Tag Archives: SDRSharp

SDRSharp 1347 released

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SDRSharp LogoTo my surprise I saw today (11-06-2015), that there was a new SDR# version released on there website. Below all the changes that have been done on the code since version 1337.

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r1347 | prog | 2015-06-09 18:22:46 +0200 (Tue, 09 Jun 2015) | 1 line

Added sticky tuning mode.
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r1346 | prog | 2015-06-09 17:27:06 +0200 (Tue, 09 Jun 2015) | 1 line

Fixed click to tune on non-tunable sources
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r1345 | prog | 2015-06-09 17:12:10 +0200 (Tue, 09 Jun 2015) | 1 line

Added additional modes: Center and Free tuning.
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r1344 | prog | 2015-06-09 00:35:23 +0200 (Tue, 09 Jun 2015) | 1 line

Fixed multi-device support
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r1343 | prog | 2015-06-08 23:52:56 +0200 (Mon, 08 Jun 2015) | 1 line

Added more checks for RTLSDR source.
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r1342 | prog | 2015-06-08 23:27:17 +0200 (Mon, 08 Jun 2015) | 3 lines

Revamped the RTLSDR controller to use the new API:
 - Added USB Enum;
 - Added Auto stop when the device is unplugged.
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r1341 | prog | 2015-06-08 19:46:11 +0200 (Mon, 08 Jun 2015) | 1 line

Ported Airspy plugin enhancements to RTLSDR plugin
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r1340 | prog | 2015-06-07 23:33:39 +0200 (Sun, 07 Jun 2015) | 3 lines

Enhanced the Airspy plugin;
Added a button center the current frequency on the spectrum;
A few GUI tweaks.
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r1339 | prog | 2015-06-07 21:07:08 +0200 (Sun, 07 Jun 2015) | 1 line

Enhanced the init behavior
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r1338 | prog | 2015-06-07 16:09:17 +0200 (Sun, 07 Jun 2015) | 5 lines

Added support for RFSPACE CloudIQ and CloudSDR sample rates;
Added new API to control the program from front-end plugins;
Changed the streaming from non-blocking to blocking I/O's.

New SDR# DDE plugin

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There is a new SDR# DDETracker plugin.

Ian Gilmour (MM6DOS) has created an add-on to the excellent SDR# program which allows DDE compatible software to control the receive frequency in SDR# Required for best results to correct for the Doppler shift when working with satellites with for example: WXTrack, SatPC32 and Orbitron.

SDR DDETracker

The new version now also supports mode setting. I use this version in combination with SatPC32 and works great. Download the plugin via his website, copy two dll files and add the following to you SDRSharp.exe.Config file. (Newer SDR# version – Plugins.xml)

<add key="DDE Tracker" value="SDRSharp.DDETracker.DdeTrackingPlugin,SDRSharp.DDETracker" />

SDR# DDE Plugin: DDETracker (Version 5 beta: DDETracker V5 beta Binaries)

Update: 04-01-2014

The combination that is working for me, is SDR# Nightly build, the V5 beta binaries from Ian and SatPC32 V.12.8c. When talking to PA3GUO we found out that the current stable version (Rev 1000) isn’t working. When using SatPC32 the DDE interface is configured via the DivOptions.SQF file and I use the following settings:

- (1)
+ (2)
+ (3)
- (4)
- (5)
;
; Hints
;
; The  +/- signs in lines 1,2,3,4 and 5 allow manual changes of program
; options whiche cannot be done in the menu 'Setup' and its sub menus. 
;
; Don't forget to save possible changes, please!  
; All changes require a program re-start to take effect. 
;
; Line #1: Rotor and CAT steering functions
           +: are available in a 2nd program instance,
;          -: are not available in a 2nd instance (default),
; Line #2: The "general" DDE interface will output data
,          +: constantly, 
;          -: only when the satellites elevation is > 0 (default),
; Line #3: Frequency values sent by the DDE interface
;          +: do not include converter/transverter offsets (default),
;          -: include converter/transverter offsets, 
; Line #4: SatPC32 steers
;          +: only the Downlink frequency and mode,
;          -: Downlink and Uplink frequencies and modes (default)
;
; Line #5: Auxiliary files will be opened with
;          -: Notepad (default).                    
;          +: the build-in editor.

