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FUNcube Dongle  

 

 

Copyright 2011 

 

 

 

Page 14 of 23 

 

 

Here you filter the display by either: 

  All satellites, or 

  Only the entries in the favourites list. 

The visibility options are: 

  Visible now, 

  Visible in the next 30 minutes, or 

  Visible in the next 60 minutes. 

 
If none of the above is selected then no visibility filtering is applied. 

4.2.4 Track & Plot 

The current satellite’s track and plot are displayed by selecting 

Track

 and 

Plot

 from the pane’s 

toolbar. This is an excellent way to see exactly what the current satellite is doing. 
 

 

Summary of Contents for Dongle Pro

Page 1: ...FUNcube Dongle SDR RADIO com Console ...

Page 2: ... 3 2 STARTING THE CONSOLE 10 4 USING THE CONSOLE 11 4 1 START YOUR DONGLE 11 4 1 1 Soundcard 11 4 1 2 Control Interface 11 4 1 3 Connection Errors 12 4 2 FUNCUBE DONGLE PANE 12 4 2 1 Center Frequency 13 4 2 2 Frequency Calibration 13 4 2 3 Satellite Selection 13 4 2 4 Track Plot 14 4 3 CONSOLE SETTINGS 15 5 SATELLITES 16 5 1 HOME LOCATION 16 5 2 OPTIONS 16 5 3 NEXT PASSES 17 5 4 DOPPLER CORRECTION...

Page 3: ...FUNcube Dongle Copyright 2011 Page 3 of 23 5 8 RECORDING OPTIONS 20 6 IMAGE VIEWER 21 6 1 STARTING 21 6 2 WAVE FILE 22 6 3 MORE 22 6 3 1 AGC 22 6 3 2 Appearance 23 6 3 3 Windows 23 ...

Page 4: ...erything you need in one package No licence is required it s free Satellite support including o Tracking o Doppler correction NOAA weather image viewer Full range of modes filters and other DSP options The dongle has a relatively open front end without any filtering As a result the dongle s ability to receive weak signals can be compromised if you are in the vicinity of strong transmissions for ex...

Page 5: ...detected If any drivers are missing please refer to http www funcubedongle com for technical assistance 2 2 Adjusting the Output Level The Dongle appears as a soundcard on your computer you must reduce the output level otherwise the Dongle will overload the console 1 Either a From the Control Panel select Sound then Playback b Right click on the speaker icon in the system tray and select Playback ...

Page 6: ...se by a DC offset in the dongle The spur cannot be completely eliminated but can be reduced considerably From the Options dropdown in the FUNcube Dongle pane select Spur reduction When you do this the input gain is reduced to the minimum to remove extraneous influences Select a time interval and press Start ...

Page 7: ...press Close the original input gain is restored to the value prior to selecting this option 2 4 Image Rejection Another problem with soundcard based SDR solutions is images select Image Rejection from the Options dropdown in the FUNcube Dongle pane and follow the instructions ...

Page 8: ...lling the system The SDR RADIO com software is supplied as a standard Windows installation kit the filename format is SDR RADIO_v version b build exe for example SDR RADIO_v1 1b492 exe is version 1 1 build 492 The program files are compiled as 32 bit executables the kit can be installed on any 32 or 64 bit system using Windows XP or higher Installation typically takes only a few seconds The first ...

Page 9: ...Select the folder where the files are installed The suggested default obeys the Windows convention of always installing programs in the Program Files folder Press Install to start the installation The installation window s progress bar shows the state of the program installation Press Show details for a full list of the files installed ...

Page 10: ...installed if Start the console now is checked then the console is started when you press Finish 3 2 Starting the console After installing the software you start the console from either The Start menu The Desktop icon or The Quick start depends on operating system version ...

Page 11: ...layed if not double click where you see Input Source at the top of the console 2 In the Soundcard SoftRock FUNcube group the recording devices soundcards enabled on the computer are shown 3 Select the FUNcube Dongle soundcard and set the sample rate to 96 kHz see below 4 In the Frequency dropdown make sure FUNcube Dongle is selected 5 Make sure Swap IQ is checked 6 Press Start 4 1 2 Control Interf...

