It covers lf, mf, hf, vhf, uhf and l band coverage is 150khz240mhz and 420mhz to 1. Satpc32 needs to communicate with both the radio you are using for a transmitter and the funcube dongle. Setting up spectravue with the funcube dongle spectravueconfigurationforfcd. Fortunately, the source code for the windows application is available and we can use that to create a linux version. News update 1st may 2012 as we now have a confirmed launch from yasny later this year, we have had to carefully coordinate our planned operating frequencies in order to minimise the risk of interference between us and other payloads on the same launch. The receiver shows a full spectrum of spikes and strong signals as broadcast stations saturate the fcd receiver. The existing qt controller can only change the frequency, while the fully featured windows application can tune all sorts of gains and filters. Or control click when the green cursor is on the required frequency.
Jans post then goes over how to receive the funcube at a frequency of 145. There are two ways to allow satpc32 to communicate with the funcube dongle fcd sdr program. Be sure that the funcube is well in its linear mode. For details of the fcd see appendix a the radar uses the graves french space surveillance transmitter2 located near dijon, operating on a frequency of 143. Widebandspectrum with funcube dongle for gnuradio michael hartje, dk5hh, bremen, german,y emal. A normal serial port connection is used to connect satpc32 to the radio you are using for a transmitter.
All the dashboards are under continual development and a further planned development is to create a single dashboard that will service all funcube telemetry payloads simultaneously. The telemetry is a 1200 bd baud unit symbol bd is the unit for symbol rate or modulation rate in symbols per second. We have therefore recently proposed a revised set of frequencies to. The satellite is intended to operate autonomously in educational mode when it is in sunlight and in amateur mode when it is in eclipse. The rtlsdr showed 7 db nf on 144 mhz in measurements here the real nf of rtlsdr might be a little lower if some care is taken to remove interference from the usb link. Users should remember the that dashboard that was started last, is the one that will control the frequency settings applied to the funcube dongle. Bpsk binary phaseshift keying 1 bit per symbol signal. A plurality of sdr programs 4 and also allows gnuradio. The station configuration is the same for any of these sdrs. Hdsdr with the funcube dongle showing the entire arissat1 multimode. Not what the funcube dongle was intended for but there is software available at the yahoo group that will allow storing of frequencies in wrplus,using extio. It is part of a program which aims to launch more of these educational cubesats. Funcube was amsatuks first cubesat project designed to provide educational outreach for schools and colleges around the world and a twoway ssbcw communications transponder for radio amateurs. Both the rtl dongle and the sdrplay rsp allow me to see the whole 2mhz of 144mhz, or normally more usefully, the whole of the dx end of the band.
The funcube dongle also has a sma antenna connector on the other end. Select the funcube dongle soundcard and set the sample rate to 96 khz see below. The first problem is that the dongle control will only set the frequency to the nearest khz, some form of. It is written using the qt sdk and is available for linux, windows and mac os x. Frequency control program3 to set the frequency to that of your local fm service. The numbers in the frequency, if and error boxes may differ. Some can download system data from internet sources. So when using high gain, which i prefer, you better limit the if bandwidth to the funcube or the other option use an external attenuator. Be sure you use the following parameters then go to the funcube tab and enter the frequency. The first problem is that the dongle control will only set the frequency to the nearest khz, some form of compensation is required. One end has a usb connector to go to a computer, and the other end has an sma socket for an antenna or coax.
Set the lo to the exact crystal frequency then use tune. I have used a funcube dongle, rtl stick and most recently the sdrplay rsp for 2m dxing. Important you will notice that in the first fcd g0mjw control appears in the. Hf converter for funcube dongle test report and improvement. Spectravue typical configuration for fcd funcube dongle. That became the basis of a successful implementation and thats what ill describe here. The funcube dongle software is at a very early stage of development. Funcube 1 is a complete educational single unit cubesat satellite with the goal of enthusing and educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics. Jan 11, 2016 over on his blog andrew has posted a good writeup where he determines the qrm interference effects of a plt power line transmission device. Educational mode provides a 300mw 1200bps bpsk downlink with some 54 channels of telemetry from the. Over on his blog andrew has posted a good writeup where he determines the qrm interference effects of a plt power line transmission device. On the orbitron prediction software you can see fc1 is overhead, with ukube1 over the north pole.
