[Hackrf-dev] Possibly Defective HackRF One?

[Vitor Augusto]

I have some problems in receiving signal close to 1GHz with my Hackrf
One. The case is that my board functinos to frequencies below 500MHz.
For example, I can receive FM stations, poorly, with some noise in the
output. Above 500MHz, Hackrf One becomes useless with or without
antenna. But in a dongle SDR even without antenna the reception is
better. I did some frequency analysis with a constallation diagram and
notice what happens with the diagram when increasing frequency. The
images is in the album below.

http://imgur.com/a/b7mkG#0

I really want to know if this problem is the same as yours because we
might reach a conclusion that some units are really with problem.

Now, I don't know if I spend money buying another antenna or just ask
(can I?) my money back.

On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 9:16 PM, Norm <indy747 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Todd Harrison <toddrharrison at ...> writes:
>
>>
>>
>> I'm in just about the same boat. However, I got my HackRF One from the
> kickstarter campaign. I'm not ready to give up just yet because I'm
> going through Michael Ossmann's video lessons and using Pentoo. I
> haven't been getting satisfactory reception from Windows software even
> when using a great 20 meter band loop antenna that is 15 feet off the
> ground. I'm just hoping the Linux setup and software gives better
> results, however, broadcast radio receptions was poor during the first
> video tutorial on Pentoo. I have also update the firmware and CPLD from
> Pentoo. I have not transmitted yet. I'm not a very experienced ham or
> SDR user so I will have to draw my conclusions once I'm done with all
> the video lessons.
>> Todd Harrison
>> www.ToddFun.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 12:51 PM, Scott Halligan <scott-
> Rwy3Yy+Dy4zR7s880joybQ at public.gmane.org> wrote:Hi,
>> I am coming to the unfortunate conclusion that I may have a defective
> HackRF One. I purchased it via NooElec and received it back in August.
> Since day one I have noticed reception to be overall poor when compared
> to other devices, both standard scanner/receivers, my bladeRF, and even
> sadly an RTL dongle. I operate in Windows exclusively (except obviously
> for firmware update; see below).
>> I initially chalked this up to my inexperience with finding the right
> balance of gain and filtering, but I'm at the point now where I really
> don't think it's me any longer. I am not using an ANT500; in each case I
> am comparing using the same software, MSPS, bandwidth, etc along with
> various external tower mounted antenna both at home and at work (local
> PD with scanner antenna on tower). Sadly without fail in each case the
> HackRF One is coming up in last place. The final straw was viewing known
> signals between 154-156 MHz using SDR# and comparing the HackRF One to
> the RTL dongle. Signals are louder, stronger, and clearer with the RTL
> dongle.
>> I have updated the HackRF One to the latest firmware and CPLD using
> Pentoo. Both went without a hitch. I have not made any efforts to crack
> the case to see if anything appears obvious, considering it might void
> any warranty. I have not transmitted at all with it, nor have I had it
> near any strong RF sources.
>> I'm sure a few folks may continue to think that my inexperience is the
> culprit, but I doubt that is the case at this point. I'm willing to send
> it back to have it looked at if that's feasible.
>> Thanks in advance for any suggestions/assistance.
>
> Did you ever get any resolution to this?  I purchased two HackRF's
> (Kickstarter and Nooelec) and one has issues (extra noise, reduced
> sensitivity, lna appears broken).  I've sent Mike a number of messages,
> but he will not respond.  This has been going on since I got them in
> late August.  Nooelec sent a couple of messages also, with no response.
> It would seem that many stores are selling this item, but do not offer
> any warranty at all, they just refer you back to Mike - who will not
> respond.  Doing more searches now, I can see there are others out there
> with defective units - after the huge delays in delivery this is beyond
> frustrating...Does anyone know how to warranty this through Mike?
>
> Norm
>
>
>
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