GNU Radio Tools for Radio Wrangling and Spectrum Domination [video] | Hacker News Reader

GNU Radio Tools for Radio Wrangling and Spectrum Domination [video]

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Good talk, sadly he does not go over any of the hardware side. I've been looking for a cheap way to get into SDR.

Here is a quick comparison table I made for myself just yesterday. The purpose was to get an overview what is currently possible for what money. It most probably has errors but the sources are mentioned, so you can check for yourself. It's just the devices I stumbled upon, there are probably others.

    Source	Device	Price	Max.	Bandwidth       Resolution
     	        Name	EUR	GHz	MHz             bit
    1	        rtl-sdr	  20	2	2 		8
    2	        rad1o	 200	4	20		8
    3	        hackrf	 400	6	20		8
    4	        bladeRF	 400 	4	28		12
    5	        usrp	 700	6	60		12/14
    6	        warp	7000	5	170		14

1 http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr

2 https://rad1o.badge.events.ccc.de/

3 http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/

4 http://www.nuand.com/

5 http://www.ettus.com/

6 http://warpproject.org/trac/wiki/about

Other sources I used:

http://www.eetutorial.net/sdr-showdown-hackrf-vs-bladerf-vs-...

https://media.ccc.de/v/32c3-7153-rad1o

https://media.ccc.de/v/32c3-7119-building_and_breaking_wirel...

EDIT: The videos just mention devices and that's where I got the ideas for what people are actually using. They don't contain any device comparisons or anything like that.

One you missed is airspy: http://airspy.com/

$199, 1.8GHz, 20Msps or 10Msps I/Q, 12b resolution

rx only

I believe another key difference between rtl-sdr and the rest is that rtl-sdr cannot transmit?

Yes that's right and important information. The rad1o and the HackRF are Half-Duplex all the others are Full-Duplex (IIRC).

My issue is that I am allowed to transmit, and being unable to nullifies half the fun. Are there any cheap alternatives to use that can transmit?

Since the HackRF is open source, there's a group that makes a lower-cost clone called the HackRF Blue: http://shop.hackrfblue.com/. Their model is $215, and they have some units that have some minor issues (can transmit jut fine) for $150.

I haven't used the HackRF Blue, so I can't compare it to the HackRF One. There are a few comparisons floating around the internet.

That is getting closer to my price range. I saw something called the SDRX01B and was wondering if anyone heard of it or was able to comment on its performance.

http://www.rtl-sdr.com/

Specifically, the upgraded/tuned rtl:

http://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/

It's $24.

$24? Maybe if it's fulfilled by Amazon Prime or whatever and including same-hour shipping. If you're willing to wait for shipping, the exact same shit is like 1/3 the price from China (eg [0])

[0]: http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=RTL2832U

The upgraded clock would be really nice; I have a standard RTL-SDR without that, and the clock can drift a lot with temperature: it'll start up a few dozen PPM off, and shift another few dozen when it warms up. Depending on frequency, that ends up being many kilohertz, which is really annoying if you're shifting/filtering/downsampling, as your target signal can drift outside of your filter window.

A constant ppm error is easy to compensate for; less so when it changes.

That antenna looks like it's a lot better than the normal one. The normal one is essentially useless for most purposes, and you have to get a $10 MCX adapter to plug it in to a real antenna.

I have my technician license, I'd like to transmit.

The BladeRF is full duplex for just a little more than the hackrf, definitely a viable option for enthusiasts.

Yes, but the blade RF only goes down to 400 MHz, so will not cover the 2M ham band.

hackrf is reasonably priced, yes ? Very good support in GNU Radio.

https://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/

Love the RTL-SDRs and the HackRF ... my first SDR was called the Zeta SDR ... it is a DIY direct conversion receiver with less than 10 parts or so, and you plug it into a soundcard. The schematics are available online, and I think I put it together with all brand new stuff for less than $30. It is only a single band, however you can add a digital synth like the Si5351A and if you can handle the hash and spurs the thing supports a range from below 1mhz to almost 10mhz. If you have a 16 bit or 24 bit soundcard, then the dynamic range is superb. If it is 192khz or so then you can see that / 2 as the range... Anyway... this was a while ago, and it was very satisfying to put together a simple circuit and get going. I used Quisk and various other things, but I'm sure GNU Radio would work.

The Zeta SDR sounds more in my price range! A great idea. Someone should be able to rig it to a USB interface,

Is there a website with a lot of open source radio designs?

Not to be rude, I have no way of judging your skill level, but are you sure you understand the implications of 20-100khz bandwidth and a tuning range of 1-10mhz? Here is the table at top with the zeta included. I'd _strongly_ recommend going with the rtl-sdr over the zeta as a first radio.

    Source	Device	Price	Max.	Bandwidth       Resolution
     	        Name	EUR	GHz	MHz             bit
    0           zeta-sdr  30    .01     .002            16
    1	        rtl-sdr	  25	2	3 		8
    2	        rad1o	 200	4	20		8
    3	        hackrf	 400	6	20		8
    4	        bladeRF	 400 	4	28		12
    5	        usrp	 700	6	60		12/14
    6	        warp	7000	5	170		14

Yes I'd go along with this. You're going to have a plug & play experience more so with the RTL... I guess my interest at the time was transatlantic weak digital signals on HF ham bands. With the RTL-SDR you'll be able to "see" all your favorite radio stations, listen to or track airplanes, and all kinds o things. With an upconverter (~$40) you'll get into HF a bit as well.

thank you for sharing this

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