HackRF from Ebay (China) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / rf-microwave

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2018, 01:18:36 pm
content: The "Genuine" one cost 300€I saw an Ebay offer for 142,84€ with on Shipping and the Chinese know how to declare items for the custom.So is there any downside of the Ebay offer?THX

author: Pinkus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2018, 02:51:24 pm
content: The copy did not have to invest time and money and brain for developing it, nor will they bring anything new with new developments or enhancements. They are just stealing other peoples work. Think about this when supporting copy clones.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2018, 03:02:15 pm
content: If the Guy who invent it would shipp it from China to I would buy the Genuine one but 150€ MORE for it an huge amount of money from me. Its 1/4 of the Money who I have for living per Month.

author: Bicurico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2018, 06:58:19 pm
content: You need to add customs and waiting time to the Chinese offer.Also, some users posted that the Chinese clones use fake or otherwise worse components.The hardware and software is actually open source so this time the Chinese are not doing anything wrong.Regards,Vitor

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 23, 2018, 09:39:46 pm
content: When I last surfed the Chinese HackRF community web site (years ago) they had all sorts of info in Chinese. (which you can read the most effectively using Chromium in auto translate mode or Google Translate) There was all sorts of interesting stuff there, actually. Same goes for the Chinese ham community's web sites. They are worth looking for and reading.Clearly the genuine article as far as tech skills and user enthusiasm.As far as buying a Chinese-made HackRF, you should ask on the HackRF mailing list, likely they would know if they had any tech issues, even though they weren't made directly by Michael Ossmann.Also, it would be good to do that because its quite possible he doesn't have any problem with it, and that they are decent quality. Or, they might be cheap knock offs too.. (I have no idea)The thing buyers need to remember though is that the seller is the one who is responsible for support so if you had a problem with your particular unit, the seller is whom you would need to go to. So make sure you buy it from a seller with a good, long term reputation on the site you buy it.Also, do you have an RTLSDR?Don't buy a HackRF expecting it to be better than an RTLSDR in the frequency range covered by an RTLSDR. It may well not be. (Or be so much harder to use that the RTLSDR ends up being more useful)OTOH, if you're a security researcher, it is likely extremely useful.Also, the potential for disappointment is much higher when you spend over a hundred Euros on something versus something that costs what a decent cup of espresso might cost you.If you don't already have an RTLSDR and are getting lots of use out of it, and have reached its limits, you're likely wasting your money on a HackRF.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 10:05:03 am
content: When the Chinesse Declare it with 5$ the Custom ignore it.Last Week I received an Parcel from an US Seller who declare it correct and I had to pay 9€ Tax + 10€ Handling fee.I have time 2 Month are nothing for me.I want some Wide Band SDR to see whats in the Air because there are no information about.

author: Bicurico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 10:20:13 am
content: Bear in mind that different coutries handle customs differently, which is why I started to post about less good experiences for the end user.Examples:1) Portugal (where I live): customs have been much more aggressive in the last 12 months. It doesn't matter what the seller declared - if your package gets selected for analisys (which ALL packages do now, increasing the shipping time by 1-3 weeks on average), then you need to provide: invoice, copy of payment (bank transfer, Paypal, whatever). You will be then taxed according to what you effectively paid for. Remember that giving false declarations is a criminal offense and mind you, the guy's at customs are not stupid and certainly know how to use Google, eBay and AliExpress. Only packages for which you paid less than 20 Euro (product + shipping) will be free from customs.2) Germany: if the seller gives wrong information, the end customer MAY be lyable for trying to avoid taxes, which is a criminal offence. Also, most packages get through customs and you pay accordingly. Also, German customs seems to be very alert to missing CE logo and counterfeit products.Just because you live in a given country, where customs are not effectively charging taxes, don't assume this is the case for other countries! Please don't be offended - I actually envy you!Also, bear in mind that the situation can change in your country at any given time. The reason some packages don't go through customs when a lower value is declares is due to the fact that customs are understaffed for such high increase in global shopping. I bet this is a temporrary situation.Chinese sellers try to circumvent this through tricks:a) The shipping is done through a third country within the EU, where customs are not agressive. Example: I buy a new Adndroid smartwatch for 100 Euro. It gets sent to Switzerland (not part of the EU, but within Schengen space). No customs apply in Switzerland. Someone repacks the watch and sends it to me from Switzerland. Due to Schengen, no customs apply on arrivalt to Portugal.Because the EU is monitoring this, the third country is always changing. Used to be Italy, but then customs intercepted those packages. Then they moved on to Switzerland, etc.b) "EU Stores": I don't even know what that means. There are such stores in the UK and Spain, preferrably. I think Chinese found a way to get containers out of customs and hence keep small stocks in thos countries.All of this is to circumvent EU law. It is a risk and if you score, the profit is yours. If not, you end up WAITING WEEKS to get your product, after you pay taxes:1) In Portugal +23% VAT2) In Portugal +12 Euro handling fee3) In Portugal +1-X% CustomsSome countries are more affected than others: I buy from China with bigger chances of not paying customs. Deals from Singapore, Malasya, etc. ALWAYS get to customs (even evidently small or cheap packages) - I know pay attention when shopping on Ebay, that the seller is in Hongkong, Shenzen or mainland China.Sorry for this long post.Regards,Vitor

