Since starting out on EME I have always made extensive use of a number of excellent web-based tools to help identify station activity, in particular to show who was calling CQ and on what frequency.
Not only do these websites identify activity but they also provide an indication of what effect Faraday is having on the received signals.
I’d read a lot about MAP65 and decided that it could offer a number of benefits, i.e.
Identify the stations my small system could actually decode each period.
Show what my “locals” were working and where they were operating.
The introduction of the new FUNcube Dongle Pro+ with its improved front-end and filtering has provided an excellent device to implement a reasonably priced SDR solution that supports both Linrad and MAP65.
I have found MAP65 to be a very useful addition to my EME station. On several occasions now I have decoded traces of QSOs taking place when there’s been no obvious indication of this activity on any of the usual websites. It is also very interesting to compare MAP65 with WSJT7 / 9 when decoding the same QSO. I’m gathering screen grabs and will publish some examples later.
The following schematic shows how the FUNcube Dongle, Linrad and MAP65 have been integrated into my station.