The funcube covers 150 khz to 240 mhz and 420 mhz to 1. Funcube1 frequencies now confirmed welcome to the funcube. Investigating qrm from powerline ethernet devices with a. The frequency control app will no longer be able to send messages to the dongle once it is. With an sdr, many of the functions of a traditional hardwareonly radio are performed in software, such as demodulation, decoding and frequency conversion. Hold the keyboard control key and left hand mouse button to drag the centre line of the cw filter. In the frequency dropdown make sure funcube dongle is selected. Before getting this sdr dongle, i had used one of the cheapcheap rtl dongles, and thought that for its low price, that rtl was fun, if woefully inadequate from overload to filtering to noise floor to range deafness on a 90 grounded, unund random wire and then thought perhaps more money would. This is the already famous funcube dongle sdr receiver 3. The funcube is a cubesat a low cost miniature 10 cm cube sized satellite which is intended mainly for educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics, but has also piqued the interest of. Frequency calibration of the funcube dongle fcd using. Hydrogen line receiver using funcube or rtl2832u usb dongles.
Jun 03, 2011 the funcube dongle is completely housed in a usb dongle that is a bit smaller than an usb tv tuner dongle. Its compatible with many radio reception programs like rocky, m0kgk, spectravue and linrad. Configuring spectrum lab for meteor scatter p a g e. Hydrogen line receiver using funcube or rtl2832u usb.
The funcube dongle is completely housed in a usb dongle that is a bit smaller than an usb tv tuner dongle. Apr 23, 20 download qthid funcube dongle controller for free. Jan first writes how the funcube dongle was originally invented as a low cost means of receiving the funcube satellite, but now there are the even lower cost rtlsdr dongles. In order for the dongle to work right off the bat, we have included a recommended list of settings table 1. Funcube1, also known as ao73, is a 1u cubesat 10cm x 10cm x 10cm built and launched as a collaborative effort between amsatuk, amsatnl, and isisbv. It does, however, accept the direct sound card input that the fcdpp provides. The control api for setting frequency, gain, filter, etc. Insert the funcube dongle into the usbport from your computer.
Plts are also known as ethernetinternet over powerline devices and they are devices that plug into an electricity socket and use household electricity wires to create a computer network, thus eliminating the need for. This is the frequency converted by your receiver hardware to zero frequency in the baseband data stream. The primary function of the satellite is educational outreach, utilizing onboard experiments, an easytocopy 1200 baud bpsk beacon, an innovative sdr receiver the funcube dongle, and telemetry decoding, archiving. The quadrature sampling rate is at 96 khz with 80 khz useable. Funcube1 is a complete educational single unit cubesat satellite with the goal of enthusing and educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics. Funcube 1, also known as ao73, is a 1u cubesat 10cm x 10cm x 10cm built and launched as a collaborative effort between amsatuk, amsatnl, and isisbv. Indeed, although from the outside it might look similar, its an entirely new design. If i remember correctly, the manual filter selection hit the too hard button at the time i was writing the. Hf converter for funcube dongle test report and improvement solutions many users of the kit of the hf converter for the funcubedongle complain on poor receiving quality. Remember, a signal at the centre frequency of the fcd as set with the fcd control program is always displayed at the centre of the spectravue screen.
A receiver, the funcube dongle, has been developed that plugs into the usb port of a laptop to display telemetry and messages in an interesting way. My funcube dongle photos are available in this flickr set. Later versions of windows have security features that make altering the contents of program files difficult. Nov 01, 2010 new website for funcube dongle funcube1 ao73 details tlm down link freq 145. The satellite contains a materials science experiment, from which the school students can receive telemetry data which they can compare to the results they obtained from similar reference. The lna is motivated by the poor nf 14 db of the first pcb spin for the funcube. It covers lf, mf, hf, vhf, uhf and l band coverage is.
This is en example on how to set the lo frequency to 28095 khz, to cover the lower portion of the 10m band. A way round this might be to change the default and install hdsdr somewhere different c. Funcube dongle, enter the center frequency for example, 144. The funcube dongle also works with windows xp, vista and windows 7 both x86 and x64. So yes you can,but its never going to be a aor,but for the price you cant go wrong. Note the folder where it installs, you will usually need to find it in order to place a dll file in there.
It is the first satellite with outreach as its primary mission. The funcube handbook published by amsatuk november 20 funcube flight model left and engineering model the funcube project is being undertaken by a team of less than 10 experienced volunteers drawn from radio amateur members of amsatuk, amsatnl and others and is part funded by the radio communications foundation a registered charity. Funcube1 telemetry is a telemetry signal sent from the funcube1 ao73 cubesat amateur radio satellite. Using the fcd with wspr, cw skimmer, spectraview, drm. The primary function of the satellite is educational outreach, utilizing onboard experiments, an easytocopy 1200 baud bpsk beacon, an innovative sdr receiver the funcube dongle, and telemetry decoding, archiving, and display program. The control interface is used to set the rf frequency of the fcdpp tuner and a. Funcube satellite funcube website funcube on groups. The experiments reported here were to determine if the fcd was. Set spectravue in continuum mode for noise measurements.