137 Direct Conversion Receivers -- Recently Built in Bandung, Indonesia. But none in Japan, None in China, None in Africa, and only 1 in all of Latin America!

RX built in Bandung Indonesia -- Andri used an AF transtormer from an old Japanese receiver. 

Why have NO receivers been built in Japan?   And none in China.  Only one in all of Latin America. Not one in all of Africa.     

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. 

As of July 21,  2026 0930Z:

So far, total receivers built: 137 (129 plus 8 honorable mentions).  Total Count:  137.  Receivers built in 19 countries.   

NE3U (KY4EOD)  Matt 

KQ4AOP       First ham signals ever heard! 

N9TD             Derek

AC3NG          Ryan

VK3TPM       Peter Marks  

W4KAC         Ken 

W4KAC         Ken built a second one! 

N2EPE           Erik

VA3NCA        Wayde  (Canada)  

KI5SRY         Mark -- Gears on PTO screw

 

KA1MUQ       Frying pan receiver

AA1N              Adam

ZL1AUN         Aaron -- Using SSB transmitter -- (New Zealand)

W8UC             Never before homebrewed. 

VK4PG           Phil -- Nice case, "really pleased"

G7LQX           Working well, video of CW and SSB.  -- (England)

KE2AMP        John     Spring on PTO screw -- great

N9SZ              Steve  nice receiver

KD9NHZ        Piotr  Nice one

KE8ICE          Calvin, Very cool receiver. 

 

WV3V              Jayson!  Got it done!

GM5JDG         Martin.   -- (Scotland) 

KF8BOG          Jim:  A long struggle, but success.  

Chris Wales    Fantastic video.  -- (Wales)

YD9BAX         Wayan! Homebrew transformer!  (Indonesia)

N0NQD         Jeff 

WN3F              Roy -- Made new stickers! 

AB5XQ            Bill  

KB7ZUT          Andy  

AA1OF            Jer

VictorKees        Holland (Netherlands) 

KC9OJV           John -- Manhattan-style convert

WZ5M              1, 2 or maybe even 3 receivers!

K1KJW             Jim in Vermont

KC5DI              Dallas -- friend of WZ5M

Gary                 Australian -- Wooden PTO form (Australia) 

LU2VJM          Juan in Argentina  -- (Argentina)

K1OA               Scott "Most fun in 50 years"

KC9DLM         Ben -- Had EFHW problems

PH2LB             Lex  Yellow, Glue Stick -- (Netherlands)

AI6WR             David

G6GEV            Dave (It was a blast!)  (England)  

KC1ONM        Wayne  MakerLabs NH

KB1OIQ          Andy    MakerLabs NH

KA1PQK         Jay       MakerLabs NH

W1TKO           Mike    MakerLabs NH

K5KHK            Karl

SM0TPW         Mikael  -- (Sweden)

KI7LKB           Brian (coat hanger tube)

M6CRD            Chris  (England) 

W2DAB           Dave in NYC

W4JYK            Wes of VWS

KA4CDN          Mike of VWS

M7EFO             Adrian 

VK5RC             Rob  (Australia) 

KD8KHP          Dave

VK1CHW         Chris (Australia) 

KA0PHJ           Brian

W0IT                Louis

W1PJE             Phil

W2AEW           Alan

KN6FVK          John (Barkhausen-Be-Gone Spray) 

VU2JXN           Ramakrishnan -- (India)

AA0MS            Doug 

9V1/KM7ABZ   Paul  --  (Singapore)

VK2BLQ          Stephen -- (Australia)

N3FJZ              Rick

Daniel               VE5DLD  -- (Canada)

Student 1          Student of VE5DLD

Student 2          Student of VE5DLD

Student 3         Student of VE5DLD

K7WXW          Bill 

NK3H               Mitch

KN4ZXG         Ted

WA1MAC        Paul

N4AVC             Chuck 

K3IY                 Kevin

N6ASD             Ashish in Bangalore (India)

