Pro+ Downloads & Documentation

Folks,

Here are the downloads for the FUNcube Dongle Pro+. These programs and documentation are appropriate for the Pro+ model only.

Current documentation

Current programs

Current firmware

Source code

Older versions

Third party software and information

Many thanks, Howard

142 Responses to Pro+ Downloads & Documentation

  1. Mike says:

    Thanks – with the command list I have now implemented the main features – I had not reckoned on an IF gain and wondered how to do it. In the end I settled for 10dB steps rather than 1dB steps. I could easily do either. Anything greater than about 30 seems to upset the system.

    The filter setting does not work, maybe firmware? Anyway “why would we want to do that?”

    Bias T now works so I must have made an error earlier.

    Still chasing a close form memory leak.
    Mike

    • admin says:

      Hello Mike

      If I remember correctly, the manual filter selection hit the “too hard” button at the time I was writing the firmware, so I’ll put it into a later firmware release once I figure out how to implement it. Coding it isn’t hard, it’s more about how to do it logically at a higher level. I agree, I am not sure why you’d necessarily want to do it anyway.

      Regarding the IF gain, again, I am not sure why you’d need to adjust that either but I left it in. It’s really for use with low resolution ADCs in low signal areas for broadcast signals, something that’s not applicable to the FCD as the ADC resolve right down to the noise floor anyway at the lowest IF gain setting.

      Many thanks, Howard

    • serge szpilfogel says:

      Mike where can i find your latest Xetio dll file to update my HDSDR software please for the FCD PRO+
      Serge/VE1KG

      • Mike says:

        It is in the files section of the Yahoo fcdproplus group.

        • Mike,
          For some reason I could not join the fcdproplus group to get your HDSDR extio dll for the pro+. Is there somewhere else to get it? The download from HDSDR.de is a broken zip file.

          The original dll for the old FCD works fine but I really need the new one.

          Thanks,

          Richard W5SXD

        • Mike,
          My fcdproplus forum membership came thru.
          The proplus dll is now working with HDSDR.
          Thanks,
          Richard W5SXD

          • admin says:

            Thanks Richard,

            I did see your previous note, but I found that am having a technical problem uploading files to this site at the moment, so I was waiting for that to work.

            Many thanks, Howard

  2. Gerard says:

    Hello Howard,

    I am using HDSDR with another SDR receiver and satisfied with that software. I would like to use it with the FCBPro+ as well. Will it work and do I need some special drivers or dll files ??
    Many thanks Howard,

    • admin says:

      Hello Gerard, I believe Mike Willis has already built an extio.dll for this very purpose.

      Many thanks, Howard

  3. Francesco says:

    Hello everybody. I’m trying to use the new Funcube Dongle Pro+ under linux, but without success.
    Some remarks:
    – when I plug in the device, it appears as a proper audio device (Ubuntu 12.04). But when I try to select it as an input, the gnome sound setup application crashes.
    – I also tried to use the dongle, by directly selecting it as a sound source (eg, with fldigi, portaudio), but as soon as set it as an input source, no data appears in the application.
    – here’s what dmesg says:
    [ 1744.513422] usb 2-1.3: new full-speed USB device number 11 using ehci_hcd
    [ 1744.643092] 11:1:1: cannot get freq at ep 0x81
    [ 1744.645902] generic-usb 0003:04D8:FB31.0008: hiddev0,hidraw1: USB HID v1.11 Device [Hanlincrest Ltd. FUNcube Dongle V2.0 ] on usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.3/input2
    [ 1744.914764] 11:1:1: cannot get freq at ep 0x81
    [ 1744.954821] 11:1:1: cannot get freq at ep 0x81
    [ 1744.992445] 11:1:1: cannot get freq at ep 0x81
    [ 1744.993335] cannot submit datapipe for urb 0, error -28: not enough bandwidth
    – I also recompiled Qthid (4.0 git) and changed the USB Product ID to FB31. In this case the application starts and says that the dongle is connected.

    Do you know where can I find some linux support?
    (sorry for the very likely off-topic)

    thanks,

    –fb

    • admin says:

      Hello Francesco

      I have FCD+ running under 12.04 Ubuntu with Quisk. In addition there is a brand new QTHID for controlling the FCD+ under FCDPP branch (I have not tried it yet).

      Many thanks, Howard

      • admin says:

        I just tried QUISK+QTHID FCDPP branch on 12.04, works fine at 192ksps.

        Many thanks, Howard

      • Mike G0MJW says:

        Howard

        I am just trying to get the proplus working on Ubuntu 12.04LTD and have the same “cannot get freq at ep 0x81” issue as above – can you remind me how to fix it?

        Mike

    • Robin says:

      Francesco,

      not having access to your email address it’s hard to offer support. Could you ask the same question on the Yahoo Funcube Dongle Pro Plus group, at http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Fcdproplus/

      73

      Robin

    • serge szpilfogel says:

      Francesco Good morning SM5BSZ Leif is an expert with Linux & Linrad. Please check his website & get in touch with him. His email address is
      leif@sm5bsz.com . Francesco when you have time i need some help re: setting up FCD with HDSDR Thanks
      Serge/VE1KG

  4. John Brzustowski says:

    Hi Howard,
    I just received the FCD Pro+ today and it works beautifully!
    I have two questions for you:

    1. We’re using the original FuncubeDongle Pro to track wildlife, and it would help to have higher dynamic range, to improve coverage of spatial range. Given that sampling is done internally at 32-bits, would it be possible and worthwhile to change the firmware to optionally output deeper samples at lower rates, say 24-bit samples (to keep it within USB Audio specs) at 48 or 96 KHz ? I would be happy to help modify firmware, and/or maintain an alternative build if this were a possibility.

    2. Our application uses (unlicensed) wildlife telemetry bands around 150 and 166 MHz. What difference, if any, can we expect in noise filtering ability at these frequencies between the original Funcubedongle Pro, and the new Pro+?

    Thanks very much!

    John B.

    • admin says:

      Hello John

      Thank you for your note.

      In the source code I already have a full set of tested selections of bit depth and sampling rates, 48kHz and 96kHz at 24 bits and 48, 96 and 192kHz at 16 bits.

      The only one exposed is the 192kHz 16 bit one exposed for two reasons, both down to Windows.

      Firstly, if Windows sees 24 bit and 16 bit interfaces, the 16 bit interfaces are bot selectable, presumably because it feels that the 24 bit ones are always going to be what the end user would want, thus the 192ksps rate would not ever be available.

      Secondly, when I exposed 48, 96 and 192kHz at 16 bits, Windows appears to force the end user would need to manually go into the advanced section of the recording tab in the Sound control panel applet and override the default selection of 48kHz to use any higher rate than 48kHz.

      So to expose a higher bit depth can be done, but to make it sensible it would need a separate firmware branch (not a big deal as the code already has #defines in there anyway) but more importantly a new USB PID in the device’s descriptor as Windows does not re-enumerate.

      FWIW, I had already been considering introducing a 48kHz branch for the iOS market as an option.

