so ive been running an RTL-SDR v3 for about a year now and honestly its been great for learning but im starting to feel the limitations especially on HF where the direct sampling mode is just kind of mediocre. been looking at either picking up a HackRF One or an SDRplay RSP1A and i cant really decide which direction to go.

the HackRF is tempting because of the transmit capability even though i know its not a great transmitter by any stretch, and the frequency range going up to 6GHz is kind of interesting for poking around at stuff. but the RSP1A seems like it would just be a better receiver across the board, the 14-bit ADC vs the HackRFs 8-bit makes a pretty big difference from what ive read and the sensitivity specs look a lot better for actual HF work.

mostly what i want to do is monitor HF shortwave, maybe some utility stuff, WSPR decoding, that kind of thing. not really doing any transmitting since im just a tech class right now. using SDR# mostly but ive been messing around with GQRX on linux too. anyone gone through this same decision? feel like i keep going in circles reading reviews online

went through almost exactly this about two years ago. ended up going RSP1A and havent regretted it. for pure receive work especially on HF the difference is night and day compared to the dongle. the 14-bit ADC really does matter when youre trying to pull weak signals out next to strong broadcast stations, the RTL just gets overwhelmed in ways the SDRplay doesnt.

HackRF is cool but its kind of a jack of all trades master of none situation. the 8-bit ADC hurts it on receive and the noise floor is noticeably higher. its more of a dev/research tool than something you sit down and actually use for monitoring. if you ever upgrade your license and want to do some low power experimenting with it thats one thing but for what youre describing the RSP1A is the obvious pick. SDRuno took some getting used to but its actually pretty solid once you figure out the layout, and it works fine with SDR# too if you grab the API.

the hackrf transmit thing is kind of a trap honestly, output power is like 10-15mW on a good day and the spurious emissions are not great so its not really useful for anything serious. i have one and mostly use it for replay attack stuff and poking at ISM band things, not really radio monitoring.

for WSPR and HF utility listening just get the RSP1A, pair it with a decent antenna and SDRangel or even just SDR# with the right plugins and youll be happy. wsjtx plays nice with it too if you want to do digital modes properly down the road.