Note: The product is shipped without the 18650 Battery.
Please note – This product is not made by Great Scott Gadgets. "HackRF" is a trademark of Great Scott Gadgets. Permission to use the trademark with attribution to Great Scott Gadgets is granted to all licensees of HackRF for the sole purpose of naming or describing copies or derived works.
When we shipped the first batch of HackRF Pro and H4M Pro, the firmware flashed was modified based on the Mayhem firmware V2.4.0. Its name is Pro_v2.4.0. The version number you see in the bottom left corner when you turn on the computer is Pro_v2.4.0. If you want to copy the contents of the SD card, you can temporarily download the compressed file here https://github.com/OpenSourceSDRLab/mayhem-firmware/releases/tag/v2.4.0
If you use it, those APPS applications icons will no longer be grayed out and can now be used normally. Of course, you can also update the firmware to the official Mayhem firmware yourself, for example: https://github.com/portapack-mayhem/mayhem-firmware/releases You can choose the nightly version because firmware developers have recently done some new development work for HackRF Pro, as well as adaptation work for HackRF Pro and PortaPack H4M Pro. Thanks!
Picture of the 18650 lithium battery used in our testing process
Product Overview
The PortaPack H4M Pro is our Mayhem Signature-Edition handheld add-on for the HackRF Pro — an upgraded evolution of the classic H4M, refined together with the Mayhem firmware team. The headline change is power: we replaced the old 104050 pouch (soft-pack LiPo) cell with a standard, user-replaceable 18650 cylindrical lithium battery, giving you tool-free swaps and far more flexible runtime in the field.
Authenticity you can verify. Working with the Mayhem team, we redesigned the PCB silkscreen and added a discreet anti-counterfeiting pattern to the front board. We'll publish a dedicated video walking you through exactly how to confirm you have a genuine unit. Turn it over and the back PCB now carries even more Mayhem firmware developer names — a tribute to the community that built the project.
We also reworked the ergonomics: the speaker and microSD card slot have been repositioned for cleaner access and a more comfortable everyday feel. The result is a PortaPack that's more capable, more trustworthy, and easier to live with — built for makers, educators and ham enthusiasts who want a reliable handheld SDR.
Main hardware updates for the Mayhem Signature-Edition PortaPack H4M Pro:
The main change is the modification of the connector of the lithium battery, from the previous 104050 polymer lithium-ion battery (also known as soft pack lithium polymer battery) to 18650 cylindrical lithium battery.
With the help of the Mayhem team, the silkscreen of the product has been redesigned, and an anti-counterfeiting pattern has been added to the front PCB (we will record a video specifically to introduce to users how to distinguish the authenticity of the product). In addition, PortaPack H4M Pro has addedmore Mayhem firmware developer names to the back PCB.
Redesigned the position of the speaker and SD card slot.
Main hardware updates for the HackRF Pro:
Hardware Item
HackRF One
HackRF Pro
Main MCU
LPC4320
LPC4330
Logic Chip
CoolRunner-II CPLD
iCE40 UltraPlus FPGA
Flash Memory
8M-bit (W25Q80BV)
32M-bit (W25Q32)
RF Transceiver Chip
MAX2837 / MAX2839
MAX2831
ADC/DAC Chip
MAX5864
MAX5865
Working Frequency Range
1 MHz ~ 6 GHz
100 kHz ~ 6 GHz
Onboard Clock
No built-in TCXO
Built-in 25MHz 0.5ppm high-stability TCXO
USB Interface
Micro-B USB 2.0
USB-C USB 2.0
RF Shielding
Basic simple shielding
Reinforced internal RF shielding
Port Protection
Standard design
Enhanced antenna port surge protection
Firmware Expandability
Limited
Stronger expandability for custom firmware
Typical development work done by OpenSourceSDRLab to adapt the Mayhem firmware for HackRF Pro:
1. Optimized and repaired the transmitting functions of HackRF Pro and PortaPack H4M Pro, supporting stable transmission of POCSAG, APRS, ADS-B and other transmitting functions. The primary development work focused on refactoring clock configuration and FPGA register processing code for the Mayhem firmware stack.
2. Rectified the critical signal mode switching defect of HackRF Pro. Prior to the fix, when operating the device through PC client software, users were unable to switch between different transmission signal formats after sending the first type of signal, and had to perform hardware reset or USB reconnection manually. The submitted code eliminates this limitation and supports smooth switching of transmission signal types without physical reset.
3. Provided technical support to the Mayhem open-source community to fix the touchscreen unresponsive fault on PortaPack H4M Pro by adjusting pin multiplexing configuration.
4. Developed and integrated a new external clock detection mechanism to resolve the failure of TCXO clock oscillator identification on PortaPack H4M Pro.
Open Source Plan: The first batch of pre-sale orders (orders before July 12, 2026) are expected to receive their packages around July 30, 2026. We plan to collect customer feedback in about two weeks after the first batch of users receive it. Once all user feedback is collected, we will modify the hardware based on user needs and suggestions. We will open source H4M Pro PortaPack hardware around August 20, 2026.
Starting from July 30th, 2026, the first batch of packages will be received gradually