W1DSP             Rick

WD4CFN         Steve

KM5Z             Mike

KF5DAN         Dan

Fritz                 Fritz

N9OK              Joe

WA5DSS         Bill 

K0GDB           Grant

G0JNR            Shane Glow-in-Dark Coil Form

KK7BCO        Tobias

K2BVR            Bob

Robert              Sutton

K5YFO           Dave (Texas) 

KD4PBJ          Chris

KN4GAH        Chris -- EE perspective

F1GMA           Philippe  -- (France)

W2TEF            Todd

EI9ITB            Karl  -- (Ireland)

VU2TUM         Puneit Singh (India) 

AA7EE             Dave Richards

KI5VIR            Jay

CT7AXD       Graham -- Promoted from Honorable Mention! (Portugal)

G3MOT           Josh (England)

KW4H             Steve

NJ7V                Charlie (RedSummit)

N2ETZ            Denny

AB9LM           James

W9XT              Gary

G0PJT             Alex

KF8FZZ         Tyler

N7HPR           Steve (Instructor) (N7HPR Group)

Clark               (N7HPR Group)

KQ4ZHO        Kurt (N7HPR Group)

KQ4OBR        Brian (N7HPR Group)

KR4CUF         Justin (N7HPR Group)

Amanda          (N7HPR Group)

David               (N7HPR Group)

KM4AED       Jamey (N7HPR Group)

KN4MVH      Larry (N7HPR Group)

N5GVW          Dick (N7HPR Group)

W7KAL          Kal

KC9LFP         Joe

SP9DEL         Marian (Poland) 

LB8VA           Ivar (Norway)  

AA7FO          Chuck Adams! 

WE6Z            Doug

N7MN            Jason

VA2GJ           Gerald in Quebec

N6HA             Bill 

Andri             Bandung, West Java, (Indonesia)

Scott               K6AUS  

-------------------------

Honorable Mentions: 

*AA7U            Steve No PTO

*VK7IAN        Ian -- No Manhattan boards -- (Tasmania)

*KC1FSZ        Bruce's build on a PC board

* DL1AJG      Andreas -- (Germany)

* Matthew      Student of DL1AJG

* Arash           Student of DL1AJG 

*KA4KXX     Walter -- FB 20 Meter version

*M9KCA-ST2NH  Nader - LM386 in place of AF amp

SolderSmoke Podcast #265: AI Pete, WSPR, sBITX, San Diego, Last Ditcher, NYC, 17-12 Fix, MMM Blasphemy, 6T9er, MAILBAG

SolderSmoke Podcast #265 is ready for download. 

Video Version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jWYe6NxnJA

Audio Version:  http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke265.mp3

---------------------

Travelogue:  Pete to San Diego,  Dean to NYC,  Bill stays home. 

Field Day Report!   Dean?  Pete?  I had a bad back.  Really. 

The importance of "taking a break" discussed on "Hidden Brain" podcast. 

We need new chapters for the FMLA series.  Time to add the CBLA? 

 AI Pete? http://soldersmoke.com/AIPete.mp3

Dean:  WSPR success -- Report

Back on the air with the homebrew sBITX. 

VWS WSPR TX and AMP

KK4DAS WSPR Map

Pete:   Visit to surplus store in San Diego.

The Last Ditcher CW rig.  Frank Jones would approve!  Construction technique combining wooden slats and copper clad boards is FB. 

Homebrew CW rigs -- update. 

Schematics and Co-Pilot

Shameless Commerce Division:   

Mostly DIY RF

Become a Patron through Patreon.  

Do you want an emailed heads up about blog post and pocasts?  Send your e-mail to bill.meara@gmail.com

Please comment on the Podcast (on YouTube or on the blog) and about blog posts (on the blog page). Comments let us know that we are not speaking into the Google void!  

Bill:   Fixing the receiver in my 17-12 rig.  Adding 12 db to the TIA. 

The Open Circuits book.  Eric is the Eric from CuriousMarc.  And he is a ham! 

Blasphemy?  Bill redraws schematic for Michigan Mighty Mite. 

I have 6T9 tube.  I don't really want to build a CW transmitter.  But I may have to. 

Gemini explains "Low Value Content" They see 10,000 posts and assume it is AI Slop.  