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 10:41:39 am
content: Here is the offer:https://www.ebay.de/itm/HQ-HackRF-One-1MHz-6GHz-SDR-Platform-Software-Defined-Radio-Development-Board/282806485778?hash=item41d8948312:g:3rQAAOSwc6JaWHZb

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 01:56:45 pm
content: RTL dongles will cost as little as $7-11 USD shipped.There is a slightly better one which has been contracted for (from newskysz.com who is the OEM)by "RTL-SDR blog" their third version. Its around $20-25.If you're just going to get one, a good argument could be made to spend a bit more and get that one, but keep in mind that it is still an 8 bit SDR. It can receive HF, too, sort of.But not super well.The same thing applies to HackRF. Its still an 8 bit SDR. Meaning its not going to receive very weak signals well.If you want to receive really weak signals there are much better choices.Quote from: Lord of nothing on January 24, 2018, 10:05:03 am

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 02:16:27 pm
content: 2Mhz Bandwith vs. 10Mhz Bandwith.

author: Bicurico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 02:30:22 pm
content: 10MHz bandwidth makes a LOT of difference!I have several RTL dongles and while they are fine, the bandwidth is simply too small for any DVB application or to monitor a larger chunk of the spectrum.RTL is fine for amateur radio, when you want to monitor i.e. 144MHz-146MHz. Here it even beats the spectrum analyzer of Icom transceivers.But having the whole FM radio band simultaneously on screen: WOW! That is a feat!I have not suffered from any limitation of the 8 bit resolution in my applications, but of course, the more resolution, the better.Mind you, while there are "better" solutions, they tend to increase the price tag exponentally. Add higher resolution, even bigger bandwidth and full duplex and suddenly you are looking at a four digit price tag...Regards,Vitor

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 02:35:29 pm
content: Sure! 99% of the Company switch from Radio to a Cellphone.A Simcard cost 1€ per Month and a Radio ~10€ per Month a Single Freq with unlimited Radio 5000€ per Month.So just company with special need use Radios thats why here is quite silent.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 02:51:02 pm
content: Actually an HackRF will receive a20 MHzwide slice of spectrum all at once.Quote from: Lord of nothing on January 24, 2018, 02:16:27 pmAnd yes, that is a LOT more data. Also HackRF will receive up to well over 6 GHz.But, my question is still a valid one based on the costof the RTLSDR. You could otherwise find you bought something you never used. If you like SDR, then by all means buy whatever you want. But I would get an RTLSDR first. You really cant go wrong for $7.Some people seem to never be able to get the performance out of their HackRFs that they seemed to be expecting. Its particularly annoying when they clearly should have known better.What it is and what it isn't. Its not a ham rig, although it can be used as one - its not plug and play nor would it be legal to use it in that way (transmitting) without both an appropriate license and additional band pass filtration to remove harmonics.Not a big thing for a ham to accomplish but - people need to understand the shortcomings of the device.All that said, with both the RTLSDR, and HackRF, many people never run out of interesting things to do with them.There are thousands of videos on Youtube about the rtl2832 dongles.. people receiving hundreds of different kinds of things.Check them out- that will give you a much better idea of the solution space than people like me here.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 02:53:39 pm
content: at the moment I have 15 SDR at home.I got some new stuff from Canada who I have to put together for more fun stuff.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 02:59:29 pm
content: Are you using a HackRF to receive/measure DVBT or DV...x,y,z.. whatever?If so, what software do you use and are you externally clocking the HackRF?Quote from: Bicurico on January 24, 2018, 02:30:22 pmSome of the performance of the HackRF which was available in the past was dependent on functionality which is no longer there, for example, adjustable IF was a good workaround to the birdies it has internally..There is no longer any way I know of to adjust the IF.Quote from: Bicurico on January 24, 2018, 02:30:22 pm

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 03:01:00 pm
content: ahh.. so, you must already have an RTLSDRQuote from: Lord of nothing on January 24, 2018, 02:53:39 pm

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 03:03:18 pm
content: no not just one.

