Software Defined Radio with HackRF by Michael Ossmann, Lesson 1

This is the first lesson in the SDR with HackRF training series by Michael Ossmann of Great Scott Gadgets. In this lesson you can expect:
* an introduction to SDR
* an introduction to HackRF
* course background
* an introduction to GNU Radio Companion
* “hello world”, receiving FM radio
Homework for this video can be viewed on the Great Scott Gadgets website: greatscottgadgets.com/sdr/1/
Please note this training was first recorded in 2014 and many things have changed with GNU Radio Companion and HackRF since. You will (likely) need to:
* download gr-osmosdr separately from osmocom.org/projects/gr-osmosdr/wiki/GrOsmoSDR
* use QT blocks instead of WX blocks
If you need assistance, please join our Discord server (discord.gg/rsfMw3rsU8).
Lesson 2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpm5YZWHZqmahdk

[@dergerat2150]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! It’s insane that this content is available for free…

[@tacitone]

Thank you so much for your wonderful course, Michael! It is truly amazing.

[@0xphk]

Got my Hackrf One today and now I can slide through radio channels already :) Thank you so much

[@lbaltha666]

Thanks for sharing such valuable material. I can finally find some comprehensible support for learning gnuradio. Thanks again!

[@grantechsweng5268]

wow Sweet The "Man" giving out free knowledge. Just started with an SDR, and will move up to a Hack RF. A fun tool for teaching my grandkids. Thank you.

[@ThatNateGuy]

Thank you so much for this gift to the world! I'm blown away that this is free!

[@jamisonr]

Amazing video. 24 hours ago I had never heard of SDR or HackRF, and right now I can listen to a radio signal I'm decoding with a clever bit of software and by watching one video! I'm ready to dive into video 2, I tried to add a second audio signal, but to my surprise there is only one FM signal strong enough (or I only thought I figured it out).

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Glad it was helpful!

[@joelmiller246]

Great start to a course. Thank you for sharing!

[@bfkmnemonic]

Hi Michael, Thank you for putting these instruction videos together.

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Glad you like them!

[@Beersandsmokes]

I just ordered my hackrf, can’t wait to start

[@Jerry_from_analytics]

Well... This is most fun I've ever had tuning-in to BBC Radio 1, including improvising antenna from piece of wire since I somehow did not order any antennas.

[@bradcausey5604]

I feel like this information being public should be illegal! But really, this is fantastic, thank you!

[@WillowUfgood]

how has this only got 94 likes? It's AWESOME!

[@michaeldavidheit]

Out of the gate I am a straight up newbie ... in SDR. I cannot afford a HackRF yet, so I bought a genuine RTL-SDR Blog V3 R860 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO HF Bias Tee SMA Software Defined Radio with Dipole Antenna Kit to get started with. I am going to have to rewatch this first video to pick up on important links I missed my first time watching it; I am at my workbench and get interrupted often so this weekend I'll watch again and take good notes. It is well done; you have a pleasant listening voice and make complex theory seem more palatable for viewers such as myself. Thank you very much and I look forward to getting my dongle and getting started.

[@Doogie53]

Have fun dude

[@daviddavidson2357]

Ordered a hackRF, watching this while waiting for it to arrive. GNU radio companion looks a lot like FBD or to a lesser extent ladder logic, I feel like I'll enjoy this more than textual programming.

[@blocksec]

You ser is amazing !! Never stop ❤

[@0rphon328]

you are a godsend to the cybersec community

[@AndrewStanner]

Awesome video. Just bought one of your HackRF One's (in Australia). Took me an hour to work through this lesson :-) I found the new menu structure slightly confusing (especially at 8:50) , and the disappearance of the WX function (10:09). But I got it working using the QT GUI Sink, so delighted that I completed lesson one. GNU Radio 3.10.2.0 running on Win 11. The Windows firewall threw up some strange errors that took a while to resolve as well. But enjoying success on Day 1. Have not found any beginners guide to the new QT modules which will slow me down. Thank you very much.

