Inspired by some Twitter traffic from WD9EWK & others discussing the success of inexpensive Windows 8.1 tablets used for SDR, I decided to purchase one last week. Now that these tablets are running full Windows and not the RT version, I felt it was time to do a little experimentation. I opted for an 8" tablet with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage at an amazing price of $79. The tablet has two USB ports and Bluetooth.

HDSDR seems to be running fine on my tablet in parallel with SatPC32. At the moment I have not noticed any performance issues monitoring signals with HDSDR on the tablet paired with the FUNcube Dongle Pro+.

I've installed Virtual Serial Ports so that I can allow the two applications to communicate via CAT commands.

My next goal is to add a Bluetooth adapter to my Yaesu FT-817's CAT port. Through the Bluetooth adapter, the tablet will see the radio as a new serial port. I will then configure it as the second transceiver in SatPC32. This not only eliminates a cable between the radio and the tablet, it also keeps one of my USB ports available while using less battery. I've already tested SatPC32+HSDR with this combination of FT-817+FUNcube Dongle Pro+ for many months on a several "standard" PC environments with great success.

The end goal will be a fully computer controlled, very portable, SDR-capable satellite station.

I'm always looking for other ideas how I might improve or do things differently. Anyone else trying this configuration?

73 Clayton W5PFG