      Many thanks, Howard

      • John Brzustowski says:

        Hi Howard,
        We’ve been using the FCD exclusively under linux (Angstrom distribution on a beaglebone computer), so we don’t face the windows issues. I’ve bashed together a little library for controlling multiple FCDs on one computer, using code from QTHID. Once I’ve extended that for the FCD Pro+, it will not be much additional work to allow for varying sample rates or depths.
        (That library is of course GPL’d, but not quite ready for release.)
        How can I help bring alternative sample rates/depths to the linux platform?

        Thanks for a wonderful product and great support!

        John B.

        • admin says:

          Hello John

          All understood. The problem at this stage is that it would mean having two different firmware versions to support, and the maintenance of new USB PID(s). At this early stage my concern is in the confusion that multiple PIDs would entail for end-users: Windows does make a bit of a dog’s dinner out of this I’m afraid.

          As I mention, frustratingly the source code’s already there, it’s just #defined out.

          Well done on the beagleboard cross compilation by the way. I’ve spent the last 36 hours battling with the Raspberry Pi and just getting a QT dev environment up and working. You sure need to have time on your hands! Working on QT5 on r-pi is like building on quicksand, the environment is so volatile that documentation carefully written just days ago is no longer valid.

          Many thanks, Howard

          • Magnus says:

            Hi!

            I would also like to have a lower bitrate version of the pro+.

            For my current application I only need a fraction of the samplerate and sample at 190k and throw most of it away is not that that fun in a small computer platform like the r-pi.

            Best regards, Magnus

          • admin says:

            Hi Magnus.

            Providing a different bit rate would need a separate firmware release and all the support that that would demand. Is it not possible for your to filter and undersample? There shoul dbe plenty of processing power in an R-Pi to do that.

            Alex Csete has plenty of notes on using the FCD & FCD+ on the R-Pi: http://www.oz9aec.net/index.php/funcube-dongle/479-the-funcube-dongle-propro-on-the-raspberry-pi

            Many thanks, Howard

          • John Brzustowski says:

            Hello again Howard,
            I have found another reason to want different sampling rates on the FCD: the hardware USB controller on the beaglebone computer I use with the FCDs is apparently incapable of reading from more than 3 FCD Pro+ audio streams. It can read from 3 FCDP+ units simultaneously, and even from 3 FCDP+ and 1 FCDP simultaneously, but not 4 FCDP+. It can also read 5 FCDP simultaneously. We have applications where 4 FCDP+ are required.

            This is not a USB Hub issue, as 4 FCDP+ are read without trouble using the same hub on a PC.

            It is also not a processing issue – I’ve looked over the relevant linux kernel source code and it appears to be a fundamental constraint of how the MUSB USB controller on the beaglebone SOC allocates USB 1.0 device bandwidth within a USB 2.0 connection.

            I’m sure that if we could get the FCDP+ to send
            data at 96K, our problem would be solved, and to that end, I would be happy to help maintain a branch of the FCD firmware which allowed alternative sampling rates, or simply a version with a fixed 96KSPS sampling rate (especially if this also reduced power consumption).

            Thanks again for a wonderful device!

          • admin says:

            Hi John.

            Originally I did design the FCD+ with multiple bit depths and sample rates. However, wonderfully Windows makes a bit of a mess of it, and would only allow selection of 96kHz/24bit maximum. 192kHz/16bit was not available unless it was all the unit offered. After a week or so of fiddling around between Linux, OSX and Windows, I went for the single 192kHz/16bit option.

            Worse, Windows caches USB descriptors based on VID/PID, so if you change the sampling rate in the firmware without changing the VID/PID, it will not properly pick up the changed sampling rate/bit depth.

            So to offer multiple bit rates and maintain compatibility with Windows, I would need to apply for some more VID/PIDs.

            FWIW, internally I do have a version that I use on iPads and iPhones that runs at 48kHz sampling rate, but I use a VID/PID I allocated myself for development purposes, which wouldn’t be of much use outside of the lab.

            I do have quite a bit of TI/BeagleBoard hardware here, including and BeagleBoard-XM, BeagleBone and BeagleBone Black as well as a Sitara SK, OMAP 35x EVM and AM1808 EVM, and have been spending some time getting a dev environment up and running since seeing your note.

            It is quite possible that there is a bug in the fullspeed bandwidth calculation in the USB host code: I had a very similar problem with the MIPS OpenWRT distribution.

            What distro/version are you using, and what cross-compile environment? I’ll load up the kernel source into a VM and get cross-compiling.

            Many thanks, Howard

  5. Chris GW6KZZ says:

    Hi Howard,
    Thanks for getting me the FUNcube Dongle Pro Plus so fast, it is a great improvement over the previous version. Still hoping the next generation of your SDR goes Ethernet with POE and waterproof sealed case so we can move it to the antenna like with a masthead preamp 🙂 Howard, I have a small problem in that FCHid2 does not run on one of my advanced ASUS Windows 7 Pro workstation computers, even trying to run the Pro+ Frequency Control Program in administrators mode fails to start the program, any ideas? I have the Pro + running with SDR# OK on all computers but just wondered if there was a hidden problem I cannot solve on my own or I have someone blocking it from running? Thanks again for making a great teaching tool and SDR dongle, you are the talk of the world in both radio amateur and software radio design; I will talk to you later about a different type of SDR I need to develop which is part of a project that as commercial opportunities if it can be achieved. TTFN mate.

    • admin says:

      Hello Chris

      I’m glad that you’re enjoying the new FCD+.

      Regarding the symptoms you’re having on one of your machines, I am aware that this does happen in some circumstances, and I’m still trying to reproduce it here myself so I can understand it more fully.

      We believe that it’s to do with USB 2.0 hubs that use a single transaction translator rather multiple transaction translators for multiple USB 1.1 devices like the FCD & FCD+. There’s a treatise on this here:http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-technology,677-3.html

      So there are many ways to resolve this if the assumption above is true. For example you can try moving the FCD+ onto a different hub, or other USB 1.1 devices on that hub to a different hub. You could also use an additional USB 2.0 hub (or an active USB 2.0 Extender which is really just a one port USB 2.0 hub) that daisy chains off the existing FCD+ port and plug the FCD+ into the new hub.

      To reiterate, I’ve not been able to reproduce this yet here, so it’s difficult to debug further, or indeed be in a position to say a firmware fix might resolve it until I can reproduce it, however early indications from third parties who are having this problem and have used other hubs suggest that my supposition may well be correct.

      If you happen to have any details of the precise machine you’re encountering the problem with, I might be able to see if I can source one and attempt to reproduce the fault.

      Many thanks, Howard

      • Chris says:

        Sorry for this late post but it might have identified the source of the problem…

        Howard, it seems that FCHid2 program failure to run problem is to do with the USB 3.0 hubs and the ASMedia® USB 3.0 controller which uses the new xHCI 1.0 specification rather than USB 2 hubs. I managed to find the revised Intel specification sheet link below if that helps?

        I guess they do not impliment USB 1.1 compatibility to well yet SDR# and SDR Radio programs work well with FCD Pro+ yet FCHid2 doesnt run at all with this chipset on OS Windows 7 Pro based computers, any thoughts on the problem? I have not tried it on Windows 8 Pro yet.

        http://www.intel.com/technology/usb/download/xHCI_Specification_for_USB.pdf

        • admin says:

          Hello Chris.

