Using KiwiSDRs to locate HF radio transmitters and numbers stations | Hacker News Reader

Using KiwiSDRs to locate HF radio transmitters and numbers stations

rtl-sdr.com

70 pointsinfosecrf9 comments

$300 seems very reasonable for a software defined radio. Could be fun to tinker with.

There is also the hackrf one which is pretty much on the same level as Kiwi if not a bit better you can find it for about the same price but the difference is that the HackRF often goes on sale with a 30-50% discount.

On a tangent number stations is like the number one “secret” I would love to be solved, I’m really curious if these are still used to direct I/Os or of these are just the RF community version of trolling these days.

Someone published a pdf of scans they found from an abandoned Russian numbers station. It mostly appears to be filled with procedural notes.

Really wish there was a follow up. https://amp.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/10rkhh/i_have_visited...

HackRF One seems to have strikingly different architecture compared to KiwiSDR, so I'm not sure if they are really comparable at all.

They don't seem to be. HackRF is 1MHz - 6GHz and it's a beast (you can go lower with upconverter like Ham It Up). I only just learned about KiwiSDR and I'd love to know for which use cases people would choose it over HackRF. If I understand correctly the setup may be easier, but other than that?

I'm totally with you. The selling point of KiwiSDR seems to be that it allows everyone to use the same device simultaneously as the entire spectrum that KiwiSDR can capture is available all at once.

https://www.sdr.hu

Here is the top entry: http://sdr.hu/click?id=172

How does the LimeSDR stack up here?

HackRF is superior from a range perspective however KiwiSDR opens up interesting opportunities with how it exposes data over the network with a nice UI, allowing simultaneous access to the entire spectrum it captures. In fact see live KiwiSDR here:

https://www.sdr.hu

Here is the top entry: http://sdr.hu/click?id=172

KiwiSDR isn't the only affordable SDR available these days. There's also the HackRF, BladeRF, LimeSDR USB, LimeSDR PCIe, LimeSDR Mini, FreeSRP, and the XTRX mini PCIe.

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