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Thank you! We appreciate hearing how long it took you to work through the lesson.

[@hyronharrison8127]

@@GreatScottGadgets does this mean you guys will creat a new tut for qt?

[@hyronharrison8127]

Or at least show us how to use the underlying framework?

[@GreatScottGadgets]

@@hyronharrison8127 Eventually, yes.

[@hyronharrison8127]

@@GreatScottGadgets great! Im extremely visual and can only branch out and improvise once I have a sturdy foundation to build off of. In the interim, I tend to dive deep to ensure my environment matches the tutorial and usually end up finding bugs and improvements so looking forward to it.

[@paultidwell8799]

Thanks so much. Just started.

[@hardoise667]

it works!!!!!thank you a lot!!!

[@costa2150]

solid, thank you

[@dushescbx]

Thank you!

[@davidparker9027]

THANK YOU

[@MikhailKolesnik]

Thank you for the video. Not very clear why we need cos signal to multiply by. This is some signal processing trick that I think needs more explanation. Also, for those who don't have the hardware just yet, a recorded source would be nice to play with.

[@abd_alkader]

thank you so much for this video , but i have a quistion . how we make a low pass filter on 75 khz while the osmocom working on 97.9 mhz ?

[@MrIcehawk]

Thank you very much for the great series. I learned a lot but I do not really understand the difference between center frequency and Channel frequency here. Could Somebody please help me out?

[@MrFaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

damn. I need to start using exponents more in my code

[@aqeelahmedvlogs2023]

Thank you for this video... I am trying to capture LoRa signal at 868.1 MHz. But What I recieve is only downchirps in time domain. Ideally I should be able see preamble upchirps. what can be the issue.... Note: If I add 125 KHz to 868.1 MHz ... it shows the upchirps however the signal is not center at 0 which makes sense. but with 868.1 MHz the signal is not center at the capture frequency it is centered at 868.1 MHz - 125 Khz... what could be the reason...?

[@kantrasha]

You can also setup a linux distro through WSL2 these days if you're running windows.

[@mattpopovich]

Does the gain make anyone else's audio very distorted? EDIT: I think my virtual machine was just low on resources... I tried with a beefier VM and things worked better.

[@arcade7651]

I have been trying and got the qt gui one but when I try to hear it all I get is static could one of my variables be wrong?

[@tacolover619]

This video series no longer applies to new version of GNU Radio Companion

[@GreatScottGadgets]

That is correct. There are tips in the video description on how to adapt this video to newer versions of GNU Radio Companion.

[@AnjanaGuruPrasad]

Thank you so much for the course! Is there a way to record the CSI data using the hackrf one

[@ttiger6912]

nice

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Thanks

[@Index-o1234]

Are there any particular operating system requirment limitations? So I can get my homework done.

[@xerravon]

Hi, I'm very, very new to the world of SDR's, most programing (assembly/machine language I understand better than any of the higher level languages and did learn and use very basic, BASIC {long time ago} which gives my age away) So I'm basically new to all of this. I was able to, pretty much, keep up with the info in the video except the 1st "multiply", what & why it seems to multiply (it has the subtract instruction in it) and why it seems to output to the disabled "sink" and to the "filter" and not the enabled "sink"? I've only watched the video once and haven't looked at the webpage for lesson 1 yet so there's no need to answer but I may refer back to this comment later. I'm also going to be new to Linux. I installed and tried Ubuntu about, idk maybe 20 years ago (it had multiple desktops displayed kind of like a 3D cube that you rotated around. its hard to remember but it was cool looking) It was buggy and I gave up on it. I've been wanting to try it again and know I should of. In any case, Im curious if I can use Hi, I'm very, very new to the world of SDR's, most programing (assembly/machine language I understand better than any of the higher level languages and BASIC {long time ago} which gives my age away) So I'm basically new to all of this. I was able to, pretty much, keep up with the info in the video except the 1st "multiply", what & why it seems to multiply (it has the subtract instruction in it) and why it seems to output to the disabled "sink" and to the "filter" and not the enabled "sink"? I've only watched the video once and haven't looked at the webpage for lesson 1 yet so there's no need to answer but I may refer back to this comment later. I'm also going to be new to Linux. I installed and tried Ubuntu about, idk maybe 20 years ago (it had multiple desktops displayed kind of like a 3D cube that you rotated around. its hard to remember but it was cool looking) It was buggy and I gave up on it. I've been wanting to try it again and know I should of but just instead of Pentoo?, guess I'll. try both. Thank you very much for the information and videos what ive seen so far is great.

