Looking at upgrading my current RTL-SDR V3 setup for more serious satellite work, particularly LEO digital birds and maybe some EME experiments down the road. The RTL-SDRv3 clearly outperforms the HackRF One on receive, with significantly better audio quality even on broadcast FM stereo.

However, I'm intrigued by the HackRF's TX capability for legal experimental work. The new HackRF Pro has achieved improved performance by eliminating the DC spike and reducing strong signal mirror images compared to the original. For those running the RTL-SDR Blog V4, remember you need to install the custom drivers to make it work properly.

Has anyone done a side-by-side comparison for weak signal VHF/UHF satellite reception? I'm particularly interested in SSB/CW performance around 144 and 432 MHz.

The HackRF is great for testing TX/RX when creating with GNU Radio or playing with Arduino modules, but not so great for actual DXing work. For satellite work, you'd probably be much happier with an Airspy R2 or even sticking with your RTL-SDR V3 with a good preamp.

I've been using both for about six months. The HackRF One is fantastic for learning DSP concepts and experimenting with modulation schemes, but honestly, my $20 RTL-SDR dongle with an LNA4ALL preamp outperforms it significantly on receive. Software like SkyRoof supports RTL-SDR, Airspy, and SDRplay devices for satellite tracking and receiving ham radio satellites.

For serious satellite work, consider the Open.space project's software-defined radio-based tiling system for creating phased arrays, specifically designed for affordable Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) bounce communications using small antennas working together in sync. It's still in development but could be game-changing for EME on a budget.