HackRF, 30 MHz to 6 GHz SDR

[Zoidberg]

"Up on Kickstarter, [Michael Ossmann] is launching the HackRF, an inordinately cheap, exceedingly capable software defined radio tool that’s small enough to lose in your laptop bag.

"The HackRF was the subject of a lot of interest last time it was on Hackaday - the ability to receive up to 6GHz allows the HackRF to do a lot of very interesting things, including listening in on Bluetooth, WiFi, and 4G networks. Also, the ability to transmit on these frequencies means a lot of very interesting, and quite possibly slightly evil applications are open to anyone with a HackRF. Like the RTL-SDR dongles, the HackRF works with GNU Radio out of the box, meaning all those cool SDR hacks we’ve seen so far will work with this new, more powerful board."

http://hackaday.com/2013/08/01/hackrf-or-playing-from-30-mhz-to-6-ghz/

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mossmann/hackrf-an-open-source-sdr-platform

[ChrisSmolinski]

Hmm... Interesting. But... it looks like another 8 bit A/D SDR?   I guess these design decisions are being made for cost reasons, but it really does impact performance. I asked someone far more knowledgeable than me about this, and he said "meh... nothing interesting, wideband RTL quality"

The transmit part is probably the most interesting, and the 8 bit A/D is still useful for strong signals. As described, bluetooth, Wifi, etc. Sadly probably more useful for nefarious purposes than radio hobbyist stuff.

[Pigmeat]

What about knobs? Are they aftermarket or do they come with the radio?

[corq]

I held one of these at defcon, they had a booth. I was very tempted. It does seem to be built around RF sniffing more than dxing, or for  quality time spent listening to audible signals. That said, if the hobbyist community picks it up it could gain some traction.

Pigmeat: the only knob involved will be the knob operating the software and mouse ;-)