[@johan2nd]

Could you guide about generate Sirius XM radio signal by HackRF One. I tried to search but couldn't found any solution

[@sudhakaryg]

Dear Michael, Thank you very much for such a detailed sessions on HackRF One. Its very insight full. I have a question. Have you or anyone in this group tried installing Open5Gs using HackRF One? If so can you please share your experience. Thank you!!

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Thank you for the positive feedback on this series. As for Open5Gs, that is not a topic our company has dived into at this time. To see our projects and products check out our website (greatscottgadgets.com/) and our GitHub (github.com/greatscottgadgets/).

[@dequariusadair9241]

First of all thank you so much for uploading these tutorials and sharing your knowledge. I followed this tutorial step by step but only get a noisy audio output when executing the flow graph. I've tried tuning into local stations as well as going through with a slider though various fm radio stations but I'm just getting a noisy output with everything. I'm using the ANT500 antenna and have read online that there could be a possible issue with this, have you heard of such things before? Thanks

[@GreatScottGadgets]

The best place to ask for technical support help is on GitHub (github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf) or in our Discord server (discord.gg/rsfMw3rsU8).

[@andrewborntrager7909]

Me too, I just get noise, but mine is pulsing. Did you figure it out?

[@l.e.a.d.761]

What components of gr-osmosdr do I need to enable?

[@wiesawsomski541]

Hello. The PENTOO iso image from where you recommend downloading is available without a dektop environment. only command line works. I'm not an expert in Linux and I can't navigate this environment that lacks a graphical environment. Maybe you can suggest where or where to download the PENTOO iso image with a ready-made graphical environment? as I mentioned before, I'm not an expert in Linux and I can't install the graphical environment to what is available on the PENTOO author's website.

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Another option we use is Ubuntu. They may be a better option for you.

[@user-xm4ww7ke1n]

Is it going to work with USRP 205 Mini- i?

[@alanczarnecki2363]

I have questions about center_freq and channel_freq - the way you implemented this, the osmocom_source output must contain all frequencies in the fm band? Can you show an example where you explicitly set the osmocom_source to frequency of interest. Can you provide a similar example for AM demod, or share what needs to be changed with this flowgraph? Thanks!

[@GreatScottGadgets]

There are a few ways you can get assistance. They are listed on our website: greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/

[@furkansalihyamak6119]

How can we generate osmocom block or how can we define our hackrf to GNU radio?

[@prakhargupta1409]

Multiplying a cosine signal with a given signal x should shift the frequencies of x to both sides, hence giving two peaks. But why do I see only one in the FFT plot? Also, the low pass filter cut-off is kept at 75kHz which is below the required channel frequency. Why has it not been kept above the required channel frequency?

[@user-kt8xr1ku2i]

About frequency shift. This true for real numbers, but this signal is Complex numbers.

[@andrewborntrager7909]

Thank you. How did you come up with an interpolation of 12 and decimation of 5?

[@patrickwilkie5576]

I think working *backwards* from 48kHz audio signal to the starting sampling rate of 10M, and knowing that the WBFM Receive Block would add the division of 10, he knows that there must be a conversion factor in the middle, and the Rational Resampler block provides that. Basically, it seems like you've gotta know the sample rates of your peripherals. In this case, he mentions that 48kHz audio rate is supported by most Audio Cards.

[@tmdrake]

I gotten a hackrf since 2012....finally getting to mess with it nowadays.

