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Monday, June 23, 2025
First Images from the Vera Rubin Observatory (in Chile) Were Posted Today
Saturday, June 21, 2025
My Eleven Contacts using the SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver -- It is NOT a toy!
I have made 11 contacts using the SolderSmoke Direct Conversion receiver. Ten of the 11 were after June 3, 2025. This was in very casual operation, operating with less than 1 watt with a dipole antenna.
1. The first of course was back in February 2023 with W4AMV. On this one I was using a simple "10 Minute Transmitter" that I threw together thinking that I would use it to demonstrate the receiver to our high school students. "Wait a minute," I thought. I called CQ and W4AMV answered. I was running about 100 mW. He too was using homebrew gear. https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/02/first-qso-with-high-school-receiver-100.html
2, 3, 4. On June 4, 2025 I again fired up the 10 minute transmitter. My T/R scheme was VERY simple: I have an MFJ coax switch that I use to select the rigs that will connect to my various antennas. On the antenna switch I selected my 40 meter dipole. I ran two pieces of coax from two different positions on the MFJ switch. One I marked RX, the other TX. The transmitter and the receiver were working off 9 volt batteries. I quickly worked N2WJW. Gil in New Jersey. But I noticed that the 10 Minute rig was drifting. So I pulled out my trusty old Tuna Tin 2 transmitter and used it to heartlessly replace the 10 Minute Transmitter. Now with SEVERAL HUNDRED milliwatts, I worked W2XS, John in New York on June 5, 2025. Later that same day I worked N9FGC in Indiana.
5. My most amazing contact came on June 7, 2025. Here is my log entry: 40CW K1OA First 2 way contact with station also using a SolderSmoke DC Receiver!At around 0630 EDT on June 7, 2025 I heard K1OA calling CQ on 7030 kHz CW. This was exactly where I had a crystal. I called him, but he didn't hear me. I sent him an e-mail. We tried again -- he heard me calling him and I heard him responding by calling me, but I don't think we succeeded in exchanging signal reports. It was close, but no cigar. I had to walk the dog. Scott and I agreed to meet on 7030 kHz at 0730 EDT. Arggh. There was a QSO there. I thought we might have to try to change frequency, but this would have been tough because both of us were crystal controlled on transmit. Fortunately, the contact on 7030 kHz wrapped up. Scott called me, I responded, and we were able to exchange signal reports. I was so excited that I almost forgot to hit the record button on my phone. But I caught the last minute or so.This was really something. This really goes to prove what Dean and I have been saying all along: this receiver is not a toy! It can be used for real ham radio contacts. And now we have had these receivers on both ends of a contact. For transmit, Scott was using a KA4KXX transmitter with about 3 watts output. I was on my Tuna Tin 2 at about half a watt output.
6, 7, 8. Later on June 7, 2025 I worked an old friend, Jim W1PID. Jim is a friend of Homebrew Hero Mike AA1TJ, and was involved in Mike's effort to cross the Atlantic with a voice-powered rig. Jim also was one of my contacts with the ET-2 QRPppp rig. I also worked WZ2J Vin in NJ. I also worked John W2XS again.
9. June 11, 2025 (Really evening of 10 June 2025) Famous homebrewer, Anchorologist, Heatkit authority and fellow member of the QRP Hall of Fame Mike Bryce called me! 40CW 0034 WB8VGE Mike Bryce came back to my CQ! Mike wrote: Nothing like quartz locked frequency control!You know it sounded pretty damn good at 500mW. You were holding your own until QSB would take you out in a deep fade. But all in all, one hell of great QRP QSO.I was running my Ten Tec Scout that I had just put back together a couple of days ago. Got around to putting the case back on it tonight, and had it cooking in the back ground just listening to the stations come and go. I had worked a few POTA stations near by and found a quite spot. I was working on a project when I heard your CQ through the din of the 40M band. Glad I took a break and worked your QRPp signalbest 73 QRP # 4816 You get a QSL for that QSO!
