KrakenSDR

KrakenSDR Vehicle Radio Direction Finding Demonstrations

KrakenSDR Vehicle Radio Direction Finding Demonstrations

In this test KrakenSDR is used on a vehicle as a Radio Direction Finder (RDF) with a 5-element circular antenna array made up of mag-whip antennas on the roof of the vehicle. The Android app logs the RDF bearings generated by the KrakenSDR and calculates cross points, eventually determining an estimated location of the transmitter once enough data is available. The GPS navigation feature helps the driver safely navigate to the estimate location without having to look at the screen too often. The demo also shows how the KrakenSDR automatically recalibrates on frequency change. Unlike the KerberosSDR it is no longer necessary to manually disconnect the antennas and then recalibrate during each frequency retune.

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How The KrakenSDR Located Our Repeater Jammer In 1 Hour

How The KrakenSDR Located Our Repeater Jammer In 1 Hour.

Overview of the KrakenRF RF Locator

In this video I read the story of how we caught the jammer that had been jamming our GMRS repeater for months, and how by using the Kraken SDR Radio Direction Finder (RF locator), we were at his house in 1 hour. The KrakenSDR can track a signal being transmitted from 100Mhz to 1Ghz - so I can track ham repeater jammers, GMRS repeater jammers, ham-radio transmitters, GMRS radios - pretty much any transmitter with a signal strong enough for you to receive. KrakenRF did not send me this KrakenSDR - it was purchased at full price, and I have received nothing in return from Kraken for making this video.

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https://groups.io/g/KRAKENSDR

KrakenRF KrakenSDR and Kraken Antenna Set Unboxing

KrakenRF KrakenSDR and KrakenAntenna Set Unboxing

A simple and quick unboxing video showing the KrakenRF KrakenSDR and Antenna set packages. This is setup is designed for use in direction finding. Paired with an Android phone or tablet, and a Raspberry Pi 4 or computer, and you have yourself a mobile DFing setup.

KrakenSDR Radio Direction Finding Retune with Autocalibration

KrakenSDR is a 5-tuner coherent software defined radio based on RTL-SDR. It is the successor to the KerberosSDR and will be crowdfunded in 2021. In this test KrakenSDR is used as a radio direction finder to determine the bearing towards various commercial transmitter towers located around the antenna. The test shows how the KrakenSDR automatically recalibrates on frequency change. Unlike the KerberosSDR it is no longer necessary to manually disconnect the antennas and then recalibrate during each frequency retune. The DSP software running on the Raspberry Pi is entirely open source and available at https://github.com/krakenrf

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KrakenSDR Unboxing / Prep & Setup device & antennas

This is part 1 of a few videos on the KrakenSDR. Here I explain what is needed, and how to set up the Kraken before going on a Direction Finding mission. I needed to add multiple items to the kit that arrived, and there was some set up to do. Join me as I explore what is involved in getting the Kraken up and running.

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KerberosSDR Direction Finding With Android App Demo and Tutorial

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KrakenSDR

A coherent radio allows for very interesting applications, such as radio direction finding, and beamforming. Some use cases include:Physically locating an unknown transmitter of interest (e.g. illegal or interfering broadcasts, noise transmissions, or just as a curiosity)

HAM radio experiments such as radio fox hunts or monitoring repeater abuse
Tracking assets, wildlife, or domestic animals outside of network coverage through the use of low power beacons
Locating emergency beacons for search-and-rescue teams
Locating lost ships via VHF radio
Beamforming
Interferometry for radio astronomy

KrakenSDR Vehicle Radio Direction Finding Demonstrations

KrakenSDR is a 5-tuner coherent software defined radio based on RTL-SDR. It is the successor to the KerberosSDR and will be crowdfunded in 2021. In this test KrakenSDR is used on a vehicle as a Radio Direction Finder (RDF) with a 5-element circular antenna array made up of mag-whip antennas on the roof of the vehicle. The Android app logs the RDF bearings generated by the KrakenSDR and calculates cross points, eventually determining an estimated location of the transmitter once enough data is available. The GPS navigation feature helps the driver safely navigate to the estimate location without having to look at the screen too often.

KrakenSDR Review

I was surprised at how much this has improved over the original KerberosSDR. When I received mine I was blown away with the quality of the unit and the packaging. The software on the pi image and the android app is much more polished and professional feeling too.

KerberosSDR Tracking a Weather Balloon Radiosonde with Radio Direction Finding

Testing direction finding with a KerberosSDR and an Arrow 406 MHz 4-element KerberosSDR antenna array on a meteorological weather balloon. The bearing from KerberosSDR is compared against the GPS data received from a meteorological weather balloon transmitting RS41. The first half of the video shows the RS41 decoder map with GPS coordinates of the balloon overlayed on top of the KerberosSDR Android bearing display. The second half shows the same experiments again, but with the KerberosSDR DoA graph and a separate SDR# instance showing signal strength on the waterfall. Good bearings are obtained most of the time. When it goes off the mark this is usually when the balloons line of sight to the antenna array is obscured by something like the terrain, buildings, or trees. The KerberosSDR is running on a Raspberry Pi 4. It is running unreleased beta code which can handle intermittent signals like RS41 better. This code will be released within 1-2 months.

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KrakenSDR Antenna Template Car

I did my ‘template’ a bit simpler. Created a cardboard triangle with 72 degrees angle. Set a magnet as center, and used the triangle to position the antennas on the car roof. For home use, I created an aluminum 5 arm antenna frame - again by drilling 5 sets of alligned holes in a center plate - and 72 degrees between each set of holes. Then drilled matching holes in 5 L shaped arms, assembled with screws. For now I used the supplied mag-mount antennas - minus the mag mount on the frame, but looking for hardware to create 5 dipoles

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