One end has a usb connector to go to a computer, and the other end has an sma socket for an antenna or coax. Any telemetry for one of the other funcube satellites can be captured and forwarded to the central data warehouse. Pricing is on the website also, and proceeds from these units go to amsatuks funcube satellite project, so its also for a very good cause. 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. The funcube dongle also works with windows xp, vista and. This radio receiver was designed to allow the greatest number try to receiving satellite radio and participate in a collaborative educational project collections information from the space. Embedded software engineer in the satcom industry during the day. Apr 23, 20 download qthid funcube dongle controller for free. Feb 08, 2011 funcube dongle guides by david barber. It is written using the qt sdk and is available for linux, windows and mac os x. Any telemetry for one of the other funcube satellites can be captured. 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. The receiver covers a frequency range of 64 to 1700 mhz and can displayreceive a spectrum of up to 80 khz.
The dongle is a software defined radio sdr replacing much of the hardware used in a traditional radio receiver with software. Individual dashboard installers for each mission can be downloaded here. 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. Jun 22, 20 ive been spending a few hours playing around with a funcube dongle pro. It is well suited as a ground receiver for low cost space communications. Funcube dongle as a radio telescope a radio astronomy paper describes the use of the amsatuk funcube dongle software defined radio as part of a radio telescope.
Ao73 funcube 1 funcube 1 dashboard v1044 funcube 2 no longer operational eseo funcube 4 not yet operational eseo dashboard v1177 eo88nayif1 funcube 5 nayif1 dashboard v1040 jo97jy1sat funcube 6 jy1sat dashboard v1189 updated january 2019 the guidance notes can be downloaded from here please read them. Noaa19 apt recption using gnu radio and a funcube dongle. Meteor radar sdr receiver british astronomical association. Ive been spending a few hours playing around with a funcube dongle pro. The funcube dongle also has a sma antenna connector on the other end. Currently, to view the telemetry for a particular satellite, it is necessary to run the dashboard for that satellite. Funcube 1 ao73 is a small cube shaped satellite launched into earths orbit on nov 21st in 20. Continue reading ho68 cw beacon with funcube dongle and arrow. From the options dropdown in the funcube dongle pane select satellite. This requires the use of an antenna designed for receiving such a signal, for example a quadrifilar helix antenna or a turnstile antenna. This is the already famous funcube dongle sdr receiver 3. The telemetry is a 1200 bd baud unit symbol bd is the unit for symbol rate or modulation rate in symbols per second. I had been regularly decoding the funcube 1 ao73 telemetry and uploading packets to the data warehouse see earlier posts. It is part of a program which aims to launch more of these educational cubesats.
Jans post then goes over how to receive the funcube at a frequency of 145. By using the rtlsdr to receive the telemetry beacon as the satellite passes overhead, he was able to use the funcube dashboard software to record and decode and view the satellites telemetry data. This is the seventh satellite reception of a series recorded on monday, february 28, 2011 using the funcube dongle software defined radio receiver and the arrow ii handheld satellite antenna. The quadrature sampling rate is at 96 khz with 80 khz useable. He also used a home made turnstile antenna, the sdrsharp software and the orbitron satellite tracking software to automatically correct for the. Equipment and software required to receive funcube satellite telemetry. An introduction to the funcube dongle setting up spectravue with the funcube dongle firmware update guide updated. Final installation of the qo100 antenna, the eggbeater for vhf and cabling will start as soon as possible. Noaa apt transmissions are right hand circular polarized at frequences around 7 mhz. Amateur radio hobbyist n4jtcs has shared on his blog his experiences with receiving the funcube1s telemetry using his rtlsdr dongle. This was designed for best performance in the 2m and 440 bands for copying funcube satellite signals. 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.
This is how i got my funcube dongle fcd from here on in working under linux on a samsung n netbook pc using quisk sdr software. The purpose with this page is to demonstrate on the air performance of the funcube dongle. Software amateur radio peosat satellite experiments. Dec 25, 20 this is the seventh satellite reception of a series recorded on monday, february 28, 2011 using the funcube dongle software defined radio receiver and the arrow ii handheld satellite antenna. How to receive the funcube satellite with an rtlsdr. Other programs require more memory, cpu power, and a larger display than what i have on a small tablet. He also used a home made turnstile antenna, the sdrsharp software and the orbitron satellite tracking software to automatically correct for the signals doppler shift as the iss flies over. Telemetry dashboards for all missions welcome to the.
For this reason, some users tend to run all dashboards simultaneously using the same funcube dongle. Dr morgan uses his funcube dongle with the spectrumlab windows software, which is a specialized audio analyzer. Funcube pro plus differs from rtlsdr dvbt stick, with 11 filters to improved quality of reception on radio amateurs and satellite band inculding the amateur band 2m and 70cm bands. Funcube dongle archives page 2 of 3 oz9aec website. Use rtlsdr as a panadapter for your traditional hardware radio. The first thing i noticed was that it was very easy to set the filter bandwidth to include only the signal from the satellite. Hdsdr is a freeware software defined radio sdr program for microsoft windows 2000xpvista7. Funcube tlm receive antenna funcube items amsatuk are please to offer a simple, low cost antenna system, for use with a funcube dongle or any other receiver to receive the funcube telemetry signals. Fo29 satellite reception with funcube dongle and gqrx youtube. Funcube 1 ao73 is a complete educational 1u cubesat with the goal of enthusing and educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics. Funcube sdr dongle overview and first impressions ham. For software he uses linrad or gqrx as the receiver, and wsjtx or jtdx as the decoding software. I have also neglected some of my previous satellite monitoring activities. Amateur radio hobbyist n4jtcs has shared on his blog his experiences with receiving the funcube 1s telemetry using his rtlsdr dongle.