Here's my post about Mike, WB8VGE: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2018/09/wb8vge-on-qso-today-qrp-hb-boatanchors.html
10. Around June 11, 2025 I worked W4MY in a contest.
11. On June 12, 2925 I worked some DX with the rig. It was VA3ICC, Ian in Ontario.
Mike KM5Z's SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver
After all, if an idea is worth doing, then... it's worth overdoing.I used a Milwaukee 1/4" Diamond Max hole saw to cut circles for the solder-points. Everything else is ground. Later, I found that I missed a point, so I used a single "MePAD" glued in that spot.I found the default audio amp to be a bit quiet. I plan to replace it with the 'push-pull' version. I'm definitely keeping this to hang up on the wall.
Thursday, June 19, 2025
More on Agent Sonya
I had completely forgotten that my blog had at least two posts on Agent Sonya way back in 2009. I know there is a lot of interest in her alleged radio derring-do.
Here are the two blog posts from 2009:
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2009/08/sonya-had-knack.html
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2009/09/sonyas-rig.html
And here is my 2025 post on Sonya:
https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2025/04/agent-sonya-did-soviet-spies-really.html
One friend recently mentioned that we have not seen any museum evidence of these kinds of homebrew spy rigs. If this really was a widespread practice, you would expect to find at least ONE of these rigs in a museum somewhere. Has anyone seen this kind of thing?
Here is something more recent about Sonya from the National WWII Museum in New Orleans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU9-APiIUaQ
The Macintyre interview is really interesting. A friend told me that he is a very serious writer on the topic of espionage, whose assertions have to be taken seriously. For our purproses, here are some highllights:
22:18 Sonya goes through Soviet Spy School and is trained on how to build radios.
24:50 In China under Japanese occupation, had bamboo poles supporting antenna over her house!
25:40 Transferred to Switzerland, "built another radio."
34:18 Transferred to UK, built a "powerful radio transmitter in her loo."
51:41 Macintyre refers to Sonya as "the only Soviet radio operator in Switzerland."
So, I still don't know about the claim that Sonya was homebrewing radios. It does appear that Sonya was building them. But it also seems like she was more of a radio operator than she was a spy... Perhaps the Soviets didn't see the same distinction that we do. Still, it would be nice to find in a museum somewhere at least one example of Sonya-style homebrew radio.
Macintyre says that "all biography is burglary." What would autobiography be?
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Hall of Fame Update: 81 Completed SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receivers, with 7 Honorable Mentions. More receivers are being built. As of June 21, 2025 1126Z
Please let us know if you spot any errors, or if we have inadvertently missed anyone. Don't worry about being late to the game -- the challenge continues. All of the info is still available (see below).
For more information on how you too can build the receiver:
Join the discussion - SolderSmoke Discord Server:
Documentation on Hackaday:
https://hackaday.io/project/
SolderSmoke YouTube channel:
Steve WD4CFN's FB Mid-Tennessee SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Sunday, June 15, 2025
A Nice Quick HW-101 Restoration Video
This video is almost enough to get me to work on my old HW-101.
Pete N6QW has been working on an HW-32A monobander. Some of the info in this video might be applicable.
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Car Talk
Dewey, Cheatham & Howe! Right in the window!
How computers in cars have killed the joy. "There is just not a lot to be in love with anymore."
"The show sounds like the kind of thing you'd hear on a high school PA system." Indeed.
Other influences: Jean Shepherd. HCJB. Radio Moscow. More to follow.
Here is their 1999 MIT Commencement Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWG1Yxoa_Os
Friday, June 13, 2025
Britain's Secret Listeners
Today Hack-A-Day has an unsually good report on Britain's Voluntary Interceptors. I was especially touched by the story of the guy who provided reports while still bedridden from devastating wounds received in World War I.
https://hackaday.com/2025/06/12/crowdsourcing-sigint-ham-radio-at-war/#more-786810
I've had the video on the SolderSmoke blog several times. It is so good that it warrants inclusion yet again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwbzV2Jx5Qo&t=228s
That regen looks a lot like the one I bought at the Kempton Park rally (London) so long ago. I still have it. And those headphones found in the old "radar" station look a lot like some that I have in my shack today. And of course there is that HRO dial. I build a whole receiver around that gem from Armand WA1UQO.
I thought the comments on the ability to detect the nationality of the enemy operator from his Morse Code "fist" (sending style) was very interesting.
Three cheers for the Voluntary Interceptors!