Jonathan, i've done a little bit on testing amateur radio "beacons" using the HackRF. So far i've been using 434.000 CW and FM.
So far i've gone at this two ways: (0) At 434 MHz the HackRF is too drifty. Installing the plug-in TCXO made the freq stability acceptable. (1) Record a CW transmission using the appropriate hackrf_transfer syntax, and play it back using hackrf_transfer syntax. (2) Use the app SDR-Angel for xmit and receive. (I have gotten that app to work on Ubuntu 18, Win10 (both 64-bit of course) but it won't install under Linux Parrot Home 64-bit, at least not with my limited expertise.) With SDR-Angel i set it up to do a CW (FM modulated with Morse) with the appropriate PL tone, to set it up to key my local 440 repeater -- giving a heads-up to the repeater admin first of course. I make sure (with settings) that the HackRF is putting out about 0.6 to 1.0 mW, not more than that. Feed that into one of those $20 RF amps from China (1 to 950 MHz). I get 0.2 to 1.0 watts out, measured with a watt/swr meter. Could get 2W i'm sure. That goes to a 440 yagi in my attic pointed at the repeater. Haven't used a 2nd HackRF as a receiver to receive the repeater. A T/R switch is needed for sure, the xmit will fry the receiver. My first HackRF was $300 off Amazon, and then i bought the PortaPack from Hacker Warehouse. My 2nd HackRF was off Ali Express, they are $99, but i bought one with a case, antennas, plug-in TCXO, and DHL shipping for $165. The TCXO fits the latter HackRF. The tcxo won't fit the one with the PortaPack but there might be a way to do that with a ribbon cable & modifying the metal case. Next for me: get a 3rd HackRF + tcxo, dedicate it to being a CW or FM/Morse beacon on 434 or 146.52 or somewhere. Possibly use a python script & cron to make it go off once every ten minutes. Really need the added tcxo. The drift on mine without a tcxo is not okay for a beacon. ... You can tell i like beacons. I'm into wspr too. Just finagled my HF radio antenna tuner to tune down at 1836.6 kHz wspr, also on 10 and 14 MHz. ... That's another idea, a HackRF cw beacon down on HF. Pre-tune the antenna with a regular radio, then switch to the HackRF. Best regards Orrin. On Sat, Jan 12, 2019, 08:38 Jonathan Guthrie <ka8...@ka8kpn.org wrote: > Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm Jonathan and I just bought a > HackRF One with the intention of turning it into a software-defined > transceiver for amateur radio use. I figure that a power amplifier and > T/R switch can't be all that hard (yeah, I know, "famous last words") > and I'm a computer programmer at my day job so the software part is at > least do-able. The upshot is that I'm hoping that for a little bit (or > a lot) of sweat equity, I can get an HF transceiver that is similar to > commercial transceivers for a fraction of the cost. That's the plan, > anyway. I'm certain it'll be educational. > > By looking over the recent archives, I see that other people have tried > to do similar things, which is good because it means that I don't have > to start from complete scratch. > > For a long time, I been using one of those TV dongles as a > software-defined receiver to receive FM broadcast, 2m FM, and some 2m > and 70cm SSB/CW signals from satellites, so I don't have to climb (much > of) a learning curve to work with GRC. > > So far, I've plugged my HackRF One in to my Linux laptop and have > listened to some FM radio, and it seems to work. > > At some point, I'm probably going to get another one so I can use it as > a signal generator. Lots of useful things you can do with a signal > generator. > > Anyway, that's me. If I have any questions about how to proceed, I'll > let you know. > > -- > Jonathan Guthrie > ARS KA8KPN > > _______________________________________________ > HackRF-dev mailing list > HackRF-dev@greatscottgadgets.com > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev >
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