FUNcube Dongle Pro+ User manual

FUNcube Dongle Pro + User Manual (V4)
AMSAT-UK FCD2 reg u latory statements
FCC statement
WARNING: MODIFICATION OF THIS DEVICE TO RECEIVE CELLULAR RADIOTELEPHONE SERVICE
SIGNALS IS PROHIBITED UNDER FCC RULES AND FEDERAL LAW.
Industry Canada statement
This device complies with Industry Canada licence-exempt RSS standard(s). Operation is subject to
the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause interference, and (2) this device must
accept any interference, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the devi ce.
Intr oduct i on
Many thanks for purchasing the FUNcube Dongle Pro+! The FUNcube Dongle Pro+ is a software-defined radio (SDR)
covering all broadcast and amateur radio bands from 150kHz to 1.9GHz. With an SDR, many of the functions of a
traditional hardware-only radio are performed in software, such as demodulation, decoding and frequency conversion.
The FUNcube Dongle Pro+ hardware isdesigned
to be very simple to set up, with the only connections being an antenna
connection and a
USB connection. There are no physical controls on the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ itself: all the settings for
the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ are controlled from host computer.
History
When the original FUNcube Dongle was designed; it proved far more popular than we ever anticipated. Then when we
had an
opportunity to update the design for the FUNcube Dongle Pro+, we took into account the user feedback, and re-
engineered
the device from scratch as a result.
Although
there are numerous applications for FUNcube Dongle devices, first and foremost it is designed to be a radio
receiver
for the FUNcube satellite. Let's briefly take a look at what the FUNcube satellite project is all about.
The FUNcube satellite
is an AMSAT-UK project, and its primary goal is to encourage and educate young people in the
disciplines of radio, space, physics and electronics, and to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
(STEM) initiatives by using practical demonstration.
The fundamental design criteria
of FUNcube Dongles is to allow the target audience of primary and secondary school
students
to directly receive data and voice from the FUNcube satellite.

The satellite itselfcontains a materials science experiment linked to a 145MHz telemetry beacon that schools can
receive using a FUNcube Dongle, and can then decode and compare the telemetry data with results they obtain from
their own experiments in the classroom. In addition, the pupils can request their own messages, similar to SMS text
messages, to be sent into space and have them retransmitted by the FUNcube satellite as part of its telemetry data
stream. The transmissions will
be received globally by a network of thousands of FUNcube Dongle owners, and with
appropriate software, the messages will be distributed through a central telemetry datawarehouse.
FUNcube s,atellite
FUNcube
Dongle Laptop
receives voice,
pictures
and data
The FUNcube satellite also includes an analogue voice transponder that can also be received with the FUNcube Dongle.
To produce a receiver suitable for school use, the device has to be both simple to install and to use. As the USB dongle is
nowadays so ubiquitous, that form factor was chosen. In addition, it needs to be inexpensive. The FUNcube Dongle is
designed to connect between the antenna feed and a PC, and with the use of appropriate software, enable the display
and sharing
of the received telemetry.
Further details
of the FUNcube satellite and the project as a whole can be found here: http://funcube.org.uk
I nitia l Wi ndow s ins tallati on
Insert the dongle into a free USB port. Windows should proceed by automatically installing drivers:
If the balloon
is clicked, the progress of installation can be tracked:
lnstallinq dev:tce driver software
FUNrube Dongle V2. 0
FUN ru be Dongle V2. 0 .
~R eady to - use
\.) In stall ing d ri ver software~...
Your devK;e. - ts ready tu use
FUNrub e Oongs e V2. 0
U SB InputDevice
,./ Ready oo use
./ Ready oo use