          That’s interesting, as much of my testing is actually done on USB 3 PCs. I’ll investigate further, I have a couple of new Windows 8 hosts with USB 3 ports that I’ll try.

          Many thanks, Howard

  6. Chris GW6KZZ says:

    Sorry for the delay in this reply Howard, I tried a few different tricks and still the FCDid2001 program will not run on my new workstation, the motherboard is a ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 with over 7 TB of disc space and currently only 8 GB of RAM which will soon be updated to 32 GB, also using a 120 GB SSD to boot the computer inside 20 seconds built inside a Coolermaster HAF X case. It has both USB 2 and 3 sockets, FUNcube Dongle Pro+ works great in USB 2 sockets with the program SDR#, just cannot get the FCDid2001.exe to run on Windows 7 Pro 64 bit OS but watching in the task manager it does recognise it is a 32 bit program for about 5 seconds before it disappears into the either. Any thoughts Howard?

  7. Ray Erdinc says:

    Hi Howard, Just tried FCHid2Exe while waiting for my FCD and it runs but no ‘detail’ just outlined boxes as though this is the design layout of the screen, if you follow, any ideas please? Regards Ray

  8. Ray Erdinc says:

    PS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SP1 i5 – the old version does run completely.

  9. Gerry - GI0ZGB says:

    Got my FunCube Pro + today, works fine with SDRSharp, but I attempt to update the firmware FCHid stops at Set Frequency.
    Display:
    HIDOpen of Vid_04d8&Pid_fb56 returns 1
    Success, FCD found.
    HIDSetFreq of 99988 returns 0
    Error, FCD frequency NOT set.
    Apart from this glitch it performs extremely well.
    OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Windows 7 Premium 64-bit
    PC: Gigabyte, Laptop: Sony, Asus

    • admin says:

      Hello Jerry

      What are you updating the firmware with? There is no publicly released firmware update yet for the FCD+.

      Many thanks, Howard

  10. admin says:

    Hello Chris.

    Firstly, I am sorry for the delay in repsonding, I’ve had quite a busy week catching up on some of the backorders.

    I am not sure what is happening here: does the FCHID2001 app run _without_ the FCD+ inserted? Are there any error messages or does it just hang? When you say that SDR# works, is that the SDR stable version or the newer versions with integrated FCD+ support?

    Many thanks, Howard

    • Chris GW6KZZ says:

      Hi Howard, we both seem to be very busy these days, lol.

      The FCHID2001 app just hangs and then crashes after about 5 seconds running in memory with the dongle inserted or not? That is on the ASUS Workstation running Windows 7 Pro, yet FCDID2001 runs great on my HP Windows Vista Laptop? I have tried all versions of compatible mode withing Windows 7 Pro to no avail. At first I thought FCDID2001 could not handle running on a 3 TB hard disc but I have since moved the app to the 120GB SSD boot drive and still the same problem? There is no duplicate apps so something else is causing it to crash. Any thoughts?

      The SDR# newer version with FCD+ support runs without FCHID2001 and works great

  11. Jeff Butler says:

    As others have noted I am also having the issue where FCHid2001.exe will not run on my i7 Windows 7 Pro 64bit computer. If you watch task manager it runs for a split second and then disappears from task manager. I never get the program up. I’ve tried running as admin, tried rnning in compatibility mode (XP), etc… I’ve tried running it with and witout the dongle installed, still the same problem. Any ideas? Looks like there are several others having the same issue, looks like all are W7 64bit… The latest SDRSharp seems to run fine, but I’m off by about 20kHz.

    Thanks,
    Jeff

    • admin says:

      Hello Jeff.

      This is a bit confusing. I too run it in Windows 7 64 bit and don’t experience any problems. I am in the process of installing a fresh Windows 7 x64, in case there are some prerequisites I wasn’t aware of and will let you know the result.

      I’m also not sure about SDR# being off by 20kHz: is there a ppm setting?

      Many thanks, Howard

      • admin says:

        Hello Jeff

        I installed a vanilla Windows 7 x64 Home Premium SP1 with nothing else (not even updates), and the FCHID2001 ran OK. Can you tell me if this happens whether or not the FCD+ is inserted?

        Many thanks, Howard

    • Gerry says:

      Hello Jeff, my FCD Pro + was off frequency using the SDRSharp, but using the configure option to adjust the ppm setting easily corrected that problem.
      FCHid2001.exe runs perfectly on my Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit PC and Home Premium laptops and on Windows 8 Enterprise 64-bit.
      73 Gerry.

  12. Raphael says:

    Hello!
    Received my FCD today, thank you very much Howard! I have a question regarding the extio.dll for FCD proplus. Is there a version ready to be put in the download section? The file download from the Yahoo Funcube Dongle Pro Plus group is member-only and I haven’t found anything on the internet so far. I wouldn’t even mind if it had a few quirks in it, since it seems to be still in beta. The FCHid works just fine, but it would be nice to control the FCD directly from the SDR programm (I use HDSDR).
    Thank you!

  13. Jeff Butler says:

    I’ve tried running it with and without the dongle installed, still the same problem. The program pops into taskmanager for a split second and then exits. The program never launches… Thanks for the ppm calibration help (in SDRSharp).

    Jeff

  14. Chris EA4UC says:

    Hello. Yesterday received the FCD Pro+ (One day from UK to Spain)

    I have installed and running now:
    – FCD P+ Control V2.002
    – SDR Sharp V1.0.0.1000 ==> Audio Input: MME linea (Funcube Dongle V2.0) – Samplerate 192000 – Radio: Swap I&Q

    When I press PLAY an error message say: paUnanticipatedHostError

    I´m using Windows 7 Home 64bits.

    Please help me to look for where the error is.

  15. Chris EA4UC says:

    Hello Howard.

    Yes, The FCD+ was inserted before SDR# start.

    Today I was trying HDSDR with G0MJW´s ExtIO and also I read an error message:

    — Unspecified error in SoundStarIn, error code 1 — External error not defined

    The sound card is working well and checked again config pressing hdsdr F5 button.

    73, Chris EA4UC (former EA4EUN)

  16. Uli says:

    Hi Howard,

    the link to the Source Code of V2.002 is wrong. (It is the link to the executable.)

    vy 73
    Uli

    • admin says:

      Hello Uli

      Apologies, that should be fixed now, my mistake.

      Thank you for letting me know.

      Many thanks, Howard

  17. Mike says:

    Hello,
    I am trying to get funcube pro+ running on linux (debian 6), the stick has been flashed with v20.03 firmware. I have setup the udev rule to reflect the changes required for the pro+ version. I am using the latest version of qthid fcdpp 4.1, however I run into a problem when I run it. If qthid is started when the stick is already inserted then the gui doesn’t show up. From strace i can see that it gets stuck on reading the /dev/hidraw0 device. If qthid is started and stick is inserted afterwards, it gets stuck on the same thing.
    Has anyone ran into this issue ?

