HackRF, an open source SDR platform

Watch the video above for an introduction to HackRF. Click “Updates” above the video for the latest project information.

HackRF is an open source hardware project to build a Software Defined Radio (SDR) peripheral.

SDR is the application of Digital Signal Processing to radio waveforms. It is similar to the software-based digital audio techniques that became popular a couple of decades ago. Just as a sound card in a computer digitizes audio waveforms, a software radio peripheral digitizes radio waveforms. It’s like a very fast sound card with the speaker and microphone replaced by an antenna. A single software radio platform can be used to implement virtually any wireless technology (Bluetooth, ZigBee, cellular technologies, FM radio, etc.).

Digital audio capabilities in general purpose computers enabled a revolution in the sound and music industries with advances such as hard disk recording and MP3 file sharing. Today’s computers are fast enough to process radio waveforms in similar ways, and the radio communications industry is going through the same sorts of changes. One critical advance is finally taking place now, and that is the availability of low cost tools enabling anyone to take part in the revolution.

Wide Operating Frequency Range

HackRF operates from 30 MHz to 6 GHz, a wider range than any SDR peripheral available today.  This range includes the frequencies used by most of the digital radio systems on Earth.  It can operate at even lower frequencies in the MF and HF bands when paired with the Ham It Up RF upconverter.

Transceiver

HackRF can be used to transmit or receive radio signals.  It operates in half-duplex mode: it can transmit or receive but can’t do both at the same time.  However, full-duplex operation is possible if you use two HackRF devices.

Portable

You don’t have to carry an external power supply with you when taking HackRF on the road because it is powered by USB.  It is small enough to fit easily into a typical laptop bag.  Your HackRF will be slightly smaller than the beta unit pictured above and will protected by a full enclosure.

HackRF is designed primarily for use with a USB-attached host computer, but it can also be used for stand-alone applications with Jared’s HackRF PortaPack, an add-on that gives HackRF an LCD screen, directional buttons, and audio ports.

Low Cost

HackRF was designed to be the most widely useful SDR peripheral that can be manufactured at a low cost.  The estimated future retail price of HackRF is $300, but you can get one for even less by backing the Kickstarter project today.

Wideband

The maximum bandwidth of HackRF is 20 MHz, about 10 times the bandwidth of TV tuner dongles popular for SDR.  That means that HackRF could be used for high speed digital radio applications such as LTE or 802.11g.

Open Source

The most important goal of the HackRF project is to produce an open source design for a widely useful SDR peripheral.  All hardware designs and software source code are available under an open source license.  The hardware designs are produced in KiCad, an open source electronic design automation tool.  You can download the Jawbreaker (HackRF beta) design and build your own HackRF today!

Compatible

HackRF beta units are already being used on Linux, OS X, and Windows platforms.  The device takes full advantage of USB 2.0, an interface found on almost every general purpose computer.  HackRF already works with the popular GNU Radio software framework, and HackRF support can be added to other SDR software.

Tested

The Jawbreaker design depicted above is the fully functional HackRF beta design.  Hundreds of Jawbreakers have been distributed to developers and beta testers.  HackRF has already been used for Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), Bluetooth monitoring, spectrum sensing, wireless microphones, AIS, FM radio, and more.  I plan to use feedback from beta testers to make your HackRF even better than Jawbreaker.

Credits

HackRF is designed by Michael Ossmann of Great Scott Gadgets and Jared Boone of ShareBrained Technology.  We have had help from many volunteers including Benjamin Vernoux, Dimitri Stolnikov, and others who populate our irc channel (#hackrf on Freenode)

The primary web page for HackRF is:

http://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/

You can learn about the history of the project and how it was made possible on mossmann’s blog:

http://ossmann.blogspot.com/search/label/hackrf

You can download hardware designs and software source code at:

https://github.com/mossmann/hackrf

Project documentation may be found on our wiki:

https://github.com/mossmann/hackrf/wiki

The open source Ham it Up RF upconverter is designed by Opendous Inc.:

http://www.opendous.org/Upconverter

It is manufactured by NooElec:

http://www.nooelec.com/store/

The HackRF PortaPack is designed by Jared Boone:

http://www.sharebrained.com/2013/07/29/hackrf-jawbreaker-portapack-lives/

Thanks to Hak5 for use of clips from episode 1120:

http://hak5.org/episodes/hak5-1120

The HackRF Jawbreaker photograph was taken by fd0:

https://github.com/fd0/jawbreaker-pictures

Risks and challengesLearn about accountability on Kickstarter

 

Because the beta design has already been tested by many people, it is very unlikely at this point that any technical design challenges will prevent the HackRF project from being a success.

I routinely use a contract manufacturer to produce electronic devices I distribute to resellers, but projects can be delayed for a variety of reasons. The most significant delay I have ever experienced was the HackRF Jawbreaker beta production. I had hoped that the production would be completed in two to three months, but it took a total of seven months. The largest source of delay during Jawbreaker production was component availability. Your HackRF will be scheduled for production further in advance and will benefit from lessons learned during the Jawbreaker production.

I hope that it gives you confidence to know that I already have delivered 500 HackRF beta units and that I successfully delivered Ubertooth One on time to the backers of my first Kickstarter project. It was thanks to the success of Ubertooth One on Kickstarter that I was able to found Great Scott Gadgets, a company that now helps support several open source developers.

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