Just a quick note that Gqrx now uses pulseaudio for all audio I/O, which includes I/Q input from the Funcube Dongle.
Tag: FCD
Funcube Dongle support now built into GNU Radio
I am happy to inform all users of the Funcube Dongle and GNU Radio, that the gr-fcd driver is now included in the GNU Radio source tree. You can read the announcement here.
This change will be available in the next GNU Radio release, which I think will be 3.5.3, however, if you pull the code from the GNU Radio git repository the changes are already in your tree. Before you upgrade please remove any earlier installations of gr-fcd to avoid conflicting versions of the library.
My repository on Github will no longer be maintained and any future development of gr-fcd will be done within the scope of the GNU Radio project. I hope this will ensure better integration, more maintainers, more testing and easier installation process.
GQRX C++ Edition
About a week ago I resumed working on GQRX – an experimental AM/FM/SSB software receiver powered by GNU Radio and using Qt for user interface. This time, however, I am not going to continue working on the Python receiver but create a new receiver from scratch written in C++. It will support Funcube Dongle and USRP/UHD devices.
Satellite receptions with the Funcube Dongle
This page collects various amateur radio satellite and cubesat receptions carried out using the Funcube Dongle. The Funcube Dongle is a small USB-flashdisk sized software defined radio receiver for 67 MHz – 1.7 GHz intended to be the ground receiver for the FUNcube satellite by AMSAT UK. It is well suited as a ground receiver for low cost space communications.
The purpose with this page is to demonstrate on the air performance of the Funcube Dongle under similar conditions that are expected for the reception of the FUNcube satellite. This page will be update regularly until complete.
The receptions below were carried out using an Arrow II hand-held satellite antenna in RF quiet areas (outside big cities).
| Satellite | Transmitter | Recordings |
|---|---|---|
| CUTE-1.7 + APD II | 437.275 MHz, 100 mW CW | Video |
| SEEDS-II | 437.485 MHz, 90 mW CW | Video |
| SWISSCUBE | 437.505 MHz, 100 mW CW / 1W FSK | Video |
| ITUPSAT-1 | 437.325 MHz, 100 mW FM CW | Video |
| BEESAT | 436.000 MHz, 100 mW CW / 500 mW GMSK | Nothing heard so far. |
| KKS-1 | 437.385 MHz, ??? mW CW | Video |
| PRISM | 437.250 MHz, 80 mW CW | Video |
| FO-29 | 435.795 MHz, 100 mW CW | Video |
| VO-52 | 145.860 MHz, 1W SSB/CW | |
| HO-68 | 435.790 MHz, 200mW CW | Video |
| AO-51 | 435.150 and 435.300 MHz, FM |
Other receptions carried out using standard VHF/UHF stationary beam antennas.
To be added…
Funcube Dongle on the air tests at OZ7SAT
On Tuesday I took my Funcube Dongle to our weekly meeting at OZ7SAT for testing it on the air using some bigger antennas than my Arrow antenna. We were listening for amateur radio satellites and cubesat on the 70 cm band and we were using a standard Wimo X-yagi (8 elements I think). For SDR receiver application we used modified Quisk SDR running on Ubuntu Linux.
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