-- Steve May, W5IEM Amateur Extra - Georgetown, KY (520) 261-7847 - Cell Skype: USHorseman Steve.W5IEM@gmail.com *This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any retention, dissemination, distribution, or copying the communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the email along with any and all attachments from your system* On Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 12:17 PM, Patrick STODDARD patrick@wd9ewk.net wrote: > Hi Steve! > > My answer to your Million Dollar Question would be - YES! The FUNcube > Dongle Pro Plus, at around US$ 200 depending on the exchange rate with > the British pound, is a good value. I also have an RTL-SDR dongle, and > previously had the original FUNcube Dongle Pro. The RTL-SDR dongles are > OK, but lack some of the things I like with the FCD Pro+. The FCD Pro+ > is more sensitive, and has better front-end filtering. Where the RTL-SDR > dongles are intended for digital television reception, needing a much > wider front-end on its receiver, the FCD Pro+ has filtering that helps > it perform very well in the amateur 2m and 70cm bands. It still works > fine in other parts of the RF spectrum it receives. > > The RTL-SDR dongles, as well as the original FUNcube Dongle Pro, were not > usable as my downlink receiver when working AO-73 or any other satellite. > Whenever I would transmit with my FT-817, even at 500mW, the RF from the > 817 would shut down the dongles. The FCD Pro+, on the other hand, works > very well with my FT-817 for working satellites. Between the dongle and > the software you run on a computer, there is a slight lag in hearing the > audio from the downlink, something you don't hear when using a radio to > receive the downlink. If you use software with the FCD Pro+ like HDSDR, > that software can be controlled by SatPC32 just like another radio - one > way to deal with the lag in hearing the downlink signals on the computer. > > For my satellite station, I normally use two FT-817s, connected through > a diplexer to my Elk handheld log periodic. If I had an Arrow Yagi, I > could skip the diplexer and run coax from each radio to the appropriate > feedpoints on the antenna. At 5 watts, and with the diplexer in the > coax feedline out to the antenna, I have taken steps that should protect > the dongle from stray RF. If I had an Arrow Yagi, I would consider using > a diplexer in line to the dongle, with the appropriate band port connected > to the dongle to prevent other RF from coming down the coax line to the > dongle. > > Good luck, and 73! > > > > > Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK > http://www.wd9ewk.net/ > > > > On Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 8:51 AM, Steve May steve.w5iem@gmail.com wrote: > >> So the Million Dollar Question (actually, I guess it is the "$180-higher >> cost + shipping" question) is whether the Funcube Dongle is significantly >> better than one of the cheap $20 RLT-SDR tuners? I have been experimenting >> with the cheapo version the last couple of days, and so far I have been >> able to pick up my local repeaters fairly well with a mag-mount antenna. I >> tried to pull in AO-73 late last night with an Arrow and a preamp but had >> some issues with SATPC32 that I have since resolved. I am pretty sure I >> heard something but I am still getting used to using SDR#. I need to do >> some more tuning. >> >> I am going to keep on working with this, at least for the next few days, >> but should I just plan on shelling out the money for the Funcube Dongle if >> using the computer to receive the linear satellites is my long-term plan? >> >