    Thanks
    Here is a cutout from strace output:
    ====================================
    munmap(0x7f27a7543000, 4096) = 0
    lstat(“/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.2/manufacturer”, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0444, st_size=4096, …}) = 0
    open(“/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.2/manufacturer”, O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 18
    read(18, “Hanlincrest Ltd. \n”, 4096) = 26
    close(18) = 0
    lstat(“/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.2/product”, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0444, st_size=4096, …}) = 0
    open(“/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.2/product”, O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 18
    read(18, “FUNcube Dongle V2.0 \n”, 4096) = 22
    close(18) = 0
    lstat(“/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.2/bcdDevice”, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0444, st_size=4096, …}) = 0
    open(“/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.2/bcdDevice”, O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 18
    read(18, “2003\n”, 4096) = 5
    close(18) = 0
    lstat(“/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.2/2-1.2:1.2/bInterfaceNumber”, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0444, st_size=4096, …}) = 0
    open(“/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.2/2-1.2:1.2/bInterfaceNumber”, O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 18
    read(18, “02\n”, 4096) = 3
    close(18) = 0
    uname({sys=”Linux”, node=”debian”, …}) = 0
    open(“/dev/hidraw0”, O_RDWR) = 18
    ioctl(18, HIDIOCGRDESCSIZE or HIDIOCGVERSION, 0x7fff9a2f526c) = 0
    ioctl(18, HIDIOCAPPLICATION or HIDIOCGRDESC, 0x7fff9a2f5400) = 0
    write(18, “\1\234e/\232\377\177\237d/\232\377\177″…, 65) = -1 EPIPE (Broken pipe)
    poll([{fd=18, events=POLLIN}], 1, -1
    ====================================

  18. Chris EA4UC says:

    Hello. I don´t find how can I start receiving radio activity using FCD+.

    All the test I do, I received an error message. With the first FCD model was very easy to start.

    73, Chris

    • admin says:

      Hello Chris

      Can you give me some more information about the error message, and what steps you took before the error message appeared?

      Many thanks, Howard

      • Chris EA4UC says:

        Hello Howard.

        I read and followed the FCD2ManualV3.pdf

        The error box I receive each time I´m trying to start SDRsharp is: paUnanticipatedHostError

        My FCD PRO+ V2.0 Serial is 0010720.

  19. Chris EA4UC says:

    Hello. Tested with an Asus Eee PC 1000H (Windows XP 32bits)

    SDRsharp is working very well. With no latency.

    I think the problems are with Windows 7 – 64 bits.

  20. David - G0CTP says:

    HI Howard,
    Got the fun dongle pro its very good that’s until i tried to update it to the latest version
    and now it won’ t work at all.Followed all instructions on how to update.
    I get
    HIDOpen of Vid_04d8&Pid_fb31 returns 0
    Error, FCD not found: is FCD correctly installed? – in the control

    Using win 7 ultimate 64 bit with 16 gig mem and 3t harddrive
    Can you please help ?
    regards Dave

    • admin says:

      Hello Dave

      Sorry you’re experiencing problems updating the firmware on your FCD+. I am not sure what serial number you’re on, but those after about 250 all have the latest firmware.

      Can you confirm if this is an FCD+ or FCD? The FCD has a PID of FB56 and the FCD+ is FB31 (unless in bootloader mode, in which case the FCD+ also uses FB56).

      I suspect, if it’s and FCD+, that the FCD+ is stuck in bootloader mode, which typically happens if the firmare image that’s been installed is invalid. Note that FCD+ can only take FCD+ images: if you try to install an FCD image on an FCD+, it will fail the sum check and resort to the bootloader mode. You can tell if it’s in bootloader mode becuase you can run the FCHIDBL program and it’ll show you about half a dozen lines of information.

      In this case, I suggest that you download the appropriate .bin file again for your FCD+ (using right click, save target as… on the link from the FCD+ downloads page http://www.funcubedongle.com/?page_id=1225) and open this in the FCHIDBL2 bootloader firmware update program.

      Let me know how you get on.

      Many thanks, Howard

  21. David - G0CTP says:

    Hello Howard,
    Many thanks fer the quick reply as you must be a bus man but you where right it was stuck in the BOOTLOADER mode….and I can see where I went wrong by making the update as a image file…Now I know how to download a bin file hi….
    Its up and running again thanks to you – SEASON GREETINGS to you and your family.
    Regards
    Dave -G0CTP

  22. Alan Foster - M6FOZ says:

    Re the extIO dll written by G0MJW:

    I have installed it with HDSDR. It works superbly, and compliments the FUNcube Pro+ perfectly making tuning so-o-o-o-o simple! Thoroughly recommended.

    Compliments to both you and Mike for your efforts.

    Alan.

    • serge szpilfogel says:

      Alan where can i find the latest the Xetio …..Dll to put in my HDSDR directory
      Serge/ve1kg

  23. Ben - AA7AS says:

    Hi Howard,

    Ben, AA7AS here. My SdrDx beta testers report that HF and below is working, but frequencies higher than 16 MHz or so do not tune correctly.

    When I had one (just a few days), I figured out that the FCDP+ took frequency in hz, rather than khz like the FCDP, and that does work for HF and below, but apparently there is more to it than that.

    Can you please explain what needs to be done with the FCDP+ to correctly set any frequency?

    Thanks,
    Ben

    • admin says:

      Hello Ben

      Sorry for the delay in my reply, I did see your request and thought I’d answered it but clearly not!

      Setting the frequency for the FCD+ should be _exactly_ the same as the old FCD. You can either use the original kHz API or the slightly newer Hz API.

      I am also going to send you an email privately about this.

      Many thanks, Howard

  24. Gary WA5ETV says:

    Hi Howard
    Got my pro plus yesterday.What a great dongle. I have two other dongles and the new one is great. No more upconverters or filters.
    Great Job
    Gary

    • admin says:

      Hello Gary

      thank you very much! Yes, the FCD+ is quite an upgrade to the original FCD I think, both in terms of features and performance.

      Many thanks, Howard

  25. Pete N8PR says:

    I received my new Pro+ and and delighted with it. One perplexing question…

    I want to monitor the 160 meter band 1800 to 1850 KHz using special receive antennas. What frequencies do you recommend I enter in FCHid2001 and SDRSharp (freq) and (center) for best results? I seem to be getting BC birdies when I use a low freq in FCHid2001. Thanks for any suggestions. 73

    • admin says:

      Hello Pete.

      Thanks for your note. I am going to show my ignorance here, what are “BC” birdies?

      In answer to your question, typically I would suggest with a direct conversion SDR using analogue quadrature mixers (such as the FCD+), that you should avoid the centre frequency. However, for most purposes the phase noise of the FCD+ is low enough, particularly on HF when compared with ambient noise, in conjunction with the I/Q and DC correction capabilities of SDR Sharp that you can be safe to set the LO of the FCD+ (that’s the FCHID2 program) to 1825kHz. (If you are lucky enough to live in an area with negligible ambient noise on HF, and are seeing a continuous peak in the centre, then it will be worth offseting to one side or the other, setting the LO to say 1770 or 1830. I am jealous if you can!)

      You may like to try some of the later builds of SDRSharp that pretty much mean you don’t need the FCHID2 program as the LO setting is done within the SDRSharp UI.