[@JB-123]

Do you ever plan on updating the lessons? Just curious. Its fun to watch, but I would love to follow along. There seems to be a few setting changes, and I am not having any luck getting mine to work. I do appreciate the work you have already put into this!

[@GreatScottGadgets]

The plan is to eventually make an updated series of lessons. We will post them to this KZbin channel when we do make them.

[@JB-123]

Appreciate the reply, and cannot wait for the updated series.

[@AnjanaGuruPrasad]

Is it possible to record the CSI data using the hackrf one?

[@rajatdongre7767]

Hello Sir, I am using HackRF and GNU radio. I have drawn the FM receiver by using your tutorial and it is working. Now I am trying to transmit one txt file from one system which connected to HackRF 1 and other receiving this file from another system connected with HackRF 2. So I created two flowgraph for it . But when I am trying to transmit txt file at particular centre frequency, it is transmitting. But in receiving side I am getting signal at same frequency in distorted form and some DC offset spike as well. So I am stuck in this problem and tried a lot. So, please help me, if possible, can we connect through email, or other social platforms? I need your help on it.

[@GreatScottGadgets]

If you need assistance, please join our Discord server (discord.gg/rsfMw3rsU8).

[@swisstraeng]

I installed GNU Radio Companion 3.7, but I do not see the Osmocom Source, I'm not really sure how to install it.

[@GreatScottGadgets]

There are details in the description of this video.

[@-someone-.]

How well is the raspberry pi4 b supported? I have the 8gb version. This is an awesome project! 👍

[@GreatScottGadgets]

We haven't tested it ourselves, but you are welcome to join our Discord and ask the community: discord.gg/rsfMw3rsU8

[@rockdubois1672]

great presentation but where can we find the next lessons?

[@GreatScottGadgets]

The entire playlist of lessons is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJbIhIFnaa-Ij7c

[@ghostinmatrix]

Hi Michael, the link on the page for lesson 1 under Homework item 1 (Getting Started with HackRF and GNU Radio) gives a 404 error.

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Thank you for pointing this out. Our team has updated the web page in question.

[@FILMCREWProductions1]

Can anyone help me. I have a carrier that sits exactly on my center frequency. And if I change the center frequency it follows. Any ideas?

[@FILMCREWProductions1]

I found a solution, you need to add remove DC spike after the osmocom.

[@samiberkozden9401]

Is there a way to implement ubertooth one into a sdr hardware?

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Yes. It would take development time to create the software to do so though.

[@GuitarGuy__]

great explanations! its just a shame your using WX as its unavailable/outdated now and been replaced by QT! Any tutorials on QT modules would be great for beginners like myself!

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Thank you for the feedback! We are hoping to do a refresh of the course when we have some more time.

[@nyny]

I just got started and am hard stuck after connecting GT GUI Freq Sink and can't run

[@richardneil4651]

@@nyny downgrade yours gnu radio version to 3.7

[@nyny]

@@richardneil4651 thanks, I'll give it a try sometime. I hope a new tut can come out

[@2929felix]

@@GreatScottGadgets The same applies for me.Great course, super support and I don't wanz to downgrade Gnuradio, waiting for course update. Thanks!!

[@notwhereyouthink]

Unfortunately this tutorial is now hopelessly outdated following the GNU update.

[@Red.Thunder]

Hey, I had a problem with the version you are using in the video & the version used today. It kind of held me up from moving forward...

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Thanks for reaching out. Did you see the extra directions in the description of the video?

[@Red.Thunder]

@@GreatScottGadgets I did not! I will try again soon here, I have a month off before school starts again! Using a hackrf, thanks for the fast response!

[@Red.Thunder]

~ Just a note to add ~ "QT GUI Frequency Sink" in place of the WX Sink - specifically the frequency one right? && "Center Frequency" in place of "BaseBand Frequency"

[@Red.Thunder]

Thanks for the response, I bought my hackRF last year as I was really getting into electromagnetic communication. But I was held up because of the simple issues of the outdated software. Pretty happy now to get another go at it & complete this course!

