Next sale: Tuesday 7 June 2100UTC

Posted on June 3, 2011 by admin

Folks

I will have some more units available on Tuesday 7 June at 2100UTC.

Many thanks for your patience, Howard

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34 Responses to Next sale: Tuesday 7 June 2100UTC

  1. Fred says:
    June 4, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    I sent a email to the address listed in the email from PayPal. I think I am going to need a tracking number. FedEx has messed up my finding my place before. I don’t know if that email address I used goes anywhere that is checked and none is listed on the website.

  2. jerry says:
    June 4, 2011 at 7:52 pm

    Howard:

    I received a FCD Pro last week. The USB appears to be working fine but the noise floor is high, > -70 dB, and thus I’m not able to receive any signals. How do I return this unit to swap for a good one? Thanks

    Jerry in California

    • admin says:
      June 5, 2011 at 6:45 pm

      Hi Jerry.

      These units are personally tested by myself immediately prior to shipping including a sensitivity test using Spectravue. Can you confirm (a) that you have used the “Defaults” button on the front end app, and (b) what the noise floor is without any antenna plugged in?

      Many thanks, Howard

  3. Bernard PAUC says:
    June 6, 2011 at 8:25 pm

    Please, what is the price of this item. How for buying it ?
    Thank you.

    Bernard PAUC
    F9ZB

    • admin says:
      June 6, 2011 at 8:59 pm

      Hello Bernard

      Please see the “Order your FUNcube Dongle Pro” link at the top of the page.

      Many thanks, Howard

  4. Dominic says:
    June 7, 2011 at 9:02 pm

    Wohoo, got one 🙂 Thanks!

  5. Heiko says:
    June 7, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    Very frustrating… sold out in less than a minute… I was able to login to Paypal, but after setting my delivery address Paypal told me that it was sold out :/

    73s de
    Heiko / dd7bs

    • admin says:
      June 8, 2011 at 9:38 pm

      Hello Heiko

      I am sorry we ran out very quickly last night. I will have some more next week, and I expect to announce availability on Monday. Thank you for your patience.

      Howard

  6. Walter Holmes says:
    June 8, 2011 at 12:08 am

    Are they sold out again already ?

    that was quick. 🙂

    thanks, Walter..

    • admin says:
      June 8, 2011 at 9:14 pm

      Hello Walter

      I am afraid so 🙁 I will have some more next week, I am not certain of the date yet but I hope to be able to make an announce ment on Monday.

      Many thanks, Howard

  7. Dawid SQ6EMM says:
    June 8, 2011 at 7:01 am

    Hi,

    was the ordering opened on 21:00 UTC on 7th June?
    I was trying to ‘click it out’ and that was “Item sold out” for the whole time…

    • admin says:
      June 8, 2011 at 9:13 pm

      Hello David

      We sold out very quickly last night I am afraid, in about 90s. I am due a further 130+ next week. In the meantime I thank you for your patience and I am sorry that you were unsuccessful yesterday.

      Howard

  8. Jan says:
    June 8, 2011 at 10:23 am

    I try go buy the funcube at 21.00 UTC, however after logging into paypal it says it was gone (at 21.01UTC). So what is the _right_ way of ordering ? I am really getting tired of it, as this is the 3rd time i try to buy it with no luck. Can you please provide information which is the right way please ?

    • admin says:
      June 8, 2011 at 9:10 pm

      Hello Jan

      You are doing it correctly, we just sold out really quickly. Last week it took 50 minutes to sell out, last night was only about 90s. I am sorry you have not been successful. I have some more coming next week.

      Howard

  9. Stu Capon says:
    June 8, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    Ah missed it! was there at latest (paypal page) 3 minutes after the hour, how about “finish it yourself” kits?
    I’m not sure I can take the pressure of waiting another indeterminate period and trusting the vagaries of the local residents with whom I share an ADSL exchange.

    I have a soldering iron and some tweezers 😉

    Stu Capon

    • admin says:
      June 8, 2011 at 9:09 pm

      Hello Stu

      I am sorry, yes we did sell out again. We have a slight delay in production this week from the assembler so I will not know when the next batch will be available until Monday, however I am due over 130 next week. Once I know the schedule I will anounce it on this site.

      Howard

    • admin says:
      June 8, 2011 at 9:51 pm

      Hello Stu

      Sorry there isn’t a kit for this, I fear I would spend the rest of my life supporting and army of constructors who don’t have the right gear to make these things! In addition there is the small issue of an NDA on one of the chips – I don’t know how I could circumvent this and provide a kit.