Mailbag:  

Wes:  Nice email from W7ZOI. 

Peter Marks VK3TPM fixed the index file (with help from Claude). 

Peter VK3TPM and Paul VK3HN -- Great comments on AI. 

Also Dean KK4DAS and Bob KD4EBM

VK3HN sent FB AI QSL from ZL2BNE (see mine!) 

Bruce KK0S sent two FB AI QSL cards. 

Rogier PA1ZZ -- Sends "The World of El - AI"   IDK. 

Ryan KJ7KVD building a Michigan Mighty Mite (I sent parts) 

Robert W8MOX heard my beacon from the DR to Annandale Va. 

Kirk NTOZ -- The future of ham radio and what went wrong. 

Paul KL7FLR -- The Wizard of Wasila -- Finally 3D  printed a Toroid winder

Charlie NJ7V -- Doing great work over at Red Summit RF.  

Podstatus reports that we are #2 in Ghana!  Hooray for us! 

Farhan VU2ESE -- LARCSet CW mods! 

Walter KA4KXX Homebrew POTA proposal. 

Grayson KJ7UM: Likes Helge's Norwegian paraset

Gerald VA2GJ:  Including DC RX in Canadian license study materials. 

Ron WA6YOU: Spy radios RT-6 and RR-6

Scott K6AUS: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2026/06/update-how-many-drake-2-b-receivers.html We need to send him a 2B! 

Bob W8SX:  FDIM interview with Hans G0UPL.  More to follow.

My AI QSL Card: Wood Boxes, a D-104, Books, a 'Scope, the EB-63A, Guapo, our Sticker, and a Cup of Coffee! KK0S's Cards

Inspired by the ZL2BNE card sent to me by VK3HN, and the excellent question from Walter KA4KXX,  I endeavored today to create a QSL card that was sort of like that of OM ZL2BNE.  

I kind of like the result: 

-- We have the wooden box rigs.  I am working on one of them.  (That happens a lot!)

-- There is a D-104.

-- We see the EB-63 .1kW Linear. 

--  There are books on the shelf:  SSDRA, EMRFD and SPRAT in a binder.   And we see a book by Hayward.  

-- There is an oscilloscope.  

-- There is a nice map of Northern Virginia and my Maidenhead Grid Square. 

-- We see Guapo, and a cup of coffee. 

-- We also see the SolderSmoke sticker. 

Here is how I did this:  

I used https://www.canva.com/  You have to select the AI option.  Then I told it I wanted it to look like the ZL2BNE card (I sent them a copy).  At that point you have to start modifying what the AI comes up with.  You have to do this many times until you get it sort of right.  

Please send me your results! 

Here are a couple of QSLs that Bruce KK0S did with ChatGPT: 

Eric KK6GZM of CuriousMarc is the Author of Open Circuits

I've been watching the CuriousMarc YouTube channel for a while now.  I am sure that many of you also watch.  We know that Marc is a ham (AJ6JV).  But I didn't know that Eric (who appears on the show a lot) is the author of the Open Circuits book.  This book has a lot of photos of electronic components that are cut or filed open to show what is inside.  I came across the book some time ago, and could not resist.  I didn't know that Eric was an author!  Is Eric also a ham? (With the social media handle TubeTimeUS, there is a good possibility.) 

NOTE:  Our friend Walter KA4KXX checked and found that indeed, Eric is a ham!  He is KK6GZM.  FB! 

Here is what Gemini has to say about this: 

On the CuriousMarc YouTube channel, Eric is Eric Schlaepfer, a highly skilled hardware engineer and hardware reverse-engineering expert who frequently collaborates on the channel's most complex vintage electronics restorations.

Online and on social media, he is widely known by his handle, TubeTime (@TubeTimeUS).

When Marc and the team hit an incredibly stubborn digital or silicon-level roadblock, Eric is often the "reinforcement" they call in. He brings massive engineering expertise to the bench, along with a suite of specialized diagnostic tools.