Page 12: ... the option Open for Exclusive Access When this option is unchecked the dongle is opened allowing access to other programs The Open for Exclusive Access option is supported to prevent other programs modifying the settings while the dongle is in use by the console 4 2 FUNcube Dongle Pane When you started the soundcard above the FUNcube Dongle pane should be displayed automatically If this pane is n...

Page 13: ...e you maintain a list of frequencies which are automatically saved for the currently selected satellite If the frequency selected is within the range supported by your dongle the PLL will lock 4 2 2 Frequency Calibration The dongle frequency is calibrated by adjusting the value shown in the correction field this value is in parts per million ppm Calibrate against a signal source of known accuracy ...

Page 14: ...ptions are Visible now Visible in the next 30 minutes or Visible in the next 60 minutes If none of the above is selected then no visibility filtering is applied 4 2 4 Track Plot The current satellite s track and plot are displayed by selecting Track and Plot from the pane s toolbar This is an excellent way to see exactly what the current satellite is doing ...

Page 15: ...ongle s visible bandwidth is same as the sample rate selected when starting the dongle soundcard usually 96 kHz To set the displayed bandwidth the console s waterfall and spectrum either click the span button or right clcik in the waterfall and select 100 khz from the popup menu ...

Page 16: ...u must first enter your home locations latitude and longitude Select My Information Lat Lon from the Options dropdown in the FUNcube Dongle pane and make sure the Height latitude and Longitude are correct 5 2 Options From the Options dropdown in the FUNcube Dongle pane select Satellite Options Here you can Select the files containing Keplerian data required to track satellites accurately Configure...

Page 17: ...Orbital_elements 5 3 Next Passes You will always want to know the next passes for your satellites To display the Satellite Passes pane select Satellite Passes from the Options dropdown in the FUNcube Dongle pane Of particular interest is the Auto Apply option When enabled the satellite in the checked passes is selected automatically in the FUNcube Dongle pane a few seconds before AOS Use this opti...

Page 18: ...tellite passes overhead the rate of change of this correction can be very high higher than you could compensate for with manual tuning 5 5 Rotators The console interfaces with third party programs which in turn connect to your rotator The interface used is known as Dynamic Data Exchange DDE In the FUNcube Dongle pane select the required format or None if rotator support is not needed 5 6 Announcem...

Page 19: ...International Space Station ISS but the satellites can see you From the Options dropdown in the FUNcube Dongle pane select Google Earth a second toolbar is displayed with two options Enable and Tilt Press Enable to start Google Earth if not already started use Tilt to adjust the angle between the satellite and the earth If for some reason Google Earth does not start use the Task Manager to check w...

Page 20: ...the raw data received from the dongale before any DSP processing takes place Select Recording Options from the Options dropdown in the FUNcube Dongle pane to display the Recording Options toolbar Of interesting is the Automatic option recording starts when the currently selected Satellite is visible AOS and ends when it is no longer visible LOS ...

Page 21: ...her satellites on 137MHz which transmit images using Automatic Picture Transmission APT A basic but effective APT viewer is supplied in the SDR RADIO com console During Q4 of 2011 support will be added for slow scan tv as used by satellites and the international space station 6 1 Starting From the Options dropdown in the FUNcube Dongle pane select Image Viewer NOAA ...

Page 22: ...nal level is independent of the audio output level in the console For the weather satellites NOAA 15 in the console select WFM Wide FM at 48kHz and adjust the bandwidth so that in the Audio Spectrum it shows about 17 5kHz the filters will be covering the input from the satellite 6 2 Wave File A wave file usually has a WAV file extension http en wikipedia org wiki WAV and is the most common format ...

Page 23: ...age 23 of 23 6 3 2 Appearance In the Extras pane select the style of your choice style is a personal preference 6 3 3 Windows You can open as many image windows as needed but only one window can be used for the reception of Live data ...

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