HackRF/June 2016
From charlesreid1
Notes from June 2016 - getting the HackRF up and operational, in preparation for a ham shack, antenna, and Defcon.
I was running a MacBook Pro, OS X 10.11.4. The HackRF was running the 2014-08 firmware.
Installing
To get the HackRF working, you need to install GnuRadio - not a trivial task. A bit of advice:
- Check that you will have the latest-and-greatest Gnuradio, 3.7.8. Even minor version numbers like 3.7.5 can cause other things to break.
- Some operating systems only have the latest-and-greatest in the unstable/bleeding-edge repositories (like Debian - the stable branch installs Gnuradio 3.7.5 and breaks all your hackrf stuff, while the unstable Sid branch installs Gnuradio 3.7.8, and will probably break everything except your hackrf stuff.)
- If you can abstract away the details, and avoid installing everything from source, by all means do it. Choose your operating system wisely. HackRF folks recommend Pentoo. Take the hint.
Mac
Instructions for using the HackRF via the Mac: HackRF/Mac
VirtualBox
Instructions for using the HackRF via a VirtualBox (only if you have a beefy machine): HackRF/VirtualBox
Links
Getting started notes for the HackRF: https://github.com/mossmann/hackrf/wiki/Getting-Started-with-HackRF-and-GNU-Radio
Getting started notes for osmocom blocks/modules: http://gmr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/GettingStarted
Gnuradio tutorials (meh): http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki/Guided_Tutorials
osmocom transmission? I don't know: https://github.com/osmocom/osmo-trx
GSM sniffing (do this later): http://www.instructables.com/id/SMART-SNIFFING-GSM-TRAFFIC-ON-WINDOWS-WORKSTATION-/