I've not seen K8R at all today on any of his spotted frequencies.  Yesterday afternoon, a lone signal on PSKReporter purporting to be K8R was originating from Japan as detected by stations in Canada, the US as well as Hawaii for about an hour.  Must have been a standard F/H pirate.  

The receive algorithm for SF does not decode the normal F/H 77-bit payload code, but only the valid 319-bit payload SF transmission on even time slots.  This code is based on a number of unique signatures of the authorized DXP station as well as a timestamp as well as Forward Error Correction (FEC).  So any pirates will not be detected or have any effect if they are trying to DQRM the SF station.  This will stop them and those folks wanting to work stations calling the DXP cold in their attempts.  And the SF module code is not being released to the public for inclusion in the WSJTx clones.  Of course the normal F/H mode is still available for those stations that are not authorized to use the SF mode. 

As for the SF/SH mode indication, the Super Hound background should change from red to green once the "K8R verified" is received on your end.  The latest Developer v240712 fixes this color change.  It's reported that this sequence should happen more frequently, but sometimes only "K8R" or nothing is displayed.  After a period of time and no "verified" text makes it through, the color changes back to red, but does NOT affect your ability to work the DXP. 

FWIW.  I've noticed this season on some bands, if I point my beam about 30 or so degrees off from a DSP's true direction, signals sometimes improve.  Not guaranteed, but enough so that I always give it a try. This is especially noticeable with the scatter on 6m.  Sometimes due North is the best choice to work just about anybody on 6m.