A few things he is best known for on the channel and in the broader electronics community include:

• Deep-Dive Troubleshooting: He famously helped Marc debug a dead IBM PS/2 Model 77 computer by hookup up a logic analyzer and using Ghidra software to reverse-engineer the custom BIOS down to the binary level, successfully tracking down a deeply hidden motherboard ASIC failure.

• The Open Circuits Book: Eric co-authored the popular book Open Circuits: The Inner Beauty of Electronic Components (with Windell Oskay of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories). On CuriousMarc, he has featured cross-section videos where he literally slices electronic components—like old resistors, capacitors, and ICs—perfectly in half and polishes them to reveal their intricate internal engineering under a microscope.

• The MOnSter6502: Outside of the channel, he is famous in the retro-computing world for designing and building a fully functional, giant-sized MOS 6502 processor made entirely out of thousands of discrete, individual transistors and surface-mount LEDs so you can visually watch the data flow through the registers.

Whenever Eric shows up in the lab next to Marc, Carl Claunch, and Ken Shirriff, you know the video is about to dive deep into microscopic component analysis, logic analysis, or advanced circuit reverse-engineering.

-------------------------------------------------

Here is the CuriousMarc video about the bad French resistor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2UXwW55kAI

Here is the cover of the book: 

SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver -- Total Receivers Built: 136 (128 plus 8 honorable mentions). Total Count: 136. Receivers built in 19 countries.

The Chuck Adams Build of the SolderSmoke DC RX

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. 

As of July 18,  2026 1500Z:

So far, total receivers built: 136 (128 plus 8 honorable mentions).  Total Count:  135.  Receivers built in 19 countries.   

NE3U (KY4EOD)  Matt 

KQ4AOP       First ham signals ever heard! 

N9TD             Derek

AC3NG          Ryan

VK3TPM       Peter Marks  

W4KAC         Ken 

W4KAC         Ken built a second one! 

N2EPE           Erik

VA3NCA        Wayde  (Canada)  

KI5SRY         Mark -- Gears on PTO screw

 

KA1MUQ       Frying pan receiver

AA1N              Adam

ZL1AUN         Aaron -- Using SSB transmitter -- (New Zealand)

W8UC             Never before homebrewed. 

VK4PG           Phil -- Nice case, "really pleased"

G7LQX           Working well, video of CW and SSB.  -- (England)

KE2AMP        John     Spring on PTO screw -- great

N9SZ              Steve  nice receiver

KD9NHZ        Piotr  Nice one

KE8ICE          Calvin, Very cool receiver. 

 

WV3V              Jayson!  Got it done!

GM5JDG         Martin.   -- (Scotland) 

KF8BOG          Jim:  A long struggle, but success.  

Chris Wales    Fantastic video.  -- (Wales)

YD9BAX         Wayan! Homebrew transformer!  (Indonesia)

N0NQD         Jeff 

WN3F              Roy -- Made new stickers! 

AB5XQ            Bill  

KB7ZUT          Andy  

AA1OF            Jer

VictorKees        Holland (Netherlands) 

KC9OJV           John -- Manhattan-style convert

WZ5M              1, 2 or maybe even 3 receivers!

K1KJW             Jim in Vermont

KC5DI              Dallas -- friend of WZ5M

Gary                 Australian -- Wooden PTO form (Australia) 

LU2VJM          Juan in Argentina  -- (Argentina)

K1OA               Scott "Most fun in 50 years"

KC9DLM         Ben -- Had EFHW problems

PH2LB             Lex  Yellow, Glue Stick -- (Netherlands)

AI6WR             David

G6GEV            Dave (It was a blast!)  (England)  

KC1ONM        Wayne  MakerLabs NH

KB1OIQ          Andy    MakerLabs NH

KA1PQK         Jay       MakerLabs NH

W1TKO           Mike    MakerLabs NH

K5KHK            Karl

SM0TPW         Mikael  -- (Sweden)

KI7LKB           Brian (coat hanger tube)

M6CRD            Chris  (England) 

W2DAB           Dave in NYC

W4JYK            Wes of VWS

KA4CDN          Mike of VWS

M7EFO             Adrian 

VK5RC             Rob  (Australia) 

