable build differs from the installer, and what the changes in recent versions mean for everyday use.

Which Download Do You Need

The LY4A site offers two builds for each desktop system. For Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, there is an installer in the form of an MSI file of about 95 megabytes, and a portable version of about 94 megabytes that needs no installation. For the Mac there is a disk image with the application of about 105 megabytes, and again a portable build of about 100. The current desktop version is 1.7.0, and the Android app is numbered separately. The page lists the macOS requirement as macOS 12 or newer, and the install instructions on the page speak of an Apple Silicon Mac.

The choice between the installer and the portable build is a matter of habit. The installer creates a Start menu entry and a desktop shortcut, as the install instructions say, and it is the right choice for a shack computer that you use every day. The portable build is useful if you want to carry the app on a USB stick to a club station, a contest site or a field day computer, where installing programs is not allowed or not wanted. It keeps its data in the same way as the installed version, but has no installer step, so there is nothing to remove afterwards.

Installing on Windows

Download the MSI file and run it. Windows may show the blue window “Windows protected your PC”. The LY4A page explains the reason: the app is not signed with a paid code-signing certificate, and that is all the warning means. Click More info, then Run anyway, and follow the installer. When it finishes, you have a Start menu entry and a shortcut on the desktop. Start the program, choose the language, enter the first callsign and fill in the table of bands and modes. The details of the table are described in our article on the automation of DX spot alerts and in the guide to the table itself.

The portable version for Windows is started in the same way after it has been unpacked, and Windows may show the same warning for it. If your organisation has strict rules on software, the fact that the app is not signed is a thing to mention to the person in charge of the computers. The app contains no analytics, no crash reporting and no advertising, as the privacy page states, and the desktop version has no server of its own.

Installing on a Mac

Open the downloaded DMG and drag LY4A DX Reminder into the Applications folder, then eject the disk image. The first start needs a small extra step because the app is not signed by Apple. On macOS 12 to 14, open Applications, right-click the app, choose Open and then Open again in the warning window. A normal double-click does not offer the Open button. On macOS 15 (Sequoia) and newer, try to open the app once, then go to System Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway.

If macOS says the app is damaged and cannot be opened, the file is fine. That is how macOS describes an unsigned application that has been downloaded from the internet. In that case, open the Terminal and paste the command shown on the LY4A page, which removes the quarantine attribute from the app in the Applications folder. It is needed only once. Signing the app would remove the warning, but this requires a paid Apple developer account, as the page says openly.

The Tray Icon: Closing Is Not Quitting

This is the one habit that matters most. On the desktop, closing the window does not stop the watching. The app keeps running in the system tray, called the notification area on Windows and the menu bar on the Mac, and goes on checking the DX services at the interval you chose. To end the program, use the Quit command in the tray menu. If you close the window at the end of a session and later wonder why the computer shows an alarm in the middle of the night, this is the explanation, and it is also the behaviour you want when you leave a station running while you work in another program.

The check interval can be 1, 5, 10 or 30 minutes, as the product page lists. A shorter interval means a faster alarm but more requests to the public services, which they handle under their own rules. For a rare callsign that is on the air for days, 5 or 10 minutes is a reasonable compromise. For the moment of a DXpedition’s first day, 1 minute is natural. For the PSK Reporter source the app can do better than any interval, as the next section explains.

The Live PSK Reporter Feed on the Desktop

Version 1.5 of the desktop app brought a change that is specific to Windows and macOS. PSK Reporter reception reports used to be asked for every few minutes, and they are published in batches, so a station could be heard long before the app knew about it. The computer app now listens to the same reports over MQTT and hears a callsign within seconds of a receiver reporting it. If the connection is not available, the ordinary queries return on their own. The explanation of the feed and of its status line is in our article on PSK Reporter.

The practical result for a digital mode operator is significant. If you wait for a rare station on FT8 or FT4, the first receiver that hears it, often a skimmer or a station on the other side of the world, reports it, and your alarm sounds almost at once. Watching the cluster alone would depend on a human spotter.