      Many thanks, Howard

  26. John Wiggins says:

    Hi Howard
    Great piece of kit! Up and running with SDR Sharp and HDSDR, decoding JT65-HF on amateur bands.
    I have tried to get SDR Console to work, but when I click on ‘connect’ it comes back with “Device not found”. The drop down box Radio: says -None-.
    I can tune the dongle, I set it to 7076Khz and could hear and decode JT65-HF, but the waterfall does not display.
    Hope someone who knows about computers/SDR Console can point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance for any replies.
    Regards
    John Wiggins

    • admin says:

      Hello John

      I suspect that SDR console is not yet set up to be compatible with the FCD+: you can use FCHID2 to control the frequency and use it as a soundcard SDR or try something like SDRSharp that now integrate support.

      Many thanks, Howard

  27. saud alali says:

    hi mr.howard ,,
    first of all thanks for every things .. yesterday i have received my FCD+ and it came fast to kuwait. and im happy with dealing with you.
    i have test it the FCD+ with my laptop and it work great with a small wire and i will made an antenna or buy one if i can. i have only one problem if i plug the power supply in the laptop it became noisey ( i mean their is a distortion ) and if i removed the power supply or turn it off the distortion disappeare .. i have searched the net but ididnt find any things help me .. are their some things can i make it or buy a small device for killing the distortion. i am a radio listen ( AM and SW stations ) which is the best or a good antenna to fix on FCD+ is it dipole or long wire ( i have saw many sites how to make an antenna ) or i buy ready antenna . and i saw these kits or devices active antenna to strong the reciveing can i use it with the FCD+ or not.

    thanks in advance .. and god save you
    saud alali

    • admin says:

      Hello Saud

      Typically I would try a simple long wire outside to begin with.

      I think we’ve already discussed the power supply problem that you have in another post.

      Many thanks, Howard

  28. LightCoder says:

    Hello to all!
    Hello to Howard,

    i’m wondering about the exact gain values of LNA and Mixer.
    My course measurement shows LNA ~ +10 dB and Mixer ~ +20 dB. Somebody has exact values?
    What gain does the extra LNA after the 32 MHz HPF have? This one is not switchable, i read in another post. The switchable LNA is inside the Tuner chip. Which tuner is used?

    Besides the gain values .. i’m receiving a very huge DC of ~ 0.0029. Other have similar DC values?
    Is or will there be a way to fix the DC in firmware?

    In the sources of FCHid2002 i saw, that the IF filter is switchable in steps up to 8MHz. Does any value other than 200 kHz make any sense for the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ ?

    Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas!
    LC

    • admin says:

      Hello LC

      The gains are a bit dependent on the frequency band in operation but your measurements are about right.

      The LNA used above 32MHz has a gain of about 22dB or so, but please bear in mind that this is attenuated by the filters, and then subsequently attenuators are used in a effort to equalise gains to about the same levels.

      There is no DC offset adjustment offered at present in the firmware API: typically it’s done more easily corrected for in the host software. I am not sure what units you are measuring the DC offset in? “Huge” is a relative thing.

      Many thanks, Howard

      • LightCoder says:

        Hi Howard,
        the DC is over 60 dB above the noise level, when Bias T off, LNA on, Mixer gain off and IF gain 0.
        Just renewed my measurement with an audio editor at low noise without any signals visible:
        Left offset: 0.0029593
        Right offset: 0.0029804
        both relative to +/- 1.0
        kind regards,
        LC

        • admin says:

          Hello LC

          That is not at all uncommon, and I’d definitely not call it huge: in component tolerance terms it’s tiny! Software like SDR Sharp will nicely null that out for you automatically, that’s exactly why the software has that feature.

          Many thanks, Howard

          • LightCoder says:

            Hi Howard,
            it’s interesting to have a look at the same thing from different view points. Primarily working on software, i’d never have thought on component tolerances ..
            Now having an FCD Pro+, we’ll implement automatically nulling out the DC in HDSDR, too.
            best regards,
            LC

  29. saud alali says:

    hi mr.howard

    this is a second comment i send because maybe their are a problem .. i dont see my post. and thank for every thinks .. and i have recived the FCD+ and it work fine.
    i have a samll problem i work with notebook when i plug the power supply it become noisey and distortion in ( sdr sharp ) but when i remove the power supply and work with battery all goes fine. i searched in the net but i didnt find any clue … my question is are their any mothed to solve this problem ? and my second quesyion is what kind of antenna i can use .. and can i use active antenna with FCD+ .

    thanks in advance.

    • admin says:

      Hello Saud

      I have seen a similar thing with other radios when used with certain switch mode power supplies. Typically this can be corrected by using an outside antenna. The problem is that particularly switch mode power supplies emit RF which causes interference. Some switch mode supplies are better behaved than others.

      Many thanks, Howard

  30. Serge Szpilfogel says:

    Merry Xmas to all.
    Can anyone tell me if the FCD pro + works with HDSDR software VERSION 1.5. Version V.2 appears to be to large for my laptop

    • LightCoder says:

      Hi Serge,
      don’t know to which version you refer? Version 1.5 did never exist!
      However, the FCD Pro+ works fine with most recent version 2.51 and Mike Willis’ ExtIO DLL.
      If you feel it’s “too large” for your laptop contact me directly via eMail LC@hdsdr.de together with CPU, RAM, OS-version, ..
      kind regards,
      LC

      • serge szpilfogel says:

        Thank you my friend i will get in touch as soon as my grandchildren are gone HI!!!
        Your help will be very much appreciated.Computers & SDR radios are not my forte
        Best regards & Merry Xmas
        Serge

      • serge szpilfogel says:

        Sorry to bother you again LC. I keep on posting questions but no one respond beside you hi !
        Where can i find Mike Willis EXtIO.dll?
        Do i copy this file to the HDSDR directory & remove what ever ExtIO.dll i have at the present time which i used with the old FCD?? Thank you AGAIN
        Serge/VE1KG

        • LightCoder says:

          Hi Serge,
          i just see / recognize your last post .. and i don’t understand why i didn’t receive your mails!
          But it looks you already posted your question to the funcube yahoo-group and the problem is already solved 🙂
          kind regards,
          LC

          • admin says:

            Folks

            I finally added a link to EXTIO.dll in the original post.

            Apologies for the delay in responding.

            Many thanks, Howard

      • Rein Smit says:

        HI LC,
        I have been using HDSDR with sdr stuff and like it very much.
        Now, however I experience a serious problem.
        Had a FCD Pro running here with an older version of HDSDR.
        Today I updated to 2.51 and found the dll,s as listed on the HDSDR home page for FCD’s ( PRO and PRO PLUS ).
        I can not select the correct dll for my FCD PRO ) while HDSR informs me that a dll ( EXTIO-DLL ) is not active and of course
        I can not talk and tune the FCD PRO.
        It appears from here that HDSDR is hard wired to load an
        EXTIO…??. Error message ” EXTIO-DLL not active” )

        I use XP SP3, the dongle is working fine with SDR# but I prefer
        HDSDR.
        Perhaps you can send me the needed files to run HDSDR with
        my FCD Pro as well with a PRO PLus ( on the list to buy )

        Regards ,

        Rein Smit W6SZ

        • admin says:

          Hi Rein

          I’ve added a link in the downloads section for the FCD+. This will take you to the FCDProPlus Yahoo group where the appropriate file is currently hosted.

