PRO PLUS Dongle (funcubedongle)

The new FUNcube Dongle Pro+ announced at the AMSAT Colloquium & RSGB Convention to a huge round of applause.

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

This is a complete redesign. To give you a flavour, the new FCD has well over twice as many parts in its bill of materials, (240 discreet components in fact!) To cater for this, the board is now a six-layer design (the original FCD was only double sided). To fit these extra parts in, they are soldered on both sides of the PCB. There are no fewer than eleven discrete front end preselection filters, including some serious SAW filters specifically chosen for the 2m and 70cm amateur bands. But that is just the start…

Comparison of the underside of the original FUNcube Dongle (at the top) and the new FUNcube Dongle Pro+ Comparison of the uppersides of the original FUNcube Dongle Pro and the new FUNcube Dongle Pro+