HackRF One arrived yesterday

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mancow

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Specs say 10-6000 MHz and 20 MHz bandwidth but I was able to receive clear down to the bottom of the AM broadcast band at 580 kHz with reduced sensitivity. It works great with SDR# and displays the full 20 MHz of spectrum. It's amazing seeing the entire VHF air band or the whole 30-50 MHz lowband range at once.

I just wish SDR# had a transmit feature. It would be wild to be able to record an IQ session then play it back as a mirror image of what just happened.


20140809_163516_zps5d00b017.jpg
 

sdu219

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I am hopping to get mine soon as well. I purchased one at the Dayton Hamvention from TAPR who was selling them next to Great Scott's booth. I am not to sure if I will get it though, TAPR has been kind of sketchy on info(maybe not their fault) when I have sent them e-mails. I will have to see. If I dont get it by the end of the month I will source it someplace else.
 

mancow

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Yea it sucks GNU is Linux based. I detest Linux. It's like having to learn DOS all over again. I get why it's popular but wading though the thousands of different versions and releases is tedious and flat out frustrating to me. But, I guess there is no other recourse if you want true functionality.
 

KC1UA

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Mancow, was this a Kickstarter award or one you ordered after that campaign ended? I ordered one from NooElec a few months ago.

How is it with regards to mirroring and false imaging? This has been a considerable issue with me and the bladeRF in certain areas of the spectrum.

Thanks.
 

mancow

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It was a kickstarter reward (the $275 level reward). I got an email saying they were preparing shipment so I hurried and placed a separate order for an upconverter and some other parts. They would allow you to add on other items like that and have them shipped along with the kickstarter reward all at once which was nice but I wanted those first so I could get them built up in advance. The strange thing was that although the extra stuff was sent Priority Mail they never updated and never started moving. The actual device was sent by first class and got here Friday but the 2 day Priority stuff ordered ahead of time still hasn't arrived.

As for the performance it seems great so far. I don't see mirrors of signals like I did with the dongles unless they are super strong. We have a Vhf pager tower near here that blasts everything and the hack does freak out and show streaks when it hits but that thing overpowers regular radios so I will give it a pass on that one.

I don't see the mirrors of moron CB operators' signals like I would see with the dongles when listening down in the 10 meter range.

The stability is very nice. It's right on frequency and I don't have to calibrate each time I use it.

The device is made very well with a very nice case and indicators, solid SMA connections, rubber feet, nice telescopic SMA antenna etc...



I really haven't had much time to use it so I will have more answers for you as time goes on. I have been at work 14 hrs a day since it arrived so time has been a premium but I'm trying to get as much playing in as possible.
 

kermit_t_f

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Great news, I'm really excited to hear more from this great device! Maybe I'll pull the trigger next month, but I'm watching for reviews of the other upcoming SDR's as well.
Thanks for you first impressions!
 

KC1UA

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Thanks for the info. It appears delivery dates for "normal" purchases will be starting at the end of August. Does this involve loading FPGA files, flashing firmware, command line interface and the like prior to running SDR#? Just curious as to the simplicity or difficulty of getting it up and running. I'm not worried about the latter as I already deal with that with the bladeRF; just curious as to the approach in this case.

I'm encouraged by your mirroring/images comments, knowing full well the limitations of such devices and their relatively wide open front ends.
 

mancow

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Nothing of the sort, it's literally plug and play. I took it out of the box, plugged it in a usb port, opened sdr#, hit play and done.

I have noticed a few images here and there as I've played more but nothing that concerns me. If you are surrounded by super strong signals this probably won't be for you because like a dongle it will freak out with heavy streaks but the only time I encounter that is when the 158.1 pager is in window view.

I spent some time yesterday with the scan plug in running with it set to 118-138. It auto peak tuned to any active signal in view amazingly well. It turned searching the air band from a process of hearing signals as you move along the band with a normal radio into a steady stream of non stop traffic. The same can be accomplished with a dongle but having the entire range in view at once was a distinct advantage. It was an amazing experience.

Another neat observation is that with 20 MHz of spectrum you can see the resonant areas of an antenna as lighter areas. It's the ability to look at an antenna and see how it performs instantly.

The amplifier options are nice as well. There are three parameters of gain you can manipulate to achieve the best combination. So far I'm very satisfied with it.
 
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KC1UA

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I am in a relatively strong signal area but with the use of filters I've been able to deal with a lot of the problems. A few more filters, one for a nasty pager at 152.48 and another for NOAA Weather will solve the bulk of my issues.

Your report is encouraging; looking forward very much to receiving mine. Thanks for the info.
 

shortwaver

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Thanks to all of the Kickstarter contributors for help making this product a reality!
 

KC1UA

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I spent some time yesterday with the scan plug in running with it set to 118-138. It auto peak tuned to any active signal in view amazingly well.

Don't want to get off track but which plug-in are you using in SDR# to make this happen? I can't see which one features this, or I need to update one. Thanks.
 

mancow

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Don't want to get off track but which plug-in are you using in SDR# to make this happen? I can't see which one features this, or I need to update one. Thanks.

I'm away from the pc right now but I recall it was made by a Russian guy with a web site with several plugins. I think it's called frequency scanner.
 

Flatliner

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Mancow, do let us know of your ongoing experience with your HackRF. Some of us are just sitting here drooling, while we wait for ours to arrive!
 
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HackRF One

@Mancow... I too received my device with the ham it up and telescopic antenna... unfortunately, no joy in Windows or Linux (Pentoo as spelled out on Mossmann's site).
When using SDR# with Windows7, I can see the FFT but everything is "flat", no real peaks anywhere (just average static peaks) in the FM band or ISM bands - and I am near a city and have 2.4 and 5GHz in my home - nothing.
I have tried Google and just about every setting, changed drivers, changed plug-ins, re-installed and started over.
I have four of four lights when using SDR# but I cant detect any real signals... any ideas?

I'd like to know how you have your SDR# program set up so that I may emulate everything prior to reporting a non-working device.

BTW, I can hear static and minor changes in pitch... I just can't see any signal peaks or hear anything (other than static), even when directly tuning to a specific FM station - nothing.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
 

DeweyOxberger

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I got mine yesterday but I can't get it to work. All I get is a flat spectra.

I downloaded SDR#, installed it, installed the driver with zadig.
Connected the antenna to the antenna port, usb to to the PC.
Ran SDRSharp.
Set source to HackRF, Radio to NFM.
Then hit Start.
All the lights come on (except TX) on the HackRF. A flat spectra appears (there is a center peak) but nothing else. I set the freq to 89 MHz.

What did I miss?
 

Flatliner

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I see that there are three antenna connections on it. Maybe there is a connection setting somewhere to change connectors?
 
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