          Many thanks, Howard

  31. dutchfish says:

    Thanks Howard,

    I received the FCD pro+ some weeks ago in good order.

    I am facing now the problem of making it work under gnuradio (Debian Gnu Linux wheezy), which i prefer as best/most flexable software.

    Is there any info how to implement patches for the FCD pro+ in gnu-radio?

    P.S. I got QThid working from latest git repos. Just a strange error on dmesg output:
    11:1:1: cannot get freq at ep 0×81 (as mentioned before by others on this page)

    Many thanks

    • admin says:

      Hi Dutchfish.

      gnu-radio is really my forte I’m afraid: I would recommend posting on the FCDProPlus Yahoo group where you’ll find indviduals with far greater experience, particularly under Linux.

      Many thanks, Howard

  32. Hi there,

    Have a Funcube Dongle Pro (NOT the + version!!) v1.1 (it says in the sticker on de FCD)
    SN: 0003021

    How to update the firmware??
    I never updated it, don’t even know HOW to check which FW it has now.

    I checked for hours on Google and I find it very confusing, as I cannot find any reference anymore to the update files for the FCD Pro, only for the FCD Pro+…….

    Can anyone direct me to the link that points to the FW update utility/data specific for the FCD Pro please?

    Then another question:
    Can I update my FCD Pro to a FCD Pro + ??
    (I guess it’s not possible with a FW update,, but I read something about sending in my FCD and have it updated/exchanged?

    Thanks for helping me out.

    Best regards!!

    Robert / PA3BKL

    • admin says:

      Hello Robert

      Sorry, in answer to your question about upgrading to the FCD Pro+, it is a completely different hardware design, so there is no upgrade path I am afraid.

      Many thanks, Howard

  33. Ali Mancar says:

    Hi all,

    I want to use FCDP+ to measure the amplitude of signals on my own code. I searched the source code of FCHid2002 program, I handled the setting/getting frequency, gains etc. However, there is no predefined command for reading the measurements of FCDP+. Also I searched on SDR# source code, but it is too complicated.

    Could you help me with this how to read buffer of FCDP+?

    Thanks to all

    • admin says:

      Hello Ali.

      FCHid doesn’t perform any signal processing, it’s just there to set the various device parameters in particular the centre frequency.

      The FCD is the hardware adapter for a software-defined radio, its function is to downconvert a raw portion of spectrum that is streamed as a stereo audio stream. The audio stream represents the quadrature I/Q signals. It’s the responsibility of the host software to process that raw stream, often with a further frequency conversion, some filtering and demodulation.

      As software goes, SDR# is probably the clearest implementation I’ve seen, but you will need to understand the DSP SDR concepts to some degree for it to make any sense. typically many of these concepts are similar to performing the same thing in traditional hardware, such as downconversion, filtering and demodulation. Perhaps the main difference comes in the use a quadrature signal.

      Many thanks, Howard

  34. Philip says:

    Hi,I cannot update my new Pro + dongle when folloing the directions given on your site.When I reach the stage to running the FCDHID2.001 I notice that the “Write Firmware and the Verify firmware” tabs are greyed out,and when I click on the “open File” tab to find the Bin file,it instead opens into my “documents Folders..Why or what am I doing wrong please?
    I use windows XP home edition.

    • admin says:

      Hello Philip

      You will need to navigate to the folder where you downloaded the .bin file.

      If your FCD+ is after about serial number 10250, you shouldn’t need to update the firmware, there is no new firmware.

      Many thanks, Howard

    • admin says:

      Hello Philip

      I am not sure what has happened but some of my responses appear to be missing, so I’ll try again.

      You need to navigate to the folder where the downloaded .bin file is.

      There should be no need to update firmware on devices with serial numbers over about 11250, they’re already up to the latest version.

      Many thanks, Howard

  35. David says:

    Hello Howard, I have a big problem here as my dongle seems to me to be dead.
    Its the PRO+ V2 SERIAL 0010035
    I have tried to reboot but it wont let me as its not reading anything
    Can I send this you to check out and repair as i have been using it for the Noaa sats with great pics but some reason died on me.
    Regards G0CTP/David

    • admin says:

      Hello David

      Sorry that you are encountering difficulties with your FCD.

      I’ve sent you a response via email with the return address.

      Many thanks, Howard

  36. Richard says:

    Feeling really stupid and ignorant here, but is have some issues.
    I am trying to get an sound from the FCD Pro+ for a week now, but nothing.
    I updated the FCD using my Vista Box, (finally, because that is a real puzzle too since the filenames in the help file are completely different than on the download page).

    I run a Mac on ML, and a PC on Vista. Both machines ‘sees’ the FCD. I tried half a dozen programs, but i am unable to get any response from the FCD. No Audio, No nothing, except the update is running smoothly. I can set a qrg in control v2002, but thats it. I am sure i am ignorant here but is there a no-fail manual how to get something to work with OSX or Vista?

    Richard

  37. Mapper says:

    Hello!
    First of all, thank you, Howard for fast delivery and excellent service! It took three or four days to deliver fcd+ to Moscow!
    I successfully tested dongle with suggested software in windows environment. My question is , what is your recommendation for use with MacBook Pro? I saw your previous reply to use windows sdr together with VMware. Is there sdr dedicated for macos x?
    Thank you and good luck!
    Igor

    • admin says:

      Hello Igor.

      The selection of software for native OSX is not as wide as that for Windows.

      I am aware that SdrDx and DSP Radio work, both in conjunction with QTHID 4.1. I would imaging that GNU Radio/gqrx does too but I have not tried that configuration. As far as I am aware (although I stand to be corrected) there is yet to be as clean a solution as, for example SDR Sharp, SDR Radio V2 or HDSDR for Windows.

      Many thanks, Howard

  38. Jaap de Goede says:

    Hello Howard,

    I just got the FCDPro+. Using SDRSharp I can tune into a signal with a known frequency and adjust the exact frequency by changing the ppm value. Now when I tune away from that station and later come back I have to readjust ppm again.

    Also the Dongle gets warm (30 celcius) during use.

    Are these phenomena as designed?

    Cheers, Jaap

    • Jaap de Goede says:

      Just forgot to mark QI swap.

      Sorry to bother for that.

      Cheers,

      Jaap

    • admin says:

      Hello Jaap.

      You should not need to keep re-adjusting the ppm value, in fact I recommend starting at zero and you might later want to set it to 1 or 2.

      Can you give me examples of the frequencies and type of signals you’re using?

      Many thanks, Howard

  39. saud alali says:

    dear mr.howard

    im searching for a comercial sdr software for my funcube pro+ .. i kow their is a free softwares like you mention above and the last one is not finish in preview stage.
    are their softwares compatible with funcube pro+ ? like studio1 not available now or flex software .. and so on. i mean i want real software or like pro software with nice interface and friendly use .

    hope to hear from you soon .. thanks
    saud alali

  40. admin says:

    Hello Saud.

    I believe that Studio1 does work as it is compatible with soundcard SDRs (which the FCD and FCD+ are) and the ExtIO dll standard. During testing, I use Spectravue and SDRSharp predominantly.

