HydraSDR RFOne: A New Upcoming SDR Similar to the Airspy R2
Recently, we have heard news about a new upcoming SDR called the HydraSDR RFOne, created by Benjamin Vernoux, who also worked on the design of the Airspy. The HydraSDR RFOne appears to be very closely based on the Airspy R2 design, and it has very similar specs, including a 24-1800 MHz RX range, 12-bit ADC, and up to 10 MSPS sampling rate output, giving 9 MHz of spectrum.
While HydraSDR is very similar to the Airspy R2 in design, as it uses the same main LPC4370 and the same overall design and layout, there are a few minor changes. The HydraSDR RFOne uses a Rafael R828D tuner chip, instead of the Rafael R820T2 tuner. The R828D has three input pins; however, it appears that only one pin is connected to the SMA input port. The other two ports are connected to uFL connectors on the PCB, which are inaccessible from the metal enclosure.
A second interesting feature is that it comes with a much larger enclosure that can house up to three HydraSDR boards in one. Also, a USB-C connector is used instead of the microUSB (we note that the device would still be USB2.0, not USB3.0).
Another differentiating point is that HydraSDR will be made in the USA, versus China, where the Airspy R2 is made. This may be good for US customers now that the Trump-China tariffs have been implemented. But we have recently seen that iTead, Airspy's Chinese manufacturing partner, recently opened a US store with US stock. So it seems that the retail price of the Airspy will not appear to be affected by tariffs.
You can find more information about the HydraSDR at https://hydrasdr.com. This is still a 'coming soon' landing page; however, if you enter your email, you will be sent a PDF file with the full spec sheet and multiple photos. Pricing for the HydraSDR does not yet appear to have been released.
Over on X, a few early reviewers have already received samples, as we can see some early tests in these posts.
Problem with V.3 dongles after software updates: I noted some problems earlier in the year and decided to have the package reinstalled. I did this both on my older laptop and tower.
The symptoms are an apparent high level of signals that appear to be over the full range of the receiver input. It doesn’t matter if I try for 1296 Mhz or 500Khz. The “signal spacing varies between 27 and 47 Khz in spacing, for example.
I am suspicious of my security software blocking some needed files as “security risks’, or, the older machines not being able to handle the new, revised, operational softwares.
Comments and help would be appreciated.
Funny thing, KerberosSDR was formerly known as HydraSDR, but if I recall correctly name changed due to copyright?
Yes, Ben had HydraSDR trademarked years ago in France, and we only searched US trademarks when naming Hydra/KerberosSDR. Legally speaking, we probably didn’t need to change the name as it was a French trademark, but decided to anyway out of courtesy before launch.
Dont mean to be rude or anything, but when you say “we” in your response, does that mean the creator of the famous RTL-SDR V4 (this blog) is also the one who helped designed the HydraSDR? Is this finally a successor to the old RTL2832U chipset? 🙂
No, ‘we’ made the RTL-SDR Blog units, and the KerberosSDR and KrakenSDR.
HydraSDR was the original name for KerberosSDR, but we changed it due to the Trademark complaint.
So can this be a phase array? Coherent?
It should be capable of coherent operation, just like the Airspy if you run multiple units from the same clock. But you still need an external signal for phase calibration.
Hopefully once review samples come in, you can compare this unit to the Airspy Mini, R2, RSP1B, and the upcoming Airspy Ranger. If priced right, this could be a worthwhile upgrade from the RTL-SDR.
does it work with SDR# ?
just post the damn datasheet, their shitty website is not working
Enter your email address and it gets emailed to you.
it does not work.