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 04:15:46 pm
content: So, it sounds like you know what you're doing, then.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2018, 04:45:41 pm
content: I never got an cheap HackRF from China.

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2018, 12:07:07 am
content: the cost of a wideband antenna and mounting kit adds a lot to the cost!

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2018, 09:40:11 am
content: Discone Antenna?

author: Teledog
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2018, 10:01:56 pm
content: Just got a HackRF One from eBay ($179 CDN, no tax, free shipping from Toronto, ON).Came with a laser cut acrylic enclosure, 3 antennas, TCXO module & USB cable.Tried it with the Android tablet (RF Analyzer), RX seems good (eats battery, suggest Y power cable)Testing it more with Gqrx/Ubuntu ..Rx seems swell, haven't tried Tx yet.Be careful installing some of the HackRF packages on Linux, not always compatible!So far, so good!Edit: Sellerhttps://www.ebay.ca/itm/2017-HackRF-One-1-MHz-to-6-GHz-SDR-Platform-Software-Defined-Radio/232602107935?hash=item36282a801f:g:vocAAOSwhsBaOO8nBut they've upped the price since my purchase :-(

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2018, 10:07:52 pm
content: Link or Ebay Offer No?

author: hagster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2018, 08:44:28 am
content: Quote from: stj on January 29, 2018, 12:07:07 amI have you covered for the higher end.https://www.tindie.com/products/hagster/ultra-wideband-vivaldi-antenna-800mhz-to-6ghz/Its not really suitiable for outdoor mounting though.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2018, 10:27:07 am
content: The start at 800Mhz up there is quite nothing realy interesting.

author: hagster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2018, 12:57:38 pm
content: Quote from: Lord of nothing on February 10, 2018, 10:27:07 amMove along people, nothing to see here....868/ 915 ISM band, GSM, UMTS, LTE, CDMA, iridiumb Thuraya, GPS, Glonass, Galileo, ADS-b, SIGFOX, LORA, hydrogen lines, WiFI, Bluetooth, Zigbee, NB-IoTb LTE-M, uWave PIR, Point to point uWave links.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2018, 01:00:54 pm
content: oke 868 ISM I had forgotten about.For the LTE Stuff I would use an LTE Antenna for?Use that Antenna for Sat stuff is possible? I know the need a high gain Antenna.

author: hagster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2018, 02:29:43 pm
content: Quote from: Lord of nothing on February 10, 2018, 01:00:54 pmLTE is a pretty good use case. Its used on a staggering number of bands. Anywhere from 800MHz to 3.4GHz is fairly common. Building an (small and cheap) monopole antenna to cover all this well is hard. There is no shortage of commercial antennas that, when measured, do not live up to their specs. I have seen plenty of wifi antennas that are worse than useless for example.Yes, a lot of sat stuff does really require a much higher gain, there is plenty that work with small omni directional patches. Sirrus radio is an example as well as iridium etc.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 06, 2018, 05:58:21 pm
content: How about this offer:https://www.ebay.de/itm/Open-Source-HackRF-One-Software-Defined-Radio-Board-1MHz-6GHz-with-Shell/263366826183?hash=item3d51e2d8c7:g:nLsAAOSwevlZ9aZr

author: Karlo_Moharic
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2018, 06:05:13 pm
content: Order one from China , customs usually don't bother for such small items. From experience I can say that customs usually look at the mass and the size of item to determine wether certain item are free to pass or duty needs so to be paid. For them this is small electronic device that costs no more than 20$.

author: Karlo_Moharic
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2018, 06:07:00 pm
content: Also if you are thight with cash this is a great little device:https://www.ebay.com/itm/100KHz-1-7GHz-full-band-UV-HF-RTL-SDR-USB-Tuner-Receiver-R820T-8232-Ham-Radio/201773887159?hash=item2efaa92eb7:g:Ue4AAOSwA3dYbmae

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2018, 07:40:14 pm
content: thats the ordinary R820T. I want more Banthwith and higher Freq.QuoteWhen the Chinesse declare it as Value 10$ + Gift the passt troth. I have to pay just customs when the Ship something from US. Thedeclare it correct.