Scale RF QuadRF
Software defined radio in Tools & making
Praised as a cheap 4x4 MIMO software-defined radio for finding hidden RF sources; critics say its frequency range and detection angle are narrow.
Praised as a cheap 4x4 MIMO software-defined radio for finding hidden RF sources; critics say its frequency range and detection angle are narrow.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Cheap for a 4x4 MIMO SDR
“you can get full-duplex all digital phased arrays for cheap”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Rotman Lens” “$500 is a surprisingly good price for a 4x4 mimo SDR.”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” “commoditized to a system cheaper than gaming console”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” Clever Raspberry Pi hardware hack
“wrung such exceptional RF instantaneous bandwidth out of an RPI alternative interface”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” “The QuadRF using the rpi's mipi connector was such a glorious hack!”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Turn a WiFi 7 Router into a 320Msps Software Defined Radio Receiver” Cool new 4x4 MIMO design
“Product looks cool, not sure what I’ll use it for but did just purchase it on crowdsupply”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” “a brand new 4x4 MIMO software-defined radio built from the ground up”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” “Super cool project I've been following for a while.”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” - Comment from 11 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Narrow frequency range and visibility
“It's a really neat device, but people should realize that it has a very narrow visibility.”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” “this configuration only supports a relatively narrow frequency range”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” “people should realize that it has a very narrow visibility”
Comment from 11 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” - Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall”
Cannot detect 2.4GHz WiFi or wired
“If it's 2.4ghz WiFi, or Ethernet wired, or it's just recording to an sd card, it can't be detected using the quadRF.”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Eye of Sauron: Long-Range Hidden Spy Camera Detection (2024)” “This does look cool - but I suspect most of the stuff I'd use it with is 2.4 Ghz”
Comment from 11 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” Price above what was first promised
“I really can't quite afford $1000 for the $1+$6 pack.”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “Seeing the world in radio waves with the QuadRF” “Point still stands that they initially said it would be $50-$100.”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall” “Being off by a bit is fine. Being off by 5x to 10x is.. Yikes.”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scale RF QuadRFThis page | 19 | 4 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
| HackRF One | 10 | 2 | 83% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
24 of the 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The QuadRF using the rpi's mipi connector was such a glorious hack!”
“If it's 2.4ghz WiFi, or Ethernet wired, or it's just recording to an sd card, it can't be detected using the quadRF.”
“seems to be more practical”
“Really cool! Just ordered one.”
“This does look cool - but I suspect most of the stuff I'd use it with is 2.4 Ghz”
“people should realize that it has a very narrow visibility”
“it's available for purchase for a reasonable price”
“it's not anywhere near the state of the art in the space”
“Product looks cool, not sure what I’ll use it for but did just purchase it on crowdsupply”
“Super cool project I've been following for a while.”
“It's a really neat device, but people should realize that it has a very narrow visibility.”
“$500 is a surprisingly good price for a 4x4 mimo SDR.”
“commoditized to a system cheaper than gaming console”
“a brand new 4x4 MIMO software-defined radio built from the ground up”
“wrung such exceptional RF instantaneous bandwidth out of an RPI alternative interface”
“It's relatively narrowband and not the frequency you usually have issues with EMC on”
“This seems more useful for finding unknown or hidden RF sources, for instance looking thorugh an entire building”
“this configuration only supports a relatively narrow frequency range”
“It also appears to have a fairly narrow detection angle.”
“I don't see any professionals turning to this for EMC/EMI testing, they already have all the test equipment for that job.”
“Point still stands that they initially said it would be $50-$100.”
“Being off by a bit is fine. Being off by 5x to 10x is.. Yikes.”
“you can get full-duplex all digital phased arrays for cheap”
“I really can't quite afford $1000 for the $1+$6 pack.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.