Alarm Interval, Languages and Updates

Version 1.5 also repaired the alarm interval on the computer. The setting existed, but the record of what had already rung was thrown away after every check, so a station that was spotted again and again kept ringing. The setting now works as on the phone: one alarm per callsign, band and mode, and you choose how long to wait before the same combination may ring again, from every new spot to every 60 minutes. Another station on another band or mode still rings at once.

The app has fifteen languages, among them English, Lithuanian, German, French, Russian, Spanish, Polish, Italian, Ukrainian, Czech, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Latvian, Estonian and Hungarian. The language is the app’s own and does not depend on the language of the operating system, so a Lithuanian club can run the app in English on a computer in Lithuanian. About updates: the app asks ly4a.com at startup whether a newer release exists and offers to download it, and there is a button in the settings for asking at once. Since version 1.7.0 the app also learns from the site whether the version it runs is still supported. Today nothing changes for the user, and your callsigns and reminders survive an update.

A Sensible Setup for a Shack Computer

For a computer that runs the logger and the digital programs, set up DX Reminder like this. Install the program, start it with the system if you want the watching to be permanent, and enter the three or four callsigns that matter most. For each callsign, tick only the band and mode cells where you really need the station, because a precise table is what keeps the alarms meaningful. Choose a check interval of 5 minutes and an alarm interval of 10 or 30 minutes. Keep the volume of the computer at a level you can hear from the chair, and test the alarm once with a callsign that is active now. The companion articles on ham radio apps and GridTracker show how an alert tool fits with the rest of a digital station.

Remember that the program is one more thing running on a computer that also handles audio for the radio. Make sure the sound device used by the radio interface is not the one on which the alarm plays, or set the alarm to a different output, so that an alarm does not end up transmitted by an interface that is in VOX mode. This is a general habit of a digital station, and it applies to every notification on the computer.

Privacy, Data and Removal

The privacy page of the app is short and clear about the desktop versions. The callsigns you watch, the bands and modes chosen for them, your settings and the spots already seen stay on the computer in the app’s own storage, and nothing is sent anywhere. To learn whether a callsign is on the air, the app asks the same public DX services that a person would open in a browser, and each request carries the callsign being looked for. Those services see the request and the internet address it came from. There is nothing to sign up for.

Removal is equally plain. Uninstalling the app removes everything it kept, and there is no copy anywhere else. On Windows that means the usual uninstall for the installed version, and for the portable version deleting its folder. If you move to a new computer, you enter the callsigns again, which takes a minute for the typical short list of wanted stations. A related point of general interest, portable applications are designed to leave a computer exactly as they found it, which is why they suit shared club machines.

Desktop or Phone?

The two are not rivals. The computer app suits a station that is attended for hours, and it has the live PSK Reporter feed. The phone is with you all day, and the Android version plays the alarm on the alarm channel even when the phone is silent, while the iPhone version relies on notifications sent through the LY4A site. Many operators install both, with the same callsigns, and let whichever device is nearest do the work. Each device keeps its own list, so the reminders are entered on each one separately.

The Bottom Line

DX Reminder for Windows and macOS comes as an installer or a portable build, version 1.7.0, and runs in the system tray after its window is closed, so quit it from the tray menu when you want it to stop. The first start shows a security warning because the app is not signed with a paid certificate: on Windows click More info and Run anyway, on the Mac use Open or Open Anyway, or the quarantine command if macOS calls the file damaged. The desktop app checks every 1, 5, 10 or 30 minutes, hears PSK Reporter reports within seconds through the live feed, keeps its data on your computer and offers fifteen languages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Windows versions does DX Reminder support?

The download page lists Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, as an MSI installer, with a separate portable version that needs no installation.

Why does Windows say it protected my PC?

The app is not signed with a paid certificate. Click More info, then Run anyway. The warning means only that the publisher is not verified.

What do I do if macOS says the app is damaged?

The file is fine. Macs describe unsigned downloaded apps that way. Remove the quarantine attribute with the command given on the LY4A page, once.

Does closing the window stop the alarms?

No. The app keeps running in the system tray and goes on watching. Use Quit in the tray menu to end it.

Does the desktop app need an account or a server?

No. The Windows and Mac versions have no server of their own and keep your callsigns and settings on the computer.

Can I carry the app on a USB stick?

Yes. The portable builds for Windows and Mac need no installation, which suits a club station or a field day computer.