Watchdog & Exclusions
The watchdog prevents Wait and Pounce from getting stuck endlessly calling a station that never comes back — a deaf DXpedition, a station that worked someone else, or a bad propagation moment. When a target is given up on, the watchdog temporarily excludes it so the engine moves on to other wanted stations, then automatically gives it another chance later.
Settings
In Settings → Watchdog and retry:
| Setting | Default | Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enable Watchdog | Off | — | Turn the watchdog on/off. |
| Number of attempts | 10 | 1–9999 | Calls to a station before giving up. |
| Wait time (minutes) | 20 | 1–9999 | How long the temporary exclusion lasts. |
When the watchdog is off, the attempt cap falls back to the Maximum number of attempts set in the Priority Manager.
What happens when the limit is hit
When the targeted station reaches the attempt limit:
- The call is added to a temporary exclusion list until the wait time elapses.
- WSJT-X is told to stop transmitting, so the radio actually stops calling — you're not left transmitting into the void.
- The target is cleared and the next-best station is chosen.
- A temporarily-excluded notice appears for that call (with the band and the number of minutes).
Automatic re-try (the sweep)
Temporary exclusions expire on their own. A recurring background check regularly inspects the exclusion list and lifts any whose window has elapsed — even when no decodes are currently arriving.
Why the sweep matters
Exclusions expire on schedule regardless of activity, so a quiet band will never leave a station excluded long past its timer.
When an exclusion is lifted, the call's attempt counter is cleared so it starts fresh.
Direct reply overrides exclusion
If a temporarily-excluded station answers your callsign directly, the exclusion is lifted immediately (reason: "direct reply received"). You will never lose a QSO that's actually in progress because of the watchdog.
Hard exclusions are different
Anything you type into the Excluded Callsign(s) field is a hard exclusion: it is never replied to and is not subject to the watchdog timer. See Wanted / Monitored / Excluded.
Manual temporary exclusions
You can also exclude a station by hand: right-click a decode → Temporarily add <call> to Excluded, then choose a duration (2 min · 10 min · 1 hour · 1 day · 1 week · 1 month). These use the same expiry/sweep machinery as the watchdog.