Homebrew & Ham-Flavored SDRs

The "I want to operate ham radio, but with SDR architecture I can hack" category. These are full ham transceivers — open hardware, licensed-amateur-only operation, intended for HF QSOs not protocol RE. They're distinct from the SDR Transceivers category (HackRF / LimeSDR / Pluto) because they have band-pass filters, real PAs, antenna tuners, and ham-band-only firmware. Cross-link with Ham Rig Control (Hamlib), Ham Digital Modes, Spectrum & VNAs (NanoVNA for tune-up).

Open-hardware HF SDR transceivers

• ★ Hermes Lite 2 — KF7O (Steve Haynal); fully open-source HF SDR transceiver. 160 m – 10 m, 5 W output, full-duplex, direct-sampling RX, network connection (Ethernet) to host. Pairs with piHPSDR (Linux) or Thetis (Windows) for full panadapter operation. Sold as kit and assembled (Makerfabs, ~$300). The "ham radio HackRF." Open-hardware (CC), open firmware (GPL).
  • http://www.hermeslite.com
• Anan-7000DLE / Anan-8000DLE (Apache Labs) — productized Hermes-derivative HF SDRs; 100 W output; commercial; ~$3000–4500. Closed firmware on top of the open Hermes architecture. Used with Thetis / piHPSDR.
• OpenHPSDR (Hermes / Hermes Lite original) — older open-hardware SDR family; superseded by Hermes Lite 2.
• HPSDR Mercury / Penelope / Ozy — pre-Hermes-era OpenHPSDR cards; legacy.

Kit transceivers — digital modes

• ★ QRP Labs QDX — Hans Summers G0UPL; $90 fully-assembled or kit HF digital-modes transceiver. Four bands (e.g., 80/40/30/20 m), 5 W out, USB direct-to-PC for FT8 / FT4 / WSPR / JS8 — built-in sound card and CAT. The cheapest path into HF FT8. The right tool for SOTA / POTA / digital-only operators. Assembled (small SMD-prebuilt) or fully-kit. Open-ish (schematics free; firmware closed but generous).
  • https://qrp-labs.com/qdx.html
• ★ QRP Labs QMX — Hans Summers; ~$150 kit; multimode (CW + SSB + digital), 5-band (80/60/40/30/20 or other), 5 W out, larger than QDX. Newer 2024 product; very popular.
• QRP Labs QCX / QCX+ / QCX-mini — single-band CW transceiver kits; classic 5 W CW QRP rigs; ~$50–80 + case.
• uBITX — Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE; HF SSB + CW transceiver kit; 160 m – 10 m, 10 W; classic open-hardware design (CC). $100–150 kit. Open everything (schematic, firmware).
  • http://www.hfsignals.com/
• Pixie / Pixie 2 — single-band CW kit transceiver; under $20; iconic minimalist project; barely usable on the air but a great learning tool.
• MTR4-CW / MTR3B / MTR5B (Steve Weber KD1JV) — multi-band CW QRP kits; sunset but used.

Kit / commercial QRP analog rigs

• Elecraft K1 / K2 / KX1 / KX2 / KX3 — Elecraft's QRP HF rigs; kits or assembled; legendary. KX2 is the field-portable favorite. Closed firmware, paid, $400 (KX1 kit) – $1500 (KX3).
• Elecraft K4 — flagship modern HF SDR transceiver; closed; ~$4000.
• Lab599 Discovery TX-500 — small QRP HF SDR; closed; ~$700.
• Xiegu G90 / X6100 / X6200 — Chinese-made HF SDRs; ~$450; closed firmware; surprising capability for the price; loved by SOTA ops.
• Icom IC-705 — portable HF/VHF/UHF all-mode; the modern luxury portable; closed; ~$1300.

Software for these rigs

• ★ piHPSDR — Linux / Pi; the FOSS panadapter / radio control for Hermes / Anan / Hermes Lite 2; full waterfall, dual receivers, CAT integration, audio routing. GPL. Run on a Pi 4/5 with a touchscreen for a "self-contained desktop SDR rig" experience.
  • https://github.com/dl1ycf/pihpsdr
• Thetis — Windows .NET; the Anan / Hermes Windows panadapter; GPLv3 (W4WMT). Rich UI, dual receivers, full SDR features.
• PowerSDR / openHPSDR-PowerSDR — older; superseded by Thetis on Windows.
• Quisk (Jim AB1BO) — Python-based panadapter for older HPSDR / SoftRock SDRs; mature; FOSS.
• SmartSDR — FlexRadio's closed app for Flex 6000 / 8000.

Companion / accessory hardware

• ★ NanoVNA-H4 / LiteVNA-64 — see Spectrum & VNAs; essential for tuning antennas for these rigs. ~$100–170.
• TinySA Ultra — see same; spectrum analyzer for PA harmonics measurement on a homebrew transceiver.
• MFJ-259C / RigExpert AA-55ZOOM — older standalone antenna analyzers; superseded by NanoVNA for most uses.
• Begali / Bencher paddle + WinKey USB — see Ham CW & Morse; for CW operation.
• End-fed half-wave (EFHW) antenna — the single most popular portable HF antenna in 2026; pair with QDX / KX2 / G90 + a tree.

Practical guidance

• License first. Operating a transmitter on ham bands requires an amateur license. All transmit hardware here is for licensed operators only.
• Output spurious emissions. Open kit transceivers (QDX, uBITX, Hermes Lite 2) need verification with a spectrum analyzer (TinySA Ultra suffices) before going on the air. 2nd / 3rd harmonics typically need additional output filtering.
• Hermes Lite 2 + piHPSDR + an external PA + an antenna tuner = a real shack for ~$700 total. Compares well to an Icom IC-7300 ($1100) on capability if you don't mind tinkering.
• QDX is "set and forget." Plug USB to PC, antenna to BNC, tune your antenna with a NanoVNA, run WSJT-X. Six hours of FT8 fun, total budget $90 + a wire dipole.
• Heat and duty cycle. Open-source 5 W rigs are not rated for 100% RTTY duty cycle for hours. WSPR is fine; FT8 (50% TX) marginal; RTTY (100% TX) is rough. Add a heatsink or step down power.
• Test on a dummy load first. Always. For every change.
• The community. QRP-Labs forum, Hermes Lite 2 groups.io list, openHPSDR groups.io list — these are the support channels. The vendors are tiny; community knowledge is often deeper than vendor docs.

License / pricing notes

• Hermes Lite 2 / uBITX / piHPSDR / Thetis / Quisk — open hardware (CC) and FOSS firmware/software (GPL).
• QRP Labs QDX / QMX / QCX — schematics free; firmware closed but actively maintained by Hans Summers; legendary support.
• Anan / Apache Labs / Elecraft / Icom / Yaesu / Kenwood — closed firmware; commercial pricing.
• Xiegu / Lab599 — closed firmware; affordable Chinese / Russian commercial rigs.
• No license required for receive-only versions of these architectures (Hermes-RX, Andrus radios) but every full transceiver is amateur-only.

Pick this if…

• Default open-source HF SDR shack: Hermes Lite 2 + piHPSDR + a Pi 5 + a wire dipole.
• Cheapest entry into HF FT8 / digital modes: QRP Labs QDX, $90.
• Multi-mode kit: QRP Labs QMX or uBITX.
• Single-band CW kit: QRP Labs QCX-mini.
• Field / portable luxury: Elecraft KX2 (paid) or Xiegu G90 (cheap).
• Commercial reliability without compromise: Icom IC-7300 (low end) / IC-7610 / IC-705 / Elecraft K4.
• Higher power Hermes architecture: Anan-7000DLE.