Northerner71
Member
Has anyone used one yet? Are they any good? I do not want to try to get one of these and find out they aren't very good. Any input would be appreciated.
Funcube Dongle
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MattSR
Member
Mine works great, performs really well. Actual bandwidth is 80kHz and its quite sensitive. For the price its and awesome bit of gear and the size makes it easy to carry around.
KS4JU
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I have has one for a few weeks. I think it is a very good value for an all mode
vhf / uhf receiver. My only complaint is that it can be desensed very easily by strong nearby signals. You made need to use a bandpass filter if you are very near a powerful transmitter. Outside of that, it seems to be fairly sensitive, but not as sensitive as a radio that is dedicated to the band.
vhf / uhf receiver. My only complaint is that it can be desensed very easily by strong nearby signals. You made need to use a bandpass filter if you are very near a powerful transmitter. Outside of that, it seems to be fairly sensitive, but not as sensitive as a radio that is dedicated to the band.
It is certianly fun to play with and if you are an SDR fan I would recommend getting one. It is not really practical as a full time listening receiver, but it is super fun to play with and a great value. There are a couple of different software packages that you can use to run it and it does work quite well for digitial signal decoding.
KS4JU
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Having used a Funcube for awhile, I would agree this statement it is right on the money. The software is getting better. HDSDR supports it very well. You can now even couple a second VHF rig using HDSDR and Omnirig to use the Funcube as a Panadapter. You do still have the desense issue that you may have to deal with depending on your proximity to strong RF signals. However, for about $140 more you can get the Alinco DJ-X11 all mode wideband receiver that doubles as a practical portable receiver plus because of the availability of the IQ outputs a decent SDR radio. I have got the DJ-X11 and it's pretty nice. It's not perfect, but for the money it's pretty nice.
I'd also agree with bagmouse's assessment.
I just received my Funcube Dongle yesterday. It is a fascinating piece of gear. I've primarily run it with HDSDR but have used its front end software with SpectraVue as well.
To be blunt, this receiver is not for the faint of heart or for the fledgling user looking for his or her first wideband receiver. With no disrespect in mind I can see a less experienced user becoming very quickly frustrated with this thing.
That said, I have the forthcoming opportunity to run this device with multiple computers and multiple antennas at two or more locations and I'm greatly looking forward to it. The potential is fantastic and the SDR concept and platform is the future.
I got to play with the Alinco mentioned previously. It's a good one too, with one glaring exception IMHO, the audio from the speaker is horribly bad. I didn't get the opportunity to try the I&Q output.
I am looking forward to continuing to learn about the Funcube Dongle. It is obviously in great demand as it sells out extremely fast when it becomes available. I was fortunate enough to be able to grab one during the last sale, and I was amazed that it arrived here from the UK less than 48 hours after I ordered it.
There's also another thread going at RR pertinent to this device, and it should be perused for more very interesting information and a look at it in operation with UniTrunker by RR member "offsite".
I just received my Funcube Dongle yesterday. It is a fascinating piece of gear. I've primarily run it with HDSDR but have used its front end software with SpectraVue as well.
To be blunt, this receiver is not for the faint of heart or for the fledgling user looking for his or her first wideband receiver. With no disrespect in mind I can see a less experienced user becoming very quickly frustrated with this thing.
That said, I have the forthcoming opportunity to run this device with multiple computers and multiple antennas at two or more locations and I'm greatly looking forward to it. The potential is fantastic and the SDR concept and platform is the future.
I got to play with the Alinco mentioned previously. It's a good one too, with one glaring exception IMHO, the audio from the speaker is horribly bad. I didn't get the opportunity to try the I&Q output.
I am looking forward to continuing to learn about the Funcube Dongle. It is obviously in great demand as it sells out extremely fast when it becomes available. I was fortunate enough to be able to grab one during the last sale, and I was amazed that it arrived here from the UK less than 48 hours after I ordered it.
There's also another thread going at RR pertinent to this device, and it should be perused for more very interesting information and a look at it in operation with UniTrunker by RR member "offsite".
mwaldron
Member
It's 80kHz
Northerner71
Member
Ok so if I get one of these all I will be able to listen to is HAM radio? or will it pick up lets say our local taxi, fire police etc?
mwaldron
Member
It's a wide-coverage receiver, it will pickup pretty much anything AM, FM, SSB.
