HackRF One Purchase

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Hi all,

I have decided it is time for me to upgrade from a generic RTL-SDR device to the HackRF One. See the link.
It is compatible with Unitrunker 2.2.0.
Cheers
 

dlwtrunked

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Depending on your intent, I hope you consider all things. I do not consider the HackRF One Portapak as an upgrade to a generic RTL-SDR. While it adds nice features to decode various signals, as a basic receiver, it lacks in some ways like easy adjustment of good sensitivity and dynamic range. If you want a better SDR receiver, an Airspy (my preferred) or SDRplay is a true upgrade as a receiver. If you want to decode things the Portapak can or want a portable spectrum analyzer or analyze signals (but and expensive SignalHound is better for that), then the HackRF one is not a bad idea at all. But you may want both. I own every device in this paragraph - at least 6 HackRF One including Portapak (long story), 6 AirSpys (R2 and HF+ Discovery), various RTL-SDR types, etc. I use the HackRF one far less than the Airspys (but for some, the Portapak might be their way to go rather than needing a PC). But I do not have an answer to your acual question as I prefer/use and use DSD+ with the AirSpy R2 for trunked systerm reception. I do not not know anyone doing what you asked about as I suspect most have done similar to what I have done for trunked systems. If you go the HackRF One route, you may want to be sure you get one with the 10 MHz TCXO installed or buy and add one (cheap). There is also a new model with some improvements that also adds better protection against blowing out the front-end LNA amplifier with a strong signal (I did that once mystelf) but so far I have only seen ones of those that lack the 10 MHz reference clock input (though the case has holes for the missing connector). Note the external 10 MHz, clock input is still limited by hardware limitations of clock increment (just like the RTL-SDR device are, which many wrongly ignoring thinking calibration gets around that).
 
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Hi all

This will be an update to my first post in this thread.

I ordered my HackRF One Portapack R10 H2 R4 on March 01, 2026
from an electronics components manufacturer on Alibaba.
The build time for the unit was two weeks and then it was fully
tested before being shipped via UPS from Hong Kong on March 18th
and arrived at my door on March 25th.

The UPS shipping label shows the item description as:
P1967-SII LCD module kit.

I chose this model due to its high quality appearance, without any markings.
The total cost all in was CA$389.44
This was exactly half the price for this same unit found on Amazon.ca.

The unit powered up right away fully charged and preloaded with a recent
nightly version of the Mayhem software.
I then loaded the unit with Mayhem version 2.40 and installed the USB
driver on my PC and soon had Unitrunker 2.2 up and running.

Unit's Peripherals:
RFFC5072 Synthesizer/Mixer.
SGP10
WM8731
MAX2837 Transceiver.
Si5351C Clock generator.
USB type C connector.
Internal battery.

I have since been using the unit as intended as a stand alone device
for decoding ADS-B data and for some other snooping.

So far I am very pleased with my recent purchase.

I thank tlwtrunked for the helpful post about the HackRF.


Cheers.
 

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spongella

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Glad to hear you're happy with your purchase. I've owned a few HackRFOnes in the past. They can also transmit but at very low levels.
 
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