Category: News

April 23, 2014

HackRF Now Available for Preorder

The HackRF One, a TX/RX capable software defined radio for 10 MHz – 6 GHz is now available for preorder at certain resellers for $299USD . Micheal, the man behind the HackRF expects the Kickstarter HackRF rewards to be shipped in June. Then after shipping the HackRF reward units, the resellers will receive their units.

HackRF One from Great Scott Gadgets is a Software Defined Radio peripheral capable of transmission or reception of radio signals from 10 MHz to 6 GHz. Designed to enable test and development of modern and next generation radio technologies, HackRF One is an open source hardware platform that can be used as a USB peripheral or programmed for stand-alone operation.

10 MHz to 6 GHz operating frequency

half-duplex transceiver

up to 20 million samples per second

8-bit quadrature samples (8-bit I and 8-bit Q)

compatible with GNU Radio, SDR#, and more

software-configurable RX and TX gain and baseband filter

software-controlled antenna port power (50 mA at 3.3 V)

SMA female antenna connector

SMA female clock input and output for synchronization

convenient buttons for programming

internal pin headers for expansion

Hi-Speed USB 2.0

USB-powered

open source hardware

HackRF One has an injection molded plastic enclosure and ships with a micro USB cable. An antenna is not included. ANT500 is recommended as a starter antenna for HackRF One.

April 8, 2014

Interest Check for an ADS-B Folded Monopole Antenna

Adam, manufacturer of the LNA4ALL and LNA4HF is putting out an interest check for an ADS-B folded monopole antenna. The antenna can efficiently cover the 1030 MHz to 1090 MHz frequencies that are used by ADS-B.

The major advantage to Adams antenna is that it uses a DC grounded design, eliminating static build up problems that can potentially fry your LNA or RTL-SDR dongle.

If there is sufficient interest, Adam will sell the antenna for 20 Euros.

April 8, 2014

Nooelec Ham It Up Upconverter Metal Case Now For Sale

Nooelec, manufacturer of the popular Ham-It-Up upconverter has now begun selling metal enclosures for the upconverter. The Ham-It-Up is an upconverter which allows the RTL-SDR to receive HF (0-30 MHz) signals.

High-quality custom aluminum enclosure for Ham It Up v1.1 & v1.2.

Metal case helps to protect PCB from stray EMI, improving sensitivity.

Includes all required hardware to mount your PCB!

Ample room inside the case to make modifications and even include a dongle inside the case if you are so inclined.

March 31, 2014

Native RTL-SDR Support Coming to Linux

Linux will soon contain native support for software defined radio devices like the RTL2832U RTL-SDR. These new drivers written by Video4Linux developer Antii Palosaari should be included in the next Linux kernel version 3.15. Antii Palosaari was one of the first people to discover the SDR capabilities of the RTL2832U. In the image below Antii shows SDR# running in Linux with Mono with the Video4Linux gain control screen brought up.

February 10, 2014

Register your interest in Airspy

You can now register your interest in purchasing an AirSpy software defined radio dongle on the new AirSpy website. AirSpy is a new software defined radio similar to the RTL-SDR currently under development by the creator of SDR#.

AirSpy promises to be an improvement on the RTL-SDR with its large 10 MHz bandwidth, 24-1750 MHz tuneable range, 12-bit ADC and a programmable Cortex M4F @ 204 MHz on board CPU. In comparison the typical RTL-SDR has ~2.4 MHz of usable bandwidth, a 24-1750 MHz tuneable range and an 8-bit ADC. A higher bit ADC can help in receiving weaker signals. AirSpy is expected to sell at around the $100-$150 mark, with it being on the cheaper end if there is greater interest.

AirSpy Dongle — AirSpy Software Defined Radio Receiver

January 29, 2014

LNA4HF Now for Sale Plus Review

Back in November last year we posted about the possibility of an “LNA4HF” low noise amplifier (LNA) for the HF bands being made available for sale. The LNA4HF is now available for purchase.

The LNA4HF is a low noise amplifier with built in low pass filter that runs on a 6-12 V power supply and covers a frequency range of 150khz to 30MHz, with a 18-20 dB gain and 1-2 dB noise figure. It costs 20 Euros. The low pass filter can also be disabled with a small board modification which will allow the amplifier to be useful at up to 2 GHz.

Akos from the SDR for Mariners blog has reviewed the LNA4HF on his latest post. His results show that the low pass filter significantly reduces broadcast FM interference and that the amplifier also increases signal strength by around 20 dB as advertised.

January 14, 2014

RTL-SDR Now Supported by MATLAB

The Communications System Toolbox in MATLAB 2013b now supports the RTL-SDR dongle. MATLAB is a scientific computing software product which scientists and engineers use for complex technical computations and simulations.

The RTL-SDR radio support package enables you to design wireless receivers using real world signals. Using Communications System Toolbox™ in conjunction with an RTL-SDR USB radio, you can design and prototype systems that process real-time wireless signals in MATLAB® and Simulink®.

Wireless engineers, students, and hobbyists can learn to receive and decode real-world radio signals using this low cost RTL-SDR hardware connected to your computer.

Key Features:

RTL-SDR radio as an I/O peripheral to receive streaming RF signals

Configurable center frequency and sample rate

NooElec™ NESDR Mini USB Stick (R820T) and NooElec NESDR Nano USB Stick (R820T) SDR devices with frequency range 30MHz – 1.8GHz

Compatible with other RTL-SDR USB radios (eg., Terratec T-Stick E4000)

Several application examples for getting started:

FM Mono / Stereo with RTL-SDR

FRS Receiver with RTL-SDR

Spectral Analysis with RTL-SDR radio

Frequency offset calibration with RTL-SDR

January 6, 2014

KN0CK and KF7LZE Custom HF RTL-SDR Receiver Revision 5

Update: KN0CKs products are now available at http://www.kn0ck.com/HF_SDR/.

Previously on this blog we’ve seen KN0CK release his custom modified RTL-SDR tuners which have built in upconverters for accessing the HF bands. Revision 5 of the KN0CK receiver is now almost ready for sale, and will be sold over at KF7LZE’s webstore Easy-Kits.com.

Revision 5 promises to be lower priced as it will run using the direct sampling mod instead of using an upconverter which would require more components. It will also use a Mini-Circuits MAR 8 wideband amplifier to improve weak signal performance.

Kn0CK and KF7LZE RTL-SDR HF Receiver Rev. 5