[amsat-bb] Error accessing FunCube Pro from FoxTelem

[Chris Thompson]

A couple of people sent out the git repo URL.  If you have time to look at
this, that would be great.  It's not an area where I am a deep expert.  The
FCD has two USB interfaces, as noted.  The Soundcard interface uses
standard Audio IO APIs and works fine. USB access is transparent and you
don't need to worry about it.  But the HID interface has been difficult.
It was a great idea to not need any libraries, but the flip side issue is
that every platform has its own libraries.  Writing a single application
that works on the PI (ARM), Linux (x86), Mac, Windows has been difficult in
this area.  The HID approach is great for the end user, difficult for the
developer.

I've used three different libraries so far.  I started with direct Java
wrapping of the C libraries. It worked to a degree in Windows, but I
struggled on other platforms.  I moved to the PureJavaHID library and that
worked across platforms.  But it holds the connection so only one program
could connect to the device.  It did not play well with the Funcube
Dashboard for example.  And it had issues where commands would not be
sent.  I'm now using usb4Java which wraps LibUSB.  I understand you can
talk HID through LibUSB, which is just a lower level library. But I could
be wrong.  I leveraged code that Denis Sheirer wrote for SDRTRunk.  But
that also has strange difficult to track down issues, as we can see.

So I am open to a better way to do this that works on all the platforms
people are using.  Any help is really appreciated.

73
Chris


On Wed, Jan 29, 2020 at 12:13 PM Joseph Armbruster via AMSAT-BB <
amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:

> Stephen,
>
> If someone shoots me a link to the foxtelem code, I'll gladly help debug
> it.  I have a Funcube dongle Pro here I can use.
>
> Joseph Armbruster
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 29, 2020 at 7:30 AM Stephen E. Belter <seb at wintek.com> wrote:
>
> > Joe,
> >
> > I believe the FUNcube dongle uses *two* virtual USB interfaces over the
> > single physical USB port.  The IQ stream looks like a standard sound card
> > and is one of the virtual USB interfaces.
> >
> > The control functions like frequency, preamp gain, etc., use the standard
> > HID (Human Interface Device) interface, USB-HID.
> >
> > Jim's problem is unusual, but I have the same problem with FoxTelem on my
> > Windows 10 machines.  I haven't discovered a solution, yet.
> >
> > 73, Steve N9IP
> > --
> > Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com
> >
> >
> > On 1/28/20, 10:00 PM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Joseph Armbruster via
> > AMSAT-BB" <amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org on behalf of amsat-bb at amsat.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> >     Lib USB!? I thought Howard told me at the symposium (circa 2008) that
> > they
> >     were using usb-hid ?!?!?
> >
> >     Howard...?  Or was that on the hardware-side?
> >
> >     Joseph Armbruster
> >     KJ4JIO
> >
> >     On Tue, Jan 28, 2020 at 9:27 PM James Jipping via AMSAT-BB <
> >     amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
> >
> >     > Good Evening!
> >     > While attempting to use my FunCube Pro directly from FoxTelem I get
> > an
> >     > error:
> >     > LIBUSB_ERROR_NOT_FOUND.   An internet search has found mentions of
> > the
> >     > error but no solutions for my situation.  I am using Windows 10 for
> > the
> >     > OS on my comupter.   Any thoughts or suggestions ??
> >     >
> >     > By the way, I use SDRConsole and feed the audio via VB_Audio
> Virtual
> >     > Cable with GREAT results.  I even have RSDConsole with WispDDE
> > running
> >     > the antenna rotor controller.  I thought I would try the direct
> feed
> >     > FoxTelem- to-FunCube before I set up My Raspberry Pi for
> > "Fox-in-a-Box"
> >     >
> >     > One last question, while I'm here:  Is there any way FoxTelem
> without
> >     > SDRConsol, with a DDE program , could run the rotor controller?
> >     >
> >     > Thank you for you help.
> >     >
> >     > Jim Jipping, W8MRR
> >     > AMSAT # 5512
> >     > _______________________________________________
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> >     _______________________________________________
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> >
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
> AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
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>


-- 
Chris E. Thompson
chrisethompson at gmail.com
g0kla at arrl.net