    Personally speaking, I find the SDRSharp interface to be fine for my uses, I am not sure what additional functionality you’re after.

    Many thanks, Howard

  41. Chuck Ritola says:

    Hi Howard,

    Just in case there isn’t one, I’ve built a standalone ubuntu .DEB package of DL1KSV’s Funcube Dongle Pro+ GNU Radio Companion block. It is a 64bit x86 binary and, as far as I’ve tested will install on Ubuntu 12.04 (and maybe others) without compiling anything.

    http://chuckritola.blogspot.com/2013/04/ubuntu-deb-package-for-funcube-dongle.html

    • admin says:

      Hello Chuck

      Great stuff! I did manage to compile it by following the instructions, but a pre-built version I am sure will soften the GnuRadio and GRC learning curve.

      Many thanks, Howard

  42. FCHID2 FCD+ Frequency Control Program v2.002 bug.

    If I set the IF gain to a non zero value it soon shows a zero again when I change other settings. I think it remains as set in the dongle itself but in the software it shows incorrectly as zero.

  43. Bill Jenkins says:

    I just got my Funcube Pro+…and it works great on my XP laptop (using SDR#.) However, when I try to put it on my Windows 8 desktop, all of the drivers appear to install fine, but I don’t get anything out of SDR#…no sound and nothing in the waterfall. SDR# detects it and lets me select it, but nothing happens. The Control program detects that it’s plugged in, and it’s shown as a Line device on the Recording devices page. Am I doing something wrong or is it something wrong with Windows 8? I’ve used RTL devices and Zadig, but certainly avoided installing the WinUSB drivers for the Funcube. I was able to update the firmware with no problem. I’ve tried uninstalling and reinstalling it half a dozen times. What else can I try? Thank you for your time and your excellent product!

    • admin says:

      Hi Bill

      Sorry you’re having difficulties. Have you checked the Windows debugging document? http://www.funcubedongle.com/MyImages/FCD2Win7Check.pdf Although it discusses Windows 7, the same applies to Windows 8.

      The key is that the FCD+ must appear as both a HID device and an audio device in Windows’ device manager. If it’s not there or appears as something else, in particular as a WinUSB, LibUSB or LibUSBK device then Zadig has overwritten Windows’ default drivers and taken over the FCD’s operation with its own drivers. The FCD and FCD+ were designed to work with the native Windows drivers out of the box, without the need for any jiggery pokery from Zadig. As Zadig doesn’t supply a way to undo its work, it’s left to the end user to undo it, and it can be pretty fiddly and very time consuming – I spent half a day dialled into someone’s machine a few weeks ago to remove Zadig’s nastiness!

      Many thanks, Howard

  44. Herbert Ehrsam / HB9VCO says:

    When I insert the dongle, I see FUNcube Dongle V2.0, after I execute FunCube “FCHID2.002, and [switch to bootloader], I have a message :
    HIDOpen of Vid_04d8&Pid_fb31 returns 0
    Error, FCD not found: is FCD correctly installed?
    and I [exit]. I can see now, it change automaticaly : FUNcube Dongle V0.0BL
    What’s happen ???

    I have search the “tchnical support” for the problem and I have nothing fund. Perhaps this message will be read !!
    Best Regards

    • admin says:

      Hello Herbert.

      You have switched the FCD+ to bootloader mode. This allows newer firmware to be installed: if your FCD+ is after serial number 10200 or so, then there is no later firmware.

      To switch back to “normal” mode, simply remove and re-insert it.

      Many thanks, Howard

  45. LightCoder says:

    Hi Howard,

    would you also add a link to the new FCD pro+ ExtIO available at http://hdsdr.de/hardware.html

    This ExtIO has following features:
    * RF slider on main screen, combining LNA and Mixer gain
    * IF gain slider on main screen
    * switchable bias T
    * automatic bias T depending on frequency range
    * frequency converter option depending on bias T state

    kind regards,
    LC

  46. jm says:

    Hi Howard,

    I am a lucky owner of a FCD pro +. Congratulations!, nice work.

    The thing is that I have an annoying problem with my unit. Every 40 khz (more or less) there is a “spur” a peak of signal, with noise that blinds any signal behind the spur.

    Is only a problem of my set? Can I do something for fixing it?

    Thank you very much.

    J.M.

    • admin says:

      Hello JM.

      There should not be a spur. Can you confirm whether this is there without anything connected to the antenna port?

      If it is still there without the antenna, it may be coming from the host’s USB port, in which case I would recommend trying it on a different host just to see if it is due to emissions form the host. I also recommend doing this test without any extension USB cable, it is sometimes the case that some USB cables are not properly matched or screened.

      If the problem still persists, I am of course happy to offer a replacement.

      Many thanks, Howard

  47. Earl Bennett, KD2CYA says:

    Hello, Howard: Still in crashed mode trying to get the dongle to work. At present I have tried redowloading, and re unzipping, the firmware ( both 2002 and 2001). Now the 2002.exe does not go to the bootloader. I suspect I have dinged something in Xp but don,t know how or what.

    The Dongle was initially installed at the end of a cable (~6′) and, since that did not work, I have moved it directly to the Compaq computer I am using.

    Same question as before: where do I check in to troubleshoot unit? I have looked at some of the site correspondence, and the FAQs, but did not see anything relateing to revision to version 00.01. Would loading Sharp do any good?

    Earl, KD2CYA.

  48. jm says:

    Hi Howard,

    Thank you very much for your patient and explanations.

    The problem was a defective Usb cable. I replaced it and the receiver works fine.

    Congratulations again. It’s a surprise that such a small receiver has this kind of performance.

    Regards,

    J.M.

  49. Earl Bennett, KD2CYA says:

    Hello, Howard: More information! I have been able to get the system to acknowledge that the Dongle is in place and walked thru the install menu to a point The left side of the Dongle and bootloader window now shows up with a listing ofinformation that includes USB VID/PID Found, HID Query returns 1, Query message FCD 2, and the wonderful ” FCD in bootloader mode”. Many other interesting reports.

    However: on the right two important buttons are not highlighted: the write firmware and verify firmware. I am following the Updating the Funcube Dongle+ instruction set as the Funcube Dongle+ instruction Manual version of putting the device to work does not seem applicable: when first installed the Dongle was not recognized by Windows and so I have tried to manually get it going.

    Added note: I bought an earlier device, from Elector, at a fest last year from an estate sale but have not found interface software for this device on that site (it seemed to be off line when I checked last year). I’ll try a scanner for Funcube reception in the meantime.

    Earl, KD2CYA.

    • admin says:

      Hello Earl

      I’m a bit confused: is this an FCD Pro or FCD Pro Plus? If the serial number is over 10,000 then it’s a Pro Plus.

      For the Write or Verify firmware buttons to be enabled, you must first open a firmware file that you can download. (For the FCD+ it is here: http://www.funcubedongle.com/MyImages/FCD2.20.03.pro.bin)

      There is troubleshooting information for the FCD+ here: http://www.funcubedongle.com/MyImages/FCD2Win7Check.pdf

      Can you confirm whether or not you have used Zadig?

