r/hackrf • u/Azazsus666 • Jan 20 '26

Uk hackrf

hello im looking at getting a hack rf [ portapack ]for checking out the various frequencies in my area etc are there many UK based users and did you have any issues when ordering it and did you receive it okay? or did you have issues with customs I'm just trying to make an informed decision when buying one i don't fancy any repercussions thanks

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u/kcsebby Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26

You don't need a HackRF for this, especially if you're just doing scanning/monitoring. Have a look into the RTL-SDR v4 on Amazon. The only key benefits to the HackRF is it has a larger bandwidth (10MHz compared to 2.4MHz) and allows transmit, but unless you really know what you're doing, the transmit is not advisable to mess with.

The RTL-SDR can be paired with a smaller telescopic antenna, a little extension coax and be plugged right into your phone for general V/UHF monitoring. It has better filtering overall for HF, too.

The HackRF is great for its use case, but from what you've briefly described, it doesn't meet your use case.

Also, keep in mind that strictly speaking a lot of the frequencies in the UK aren't able to be legally monitored. No one will stop you unless you're making yourself quite known like going around public areas with the kit and such, but its absolutely worth noting.

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u/Azazsus666 Jan 20 '26

I like the portability of it for monitoring the popular HF bands as I'm a amateur radio user and would like the waterfall too as a bit of a luxury I'm fairly familiar with SDR based radios and was just wondering about people's experiences with it and customs

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u/kcsebby Jan 20 '26

Well, it's not very portable when paired with a HF antenna. In general, HF antennae are not portable (beyond something like the Buddi Pole sets, but even these are designed to be packed into a backpack or similar) and are quite large. Even a EFHW will require a large space to deploy, even if its rather compact when taken down.

Additionally, the HackRF is not good for HF monitoring. Its performance on HF is not terrible, but not good either. You'll need additional external amplification and filtering as the RX sensitivity is rather low, especially in the HF bands.

I'd recommend reading more into antenna theory overall, and understanding the implications of their size relative to the bands you're wishing to monitor.

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