() NFM () AM () L5e () USB
(.!;~O.:FM (j ose () !:\V-L () Cd-U
F<«l""'"'• ···· ······ ····· 97 ,3 0() : (lO~ ::J'
C e,ttec ......... fr7 : 300 ; □ 00 : z ~
:::::sh,, o:
h!t~t t:;pe
F-iiter ~rn:twi<:!':h Filter ¢t<R',;
Con¢ct IQ [ij ~\Wap l &Q [~]
FM Sterec [J Ma:k P~h
This concludes the initial setup: these settings should now be saved, and won't need to be adjusted again.
With all the appropriate settings are now made, to start th ,e radio, press the Play button at the top left of the SDRSharp
application.
:: <! .> "!N~F~M~= c=, ,,=•.r,::1 =c= .) !L:':ss:::: o::j! u!sB=~~ ~ I ..
1
~) V/FM () OS8 () CY'l-l. () Od-U
FtL>qUeric; _9_7 c_ ,3 _0_0 .c_, {_ JO _ {i fB!
············ ··· ;···· ·· . ·Tc 'i!
Cente, 97,300,000 r.,
Here's a typical SDRSharp display from a broadcast FM station:
Frequency
Center
[l Shift
Filter type
······· gj)iriri.oo~ ~!
... ~? .~
00
.
000
~1
o:
Filter bandwidth
AF Ga,n V
Sampletate 192000 "
Input IM MEJ Un~ (HJ Mcube I '"
Output fMMl'j r,krosdt Scund
Latency (ms)
100 :
Filter Audio
RJ

This initial installation process takes from a few seconds up to a minute or so. If the dongle is inserted into a new port ,
the process
is repeated. I
Application sof tware -getting started with SDRSharp
The control of the FCD+ and the demodulation can be performed from a single program if that program supports the
FCD+ directly, for example SDRSharp now supports the FCD+ fully. Alternatively, if your SOR software doesn't support
the FCD+ directly, you can use the FCD+ in conjunction with its frequency control program (FCHid2 .exe).
This documentation covers SDRSharp build 1000 which includes full FCD+ support.
You can download it from http://sdrsharp.com/downloads/sdr-stable.zip
Unzip the program into an appropriate directory, and run the SDRSharp executable. It may be convenient to create
desktop icon shortcuts at this point if desired.
It is important that the FCD+ is already inserted before running SDRSharp. Once the FCD+ is inserted, run the SDRSharp
application.
Once SDRSharp is running, from the drop down at the top of the program, select FUNcube Dongle Pro+.
The first time you run SDRSharp, it's also wise to check some of its settings. Press the Configure button just to the right
of the drop down. In particular, check that the frequency correction is set to 0.0ppm (the default is 120.0ppm).
The controller configuration window can be closed at this point .
In the Audio section, in the Input drop down, select the FUNcube Dongle V2.0 (either MME or DirectSound).
Check
that the sample rate is 192000.
AF Gain {)
Samplera te [i ii~mo ·· · ······· ······· · ·· ·· ··· ······ ~
Input
Output
latency (
Fil t er Audio ~
In the Radio section, select the WFM radio button .
Also
in the Radio section, enter the frequency in Hz of any local FM broadcast station.
Finally,
in the radio section, check both the Correct IQ and Swap I & Q checkboxes.

Broadcast FM is a fairly wideband signal. To receive narrowband signals such as on the AM broadcast band, set the
Center frequency a few kHz away from the required frequency and then fine tune either by adjusting the Frequency
setting
or simply clicking on the spectrum display at the desired station. For example, below shows the reception of
909kHz on medium wave.
~ i&l'i' ............ 11!··
:) ~/r•~\ ,p) UA (} LS~ () USS<
(; \'<'f~ c,osa ccw-1.r)c,\-1-11
~'fiu
~'4•.}t,~c,-,\'!' [J [fkt~ ..
: Z,:~}},';l R} S..Ul'l~fl ~
"-"'.''".:K f.",,1'1-"P~k.CJ
The reason to keep the center frequency a few kHz away from the frequency of interest when receiving narrowband
signals like AM, SSB, NBFM and CW is that there are some artefacts from local oscillator phase noise that can interfere
with signal reception.
Usually
it is unnecessary to adjust the Configure settings although sometimes in extremely strong signal conditions,
adjusting
the LNA, Mixer or IF gain may be beneficial.
Specifications
• Frequency range
• Sensitivity
• Reference oscillator
• Sampling rate
• Bit
depth
•
PC interface
•
RF interface
150kHz-240MHz and 420MHz-1.9GHz
Typically 12dB SINAD NBFM
for 0.15uV at 145MHz
l.Sppm 26MHz
192kHz
16 bits (32 bits used internally)
USB l.x Male A Full Speed (12Mbps)
Standard SMA female (not Reverse Polarity [RP])