      Many thanks, Howard

      • Earl Bennett, KD2CYA says:

        Hello, Howard: I have the FCD Pro+ with a serial number of over 14,000.
        As for Zadig: I have read the comments on it and have not heard of it till I began researching the device (Dongle Pro+) and so have been leary of it immediately.
        I will try the update material you have made available and check the other resource later. Thank you for the help!

        Earl, KD2CYA

    • Earl Bennett, KD2CYA says:

      Hello, Howard: I have the FCD Pro+ with a serial number of over 14,000.
      As for Zadig: I have read the comments on it and have not heard of it till I began researching the device (Dongle Pro+) and so have been leary of it immediately.
      I will try the update material you have made available and check the other resource later. Thank you for the help!
      Added note: The file I attempted to download appeared to be opened when I clicked on it. After several attempts I thought that I may be missing something about a .bin file. I will check the other site and see what might be helpful there.
      Earl, KD2CYA

  50. Mark Cady says:

    Hi Howard,
    I just received my Funcube Pro + (s/n 14162) and it works great with SDR# on Win7. Not so on my Win XP laptop. Your FCHID2 program appears to be working with it on Win XP. I had previously used Zadig with a NooElec device and reading above comments this may cause a problem. The Funcube is recognized under HID as a USB HID device. It is also recognized under USB Controllers as a USB Composite Device. I think it should be a soundcard device but I don’t know how to fix that. Do you have any suggestions?
    Thanks & 73s
    Mark Cady (N0REO)

    • admin says:

      Mark

      Yes it must be shown as a sound card, that is how the FCD+ is meant to work. It sounds like the infamous Zadig has taken over the default Windows driver for the FCD+. Typically a user would have had to make Zadig do this at some point specifically for the FCD+. You must uninstall what Zadig has done, however that is easier said than done as Zadig does not offer an uninstall facility once it’s done its business, so you will need to do it manually. Worse, if it’s been applied several times you’ll need to uninstall its doings that many times. There are some notes on this here: http://www.funcubedongle.com/?p=1425

      Many thanks, Howard

  51. Earl Bennett, KD2CYA says:

    Hello again Howard: I looked at the other help form, the pdf, but it was for Windows 7. Even though I am using XP I tried following the instructions. The Compaq did not recognize the Dongle when I checked the register for it. Instead of going to the device manager (.msc) when I attempted to check for the Dongle I kept getting something that ended in .cpl . This did not go away until I restarted the computer.

    Should I go to the Yahoo Groups to track the problem down? I may have a corrupted XP and don,t know it.

    Earl, KD2CYA

  52. Earl Bennett, KD2CYA says:

    Hello, Howard
    ; I had to be away for several days ( listening to she whose home I live in) and have just begun reading some of the previous commends and recommendations. I am a bit confused about some of them: If I read one exchange correctly I do not need to update the Funcube Dongle firmware. In another it looks like it was necessary to download the .bin file ( using a “save as operation”) to get the part running properly. Some exchanges make me wonder if I need C++ installed! I have a few evenings where I can dig for solutions.

    All for now, Earl, KD2CYA.

  53. Earl Bennett, KD2CYA says:

    Howard: Still struggling with unit. When I try to start the2001.exe software I get a choice of which kind of downloads I want to open. I choose the **, wildcard option and see the 2001.exe listed in the downloads. However: when I examine it by placing the mouse icon over it I see contents 0 bytes of the downloaded file.??. On attempting to open this I see file opened and file read on the left side of the screen. On the right is open file and exit. all other buttons are inactive. When I did the download the file said it was compressed and I opened it with ZipGenius. The opened file is supposed to be ~ 367K bytes.

    Also: you mentioned in your update instructions that the software fails to Bootloader mode to prevent bricking the dongle. What is that? Also: during my attempt to start the 2001.exe I notice the Bootloader button stops being depressed ( does not go grey however). The dongle is in place at this time. What is happening?

    Earl, KD2CYA.

  54. Earl Bennett, KD2CYA says:

    Hello, Howard: I tried a different experiment today, Sunday, to see if the device is recognized as attached to the computer. In several searches, in my computer and hardware listings, the device did not appear ( including checking the audio devices for a “microphone”). I then tried adding new hardware, and again, there was no indication that the device existed when the install wizard attempted to find and install it. I have asked a friend if my problem with the unit is “interesting” and will get back to you on his findings. Am monitoring the Funcube frequencies with a scanner and simple antenna, but, am picking up static of some sort that pauses the sweep.

    All for now, Earl, KD2CYA.

  55. Earl Bennett, KD2CYA says:

    Hello, Howard: I enlisted the help of a friend of mine, Bill, who examined the dongle the machine I use, and, the software. It turns out that the dongle could be recognized by my machine still, but, I was looking in the wrong place for its location. Then there was the matter of the .exe and .bin files that I did not understand. I had even been told don,t mess with .bin files by a well meaning friend. Bill was able to open the .bin files on his machine and set frequency etc.. There was no apparent output at this point although the part was being acessed. The next step was downloading Sharp and installing that package on his better machine ( Bill upgrades and builds systems for people) and we had pretty pictures but no audio in any of the output decodes selected. When we did get output finally it was just noise, no detected modulation. The screen was showing an apparent signal so we where stumped. Bill went in and reset some of Sharps’ performance options and this gave more control but still no decodes. I am embarrassed to say that this was my fault: After leaving Billl called and told me why there was no signal, even from his well calibrated generator: the cable I supplied had a bad connection and nothing was reaching the radio!. He played the generator signal modulation decode over the phone for me, and, used a wire antenna to examine local stations and there sidebands. It works! Though some things that need to be explained to beginners should be posted as installation FAQs on the site ( I suspect that they exist on the Yahoo site?).

    Thank you, Howard! Earl, KD2CYA.

  56. admin says:

    Hello Earl

    If I had a penny for every broken cable I’ve scratched my head over…!

    Glad you have got it working OK and that was all it was. Also thank you for taking the time to feedback to us, that is appreciated, I’ll see if we can improve things based on your comments.

    Many thanks, Howard

  57. n0zgo says:

    This is a wonderful idea. I’m a bit envious I didn’t think of it first! Your dongle is the model of simplicity: a down-converted chunk of spectrum feeds into the PC as a USB audio input function, and a HID function controls the frequency, etc.

    Just got mine today and will be wiring it up soon.

    73

  58. Enzo says:

    pLEASE ANYBODY CAN TELL ME WHERE CAN I FIND A STREP BY STEP WORKIONG TUTORIAL TO USE THE fcedp+

  59. Enzo says:

    Please anybody can tell me where can i find a working tutorial and programs to use the FCDPP under Linux’
    Thanks

  60. Bob Zinn says:

    Having problems since I upgraded from win7 to win10, my FUNcube Pro+ now gives no signals anywhere. It worked briefly and then stopped. I even bought a new one, thinking the old one had died but no joy. Testing on an older laptop, under win7 shows both funcubes work.
    The SDR program thinks the cube is connected and as far as the ‘FCD2Win7Check.pdf’ goes, it the units seem fine. Just no signals anywhere.
    The ‘if all else fails’ write up seems to be missing so I have no idea what to do next.
    73 de N5BZ k

  61. Bob Zinn says:

    S till no response. Someone please help me. I can’t get my FCD to work on this win10 machine!