First-run setup in three steps: callsign, locator, directory

On its first start the program asks only for what it needs: the callsign, checked (or "I am a listener"), the locator, which can come from your location or a map, and a QRZ.com or HamQTH.com login, checked on the spot. Everything else is grouped in Settings.

A new copy of the program used to greet you with empty settings and two dozen fields. Now the first start opens a short wizard, one question per screen, in the system's language.

Callsign. The program checks that what you typed looks like a callsign and finds the country by its prefix: a flag appears under the field. Without a callsign there is "I am a listener": the site assigns a number of the form ShackDeck #12 that signs your reception reports. You cannot go on without a callsign or that choice; everything else can wait.

Locator. The Maidenhead square gives distances, bearings and satellite passes. If you do not know yours, the program can take it from your location (the computer's location service, GPS or Wi-Fi) or open a map of locators. It shows the country under the square you typed and warns when it does not match the callsign's country. This step can be skipped and finished later in Settings.

Callsign directory. A QRZ.com or HamQTH.com login: the program checks it with a real lookup at once and, if no locator was given, takes it from the directory.

Everything else, alerts, LoTW and eQSL confirmations, PSK Reporter, sharing with ShackDeck.com, is grouped in Settings by service: each has a line with a short description and a link to where you register. The fields nobody needed, power and antenna, the site address and the key, are gone: the site issues the upload key to the program by itself.

After the setup the program registers with the site, version, system, callsign, and checks in every ten minutes as running. That is how we see how many installs there are and whether the program is used at all. What exactly is sent is described in the privacy policy.