The software is supplied as a standard windows installation kit, the filename. Satellite receptions with the funcube dongle oz9aec website. Noaa19 apt recption using gnu radio and a funcube dongle antenna. At this time i would have to say that the funcube dongle fcd is more of. The funcube dongle is a small usbflashdisk sized software defined radio receiver for 67 mhz 1. Based around a winkler crossed dipole antenna, this kit includes the antenna, a rf cable 2m long for connection between the antenna and a funcube dongle, and a usb. Btw, nice to hear that software for the funcube easily can be compiled on the mac. The funcube sdr receiver was developed to support the funcube satellite. In this article, well see how to install the system with the receiver providing direct input to the software. Although the funcube dongle is capable of receiving many different types of signals, both from terra firma and from space, it was originally designed to receive the funcube 1 satellite launched back in november 20. Gqrx is a software defined radio receiver for linux powered by gnu radio and qt. It is the first satellite with outreach as its primary mission.
Funcube is an educational cubesat project with the goal of enthusing and educating young people about radio, space, physics and electronics. Funcube dongle pro sdr radio astronomy and spectroscopy. I am happy to publish articles on linux uses in funcube and amsat projects so feel free to submit them to give your good work a. Gqrx is a software defined radio receiver for funcube dongle fcd, rtl2832ubased dvbt devices rtlsdr, universal software radio peripherals usrp and osmo sdr devices. The software is supplied as a standard windows installation kit, the filename format is. Additionally, a receive station for the funcube satellite will be setup, which is provided by the amsatuk team and will later use the qo100 station to relay telemetry in realtime over the nb transponder.
Listening to fm radio, and decoding rds information. The funcube satellites amsat the dongle the funcube dongle pro plus was initially developed in the project of satellite funcubes amsat uk. This is a cubesat which is a standardized format for. Fo29 satellite reception with funcube dongle and gqrx. From the options dropdown in the funcube dongle pane select satellite options.
The project has received major initial funding from the radio communications foundation rcf and is being developed in collaboration with isisinnovative solutions in space bv. Funcube 1 telemetry is a telemetry signal sent from the funcube 1 ao73 cubesat amateur radio satellite. Although there are numerous applications for funcube dongle devices, first and foremost it is designed to be a radio receiver for the funcube satellite. Educational mode provides a 300mw 1200bps bpsk downlink with. This page collects various amateur radio satellite and cubesat receptions carried out using the funcube dongle. The amsatuk educational amateur satellite project funcube features a 435 to 145 mhz linear transponder for ssbcw operation and a telemetry beacon for schools to receive. In order to get one you had to be quick off the mark on ebay. A small side by side comparison of a funcube dongle and a cheap rtl sdr dvbt dongle hama nano connected to the same antenna and using identical test systems from a geostationary inmarsat satellite to compare received signal to noise ratios snr. The funcube sdr receiver was developed to support the funcube satellite project of amsatuk. Funcube is a cubesat built by isis, amsatuk and amsatnl. The funcube sdr usb dongle is an sdr software defined radio receiver built as a usb stick.
I would be interested in trying to receive satellite transmissions, and have a child at home who would be overthemoon if we could do so no pun intended. Funcube sdr dongle overview and first impressions ham radio. Other useful information would include your experience with similar products, infomation on a product that you would purchase instead of this one, and so on. The funcube dongle fcd is a small software defined receiver sdr with a built. Jun 03, 2011 the funcube dongle also has a sma antenna connector on the other end. There was a lot of excitement about this project a couple of years ago when it started. I have an app on my phone that gives the timing for various satellite passes, including some of the universitydesigned cubesats and the funcube satellite s. Welcome to the funcube group which caters for the amsatuk funcube satellites and the original funcube dongle fcd software defined radio sdr.
The center frequency of the funcube dongle can be set by software. Use rtlsdr as a high quality entropy source for random number generation. Thought this might be of interest to the readers of this part of the forum, it is a software defined radio in a usb dongle that receives from 64mhz to 1. May 07, 2012 video demo showing reception of the fo29 amateur radio satellite using a funcube dongle and gqrx sdr 2. As such there are no physical controls on the dongle other than the usb and antenna connexions. I am happy to publish articles on linux uses in funcube and amsat projects so feel free to submit them to give your good work a wider audience.
Its compatible with many radio reception programs like rocky, m0kgk, spectravue and linrad. What we werent expecting when we first embarked on the funcube project was that wed have any more than just the one. For the hardware, david uses a 3m focal plane dish antenna and a 1200 mhz high pass filter. I experimented with a couple of softrock receivers and eventually ended up buying a flex1500 qrp sdr transceiver. Funcube1 ao73 satellite flight and engineering models of funcube1 with funcube2 boards the amsatuk educational amateur satellite project funcube features a 435 to 145 mhz linear transponder for ssbcw operation and a telemetry beacon for schools to receive. The satellite is intended to operate autonomously in educational mode when it is in sunlight and in amateur mode when it is in eclipse.
Its compatible with many radio reception programs like rocky, m0kgk. How to receive funcube satellite telemetry digital rust. Video demo showing reception of the fo29 amateur radio satellite using a funcube dongle and gqrx sdr 2. Satellite transmissions that are easy to receive with rtlsdr.
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