      Howard

      • Stu Capon says:
        June 12, 2011 at 8:30 am

        Thanks for the reply Howard,
        I understand the risks of kits and agree with small surface mount components these days its not really a risk free method for the home constructor and support could be open ended.
        I’ll wait for my chance, never hurts to defer gratification I suppose.
        I’ll practice my ordering technique, get the speed up ;-), for once I had booted to Windows and that was slower than Linux so won’t do that next time.

        Stu

    • admin says:
      June 8, 2011 at 9:53 pm

      Hello Stu

      Sorry there isn’t a kit for this, I fear I would spend the rest of my life supporting and army of constructors who don’t have the right gear to make these things! In addition there is the small issue of an NDA on one of the chips – I don’t know how I could circumvent this and provide a kit.

      Howard

  10. zerohat says:
    June 8, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    Hi Howard,

    seems you already run out-of-sell again 🙁

    When will be the next possible purchase date ?

    Seems PH-neutral will give you a business boost 🙂

    Thanks,
    zerohat

    • admin says:
      June 8, 2011 at 9:08 pm

      Hello

      I am sorry, yes we sold out again. We have a slight delay in production this week from the assembler so I will not know when the next batch will be available until Monday, however I am due over 130 next week. Once I know the schedule I will anounce it on this site.

      Howard

  11. Dawid SQ6EMM says:
    June 8, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    Howard,

    I am wondering…

    Do you open shop exactly at 21:00 UTC? or not?:)
    I was clicking each ~30 seconds (and more often) from 20:55 to 21:15 and later also but with bigger space.

    And I wasnt able to catch it out… I am confused… 😉

    Can you provide more details how did the sale looked like this time?

    VY 73

  12. gg says:
    June 9, 2011 at 8:07 pm

    Hi Howard,

    i managed to order one funcubedongle on the last sale. But except from the successful paypal transaction i got no further information regarding the shipment for example.
    So i’m just wondering, whether the dongle is on it’s way or something went wrong during the order.
    Thanks for your help – and for some nice piece of electronic by the way 😉 !

    Many thanks,
    gg

  13. Peter VE7NGP says:
    June 9, 2011 at 9:42 pm

    Hi Howard,
    Not sure where to post this, so here it is. I am a fortunate owner of the coveted FCD and find myself using it a lot. Thanks! Is it normal to have a bit of heat build-up from within the unit? I run it for several hours (4-5) at a time and find it warm to the touch. I didn’t expect this since the unit does not transmit.

    Thanks,
    Peter ve7ngp

    • admin says:
      June 10, 2011 at 9:51 am

      Hello Peter

      Yes the unit will get warm. The tuner chip and one of its associated linear low noise regulators dissipates about 400mW and this is situated at the SMA end of the board. The design uses the ground plane (and thus also the SMA) as a heatsink, and that 400mW has to go somewhere. It will get warm but it should not be too hot to touch.

      Howard

      • Peter says:
        June 11, 2011 at 4:16 am

        Hi Howard,
        Thanks for the reply. No, it’s not hot, but it’s not at the SMA either. It’s warmer on one side. If looking at the FCD with USB to the left and SMA to the right, the warm spot would be at the top, long edge just after the word “FUNcube”. Is that where the tuner chip is located?
        Thanks,
        Peter

        • admin says:
          June 12, 2011 at 10:59 am

          Hello Peter,

          That is where the regulator is situated – that takes the brunt of the dissipation, about 80mA or so with a 3.5V drop. The PCB layout including the ground plane, thicker tracks, and many vias have been carefully situated around this regulator to rapidly sink heat away. If there’s any problem. these regualtors have thermal cut off – and I can tell you from experience when developing the unit int he early days that they work and they are bullet proof! These regulators are not cheap 10c jobs.

          Howard

          • Peter says:
            June 13, 2011 at 4:47 pm

            Hi Howard,
            Thanks for the information. I am thoroughly enjoying my unit. Thanks for your hard work in developing the FCD and all the best!

            Regards,
            Peter

  14. Ernesto says:
    June 11, 2011 at 6:47 pm

    Hi!! I’ve received the dongle two days ago.
    But i use the hdsdr and I dont receive any signal with a transceiver distance of 2 meters.

    You cand help me.
    Excuseme but my english its very bad!!
    Thanks!!!!

    • admin says:
      June 12, 2011 at 10:52 am

      Hello Ernesto.

      Have you followed the instructions for using Spectravue in the downloads section? I suggest that you get the unit working under Spectravue first, using that as a baseline, and then try other software.

      Let me know how you get on.

      Howard