[@Red.Thunder]

Also - QT GUI Range in place of the Dial: I set it pretty good at Default Value = 1 Start = 0 Stop = 1 Step = .1 & make sure the type is set to float

[@lukebowers536]

Hi there, Ime in the UK & i have come into posession of one of these mashines but ive abssolutly no idea what it doess or even the termionoligy used thru most of youre video. I come from an oldschool ham radio background but never was an advanced user of those systems, i just maintained my own little base station for coms in the country as i live very remote. Do you have a videos for dummys on this mashine that literally starts from scratch explaining what it is & how it does things & some basic out the box use. Ime finding every video ive seen so far i do not in any way understand. My expertise is as a live audio engineer so ime feeling a tad out of my depth with this. I got the mashine becuese i wanted to be able to listen in on whats out there radio wise & may be respond one day when i know enough about what ime doing if that day ever comes. I cant help but feel like a gibbon with a g*n at present & ime starting to wonder why i bought it haha

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Using some of the software in our HackRF One documentation may help you get started. (hackrf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/software_support.html) Most of the software options have good documentation on how to get started.

[@lukebowers536]

@@GreatScottGadgets awsome, thanks for getting back to me with a link, ive not been able to do anything apart from pick up static so far

[@BlissetEris]

gnuradio doesn't even want to run on latest kali, so frustrating...

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Kali has rolling releases, so it can be difficult to get version compatibility across all software needed to get GNU Radio operational. You will likely have better luck with Ubuntu or another OS.

[@BlissetEris]

@@GreatScottGadgets First of all, thanks for your reply. The bug is known on Debian as Bug#1016466. Currently I'm building from source (at this very moment), but an earlier version of gnuradio (3.9). If this does not work I already have the ubuntu ISO ready to give that a try in a VM. If anything works, i'll comment with the solution...

[@BlissetEris]

Building 3.9 from source worked! Hooray ... (make test failed because of memory issues, but gnuradio-companion is running now)

[@BlissetEris]

After installing on Kali with apt it didn't launch, building from source it launched but I got the same error when running the building blocks. A friend succeeded on Kali by using the unstable repo version... But I have switched to ubuntu and everythng works fine there...

[@f7p1764]

most complicated and hardest "hello world" in the world ;] and it's not working. Don't know tried to change variables only static noise.. Should be radio stations on that freq. But hear nothing maybe my hackrf is broken.

[@GreatScottGadgets]

For support, please open an issue on the HackRF repository: github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf/

[@mabmab6365]

how to find source>osmocom ?

[@GreatScottGadgets]

You can download gr-osmosdr separately from osmocom.org/projects/gr-osmosdr/wiki/GrOsmoSDR

[@mabmab6365]

@@GreatScottGadgets thank you so mutch , and WX GUI instrument also ?

[@BlissetEris]

@@mabmab6365 Use QT GUI Frequency Sink instead.

[@deadbugengineering3330]

My comments with hints about getting this demo to work under Linux Mint 21.2 keep getting deleted by our overlords. Interesting.

[@arcade7651]

How would I get it to work on mint?

[@deadbugengineering3330]

@@arcade7651 I've posted the "deleted" comment on the hackRF discord 6 days ago.

[@ramjet4025]

What a pity others are copying this video.

[@foresttalker9088]

by 14.04.2024 is somehow outdated, no osmocom in gnu-radio companion

[@RobinVeldhuis]

I found it using ctrl + F and typing the name, the WX one I could not find though. Am running a Windows install, so it may be different availability of modules.

[@TrevorVanDerLinden]

Why are you using WX which has been discontinued now for 10+ years. It doesn't exist making what could be a great tutorial useless. Please try again using something that we can use like QT.

[@GreatScottGadgets]

As mentioned in the video description, this series is from 2014. There are also tips in the description on how to switch to QT.

[@danfarthing4332]

I can't for the life of me get osmosdr to work in Ubuntu. Keep getting some spdlogConfig.cmake error, Oh well, doesn't work

[@GreatScottGadgets]

Please make sure you have downloaded gr-osmosdr as suggested in the video description.