Great Scott Gadgets has launched an accessory designed to improve the flexibility of its popular HackRF One Software Defined Radio (SDR) board — by piggybacking on top to provide antenna switching functionality: changed The name is Opera Cake.
“This add-on board has two primary ports, each connected to one of the eight secondary ports, making it ideal for use as a pair of 1×4 switches or as a single 1×8 switch. It’s been optimized,” explains Brittany of Great Scott Gadgets. “Straithe” Postnikov on the device. “Opera Cake for HackRF One can be controlled manually using command line software. hackrf_operacakeAlternatively, you can configure HackRF One’s firmware to automatically switch Opera Cake ports based on frequency or time. ”
The new Opera Cake aims to increase the flexibility of the HackRF One SDR with automatic antenna switching. (📷: Great Scott Gadget)
Configured as a 1×8 switch, Opera Cake acts as a simple antenna switcher. Freedom to connect different antennas to one HackRF and move from high frequency (HF) to very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) as needed, from omnidirectional to directional, without having to mess with wires switch to . Or even a dish antenna for satellite work.
On the other hand, using Opera Cake as a pair of 1×4 switches gives you additional functionality. It’s the ability to set it up as a switch filter bank. “To do this, connect ports A1 to B1, A2 to B2, A3 to B3, A4 to B4 via physical SMA filters and cabling of your choice,” Straithe explains. increase. “This setup allows you to modify your transmit or receive to pass through your chosen filter without having to reconnect your hardware each time you want to use a different filter.”
The tool also supports operation as a switch filter bank, allowing automatic or manual filter selection. (📷: Great Scott Gadget)
Control can be switched manually using the command line utility or automatically as needed. The latest official HackRF One software bundle includes integrated support for Opera Cake, including the ability to automatically switch depending on the signal of interest.
Details are now up on Opera Cake, available from Great Scott Gadgets resellers for $190. to the official product page; additional details can be found In the HackRF documentation.