Sound-Card Modem

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AGWPE LogoI got a lot of questions regarding my Sound-Card modem setup, so I greated a webpage with information on how I try to decode the 9600 baud AX25 packets that are transmitted by STRaND-1. Follow this Sound-Card Modem link for details. For those who want to test there Sound-Card modem setup, I have places IQ wav files on a web server you can download and test your setup. Make sure the audio levels from your audio out/in are high enough. Use the Sound card tuning Aid that is build-in feature from AGW Packet Engine.

AGW Sound card tuning Aid

Details can be found at Soundcardpacket.org

AAUSat and STRaND-1 on february 26 2013 20:06 UTC, STRaND-1 on february 26 16:47 UTC and here is a complete pass IQ wav file (look at the sub directories and keep in mind that these files are 64, 124 and 200Mb in size and after decompressing a few hundred Mb)

Good luck with your setup and leave me a note if this is helpful.

73 Jan PE0SAT

Received STRaND-1 9k6 signals

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STRaND-1

After todays succesfull launch with a PSLV-C20 from Satish Dhawan Space Center (Sriharikota, India) the first signals are recieved from STRaND-1, this 3U nanosat that is build at the Surrey Space Centre (University of Surrey) using a Google Nexus-I as board computer. Here is a picture that I made from my reception this evening 25-feb-2012 19:00 UTC using a FUNcube Dongle Pro+, SDR# and a Maspro 435HS20.

STRaND-1 Reception 23-02-2013

The next couple of days I’ll try to decode the IQ data that was recorded during this pass. Lets see if we can find the 9600 baud data within this IQ stream. I have updated the STRaND-1 page with information to decode the telemetry using AGW Packet Engine and AGW KissOnline.

FUNcube Dongle Pro plus Arrived

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FUNcube Dongle Pro+ Arrived

FUNcube Dongle Pro+ ArrivedYesterday I received the new FUNCube in the mail, It all looks very neat and Howard has left nothing to chance to deliver the SDR receiver in the right way. It is shipped in a professional manner, better than many companies.

In the evening I finally had some time to test this FUNcube, it turned out that during the test there were tropo conditions and that explained why there were so many stations visible on the 192 khz bandwidth in the 2 metre band.

I did a quick scan of the AIR, 2m and 70cm band and it is immediately apparent that we are dealing with a better SDR receiver than the first version. In the next couple of days I will spend more time with the FUNCube and add some experiences to this blog.

One thing though was amazing, I could received FO-29 beacon and the whole transponder passband on a vertical antenna, this had not worked previously.

FUNcube Dongle Pro+

Specifications:

  • Guaranteed frequency range: 150kHz to 240MHz and 420MHz to 1.9GHz
  • Typical frequency coverage: 150kHz to 260MHz and 410MHz to 2.05GHz
  • TCXO specified at 0.5ppm (in practice about 1.5ppm)
  • 192kHz sampling rate
  • Extremely simple hardware setup, just two connections, an “in” and an “out”:
    • Standard SMA female antenna port
    • USB 1.x type A male connection
  • Eleven discrete hardware front end filters including:
    • 6MHz 3dB bandwidth (10MHz at -40dB) SAW filter for the 2m band.
    • 20MHz 3dB bandwidth (42MHz at -40dB) SAW filter for the 70cm band
    • Third- and fifth-order LC bandpass filters for other bands
  • Front end LNA OIP3 30dB
  • Typical noise figures:
    • 50MHz 2.5dB
    • 145MHz 3.5dB
    • 435MHz 3.5dB
    • 1296MHz 5.5dB
  • Typical NFM 12dB SINAD measurements:
    • 145MHz 0.15uV
    • 435MHz 0.15uV
  • No additional drivers required for Linux, OSX or Windows
  • Integrated 5V bias T switchable from software

My current SDR setup, FUNcube dongle pro+, Diamond X5000 vertical, SDRSharp development version, high quality 2.5m USB cable and Windows 7 64bit.

Homepage and other references:

FUNcube dongle Pro+ website.
SDRSharp software.