FUNcube dongle

I grabbed one of these a few days ago, in part because there are a couple of dashboards for the telemetry of a couple of cubesats, but also because of the RF range vs the cheap SDR dongles I already had (SDRPlay RSP2pro excepted, not cheap and very useful, but also, not a dongle!).

I failed to get anything off of AO-73 on a good pass via waving the Arrow II at the window - almost got it, just insufficient waving / pointing vs the window blinds, wall, shelves...!

But the dongle sometimes dies. I read that this can be because of the USB post so I need to work on that - I have a powered USB hub to try. Anyway, another toy. Maybe it's time to invest in a reasonable laptop (the MacBook is getting old now and being a 15" model is a tad unwieldy) and go outdoors.

Update: a powered hub seems to have cured the lock-up as I had the AO-73 telemetry dashboard running from mid-day on 30th to mid-morning on the 31st. It also stands the dongle up rather than it drooping in the socket when horizontal. No luck with AO-73 telemetry though...