Honestly though, and I'm really not trying to be mean here, if you have to ask that question, the FCD is not the product for you.
The FCD is much more of an experimenter's and tinkerer's platform. It's not a finished product as shipped. There is no "scanner" software for it. At it's core the FCD would be likened much more to a communications receiver than a scanner. You can put it on a frequency, and then watch bandscope activity for +/- 40kHz.
The best software out there (imo) right now is HDSDR v2 and it doesn't even have the concept of scanning.
Honestly though, and I'm really not trying to be mean here, if you have to ask that question, the FCD is not the product for you.
The FCD is much more of an experimenter's and tinkerer's platform. It's not a finished product as shipped. There is no "scanner" software for it. At it's core the FCD would be likened much more to a communications receiver than a scanner. You can put it on a frequency, and then watch bandscope activity for +/- 40kHz.
The best software out there (imo) right now is HDSDR v2 and it doesn't even have the concept of scanning.
If you look at the specifications at FUNcube Dongle | A radio that's out of this world! you will see that it will cover from about 64 MHz to 1700 MHz. There is a gap in frequency coverage that is in the area of 1100 MHz.
If you are not an experienced radio hobbyist and don't at least have a basic understanding of the need for filtering, attenuation of signals, and/or amplification of signals this is probably not a good choice for you, to be honest. It's not a scanner.
freddaniel
Member
Works Great, But...
I also have a Funcube Dongle. However, I live in Newport Beach, which is part of the greater Los Angeles area of 13 million people. At my home, with just a 19" whip antenna, the noise floor increases to -88 dBm, from the normal of -120 dBm without antenna. This is due to the vast number of high power FM and TV stations in my area that are overloading or tend to desense it.
Therefore, to I must use some type of filter or preselector to limit the range of frequencies, between the antenna and Funcube. This limits the usefullness of the Funcube as a general coverage receiver, because there is no easy way to create a preselector that *tracks* the tuning of the frequency.
There are simple filters, such as a shorted stub of coax, that will resonate at 1/4 wavelength times the velocity factor of the partibular cable. For example, install a *T* adapter in the feedline between the antenna and the Funcube. Then connect a shorted piece of cable to the open port. The length of 20" times 0.66 yields 13.2 inches long for RG-8 cable, based upon 146 MHz. This will also work on odd harmonics like 438 MHz. The response is quite broad, and will also serve as protection from excess energy in the input from nearby lightning strikes.
I also have a Funcube Dongle. However, I live in Newport Beach, which is part of the greater Los Angeles area of 13 million people. At my home, with just a 19" whip antenna, the noise floor increases to -88 dBm, from the normal of -120 dBm without antenna. This is due to the vast number of high power FM and TV stations in my area that are overloading or tend to desense it.
Therefore, to I must use some type of filter or preselector to limit the range of frequencies, between the antenna and Funcube. This limits the usefullness of the Funcube as a general coverage receiver, because there is no easy way to create a preselector that *tracks* the tuning of the frequency.
There are simple filters, such as a shorted stub of coax, that will resonate at 1/4 wavelength times the velocity factor of the partibular cable. For example, install a *T* adapter in the feedline between the antenna and the Funcube. Then connect a shorted piece of cable to the open port. The length of 20" times 0.66 yields 13.2 inches long for RG-8 cable, based upon 146 MHz. This will also work on odd harmonics like 438 MHz. The response is quite broad, and will also serve as protection from excess energy in the input from nearby lightning strikes.
Fun Cube
Howdy
Agree with the bulk of comments. The FCD is a good 'tool' to use and experiment, but is-not (does-not) replace a good wide-band receiver or a good scanner. It is a bit pricy and in my view a bit over-rated if you compare price vs feature(s) & function(s)...etc...
But the compact USB footprint is groundbreaking in some respects. Don't know if I would shell out USD $200. again....just my point of view only...
Thx
Bill
Howdy
Agree with the bulk of comments. The FCD is a good 'tool' to use and experiment, but is-not (does-not) replace a good wide-band receiver or a good scanner. It is a bit pricy and in my view a bit over-rated if you compare price vs feature(s) & function(s)...etc...
But the compact USB footprint is groundbreaking in some respects. Don't know if I would shell out USD $200. again....just my point of view only...
Thx
Bill
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