well both taking to long to get trader ships and getting them every few hours is a loss

Same here! I think the problem is with the config file, possibly its initial generation. When I first opened it, the node <minDays> wasn't there. I added it manually, and now everything seems to be working as it's supposed to. Any further changes to the settings are saved properly, and minimum days between traders are obeyed.

is anyone else having the problem where the mod's options seem to be ignored, and it keeps spawning trade ships every few hours?