KD8KHP          Dave

VK1CHW         Chris (Australia) 

KA0PHJ           Brian

W0IT                Louis

W1PJE             Phil

W2AEW           Alan

KN6FVK          John (Barkhausen-Be-Gone Spray) 

VU2JXN           Ramakrishnan -- (India)

AA0MS            Doug 

9V1/KM7ABZ   Paul  --  (Singapore)

VK2BLQ          Stephen -- (Australia)

N3FJZ              Rick

Daniel               VE5DLD  -- (Canada)

Student 1          Student of VE5DLD

Student 2          Student of VE5DLD

Student 3         Student of VE5DLD

K7WXW          Bill 

NK3H               Mitch

KN4ZXG         Ted

WA1MAC        Paul

N4AVC             Chuck 

K3IY                 Kevin

N6ASD             Ashish in Bangalore (India)

W1DSP             Rick

WD4CFN         Steve

KM5Z             Mike

KF5DAN         Dan

Fritz                 Fritz

N9OK              Joe

WA5DSS         Bill 

K0GDB           Grant

G0JNR            Shane Glow-in-Dark Coil Form

KK7BCO        Tobias

K2BVR            Bob

Robert              Sutton

K5YFO           Dave (Texas) 

KD4PBJ          Chris

KN4GAH        Chris -- EE perspective

F1GMA           Philippe  -- (France)

W2TEF            Todd

EI9ITB            Karl  -- (Ireland)

VU2TUM         Puneit Singh (India) 

AA7EE             Dave Richards

KI5VIR            Jay

CT7AXD       Graham -- Promoted from Honorable Mention! (Portugal)

G3MOT           Josh (England)

KW4H             Steve

NJ7V                Charlie (RedSummit)

N2ETZ            Denny

AB9LM           James

W9XT              Gary

G0PJT             Alex

KF8FZZ         Tyler

N7HPR           Steve (Instructor) (N7HPR Group)

Clark               (N7HPR Group)

KQ4ZHO        Kurt (N7HPR Group)

KQ4OBR        Brian (N7HPR Group)

KR4CUF         Justin (N7HPR Group)

Amanda          (N7HPR Group)

David               (N7HPR Group)

KM4AED       Jamey (N7HPR Group)

KN4MVH      Larry (N7HPR Group)

N5GVW          Dick (N7HPR Group)

W7KAL          Kal

KC9LFP         Joe

SP9DEL         Marian (Poland) 

LB8VA           Ivar (Norway)  

AA7FO          Chuck Adams! 

WE6Z            Doug

N7MN            Jason

VA2GJ           Gerald in Quebec

N6HA             Bill 

hehehe           Bandung, West Java, (Indonesia)  

-------------------------

Honorable Mentions: 

*AA7U            Steve No PTO

*VK7IAN        Ian -- No Manhattan boards -- (Tasmania)

*KC1FSZ        Bruce's build on a PC board

* DL1AJG      Andreas -- (Germany)

* Matthew      Student of DL1AJG

* Arash           Student of DL1AJG 

*KA4KXX     Walter -- FB 20 Meter version

*M9KCA-ST2NH  Nader - LM386 in place of AF amp

SolderSmoke Homebrew Direct Conversion Receiver Hall of Fame Update: 129 Completed, 122 + 7 Honorable Mentions: (As of April 11, 2026, 0852Z)

Marian SP9DEL's Receiver

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. 

As of April 11, 2026 0852Z:

So far Total Receivers Built: 129. 122 plus 7 honorable mentions.  Total Count:  129.  Receivers built in 19 countries.   

NE3U (KY4EOD)  Matt 

KQ4AOP       First ham signals ever heard! 

N9TD             Derek

AC3NG          Ryan

VK3TPM       Peter Marks  

W4KAC         Ken 

W4KAC         Ken built a second one! 

N2EPE           Erik

VA3NCA        Wayde  (Canada)  

KI5SRY         Mark -- Gears on PTO screw

 

KA1MUQ       Frying pan receiver

AA1N              Adam

ZL1AUN         Aaron -- Using SSB transmitter -- (New Zealand)

W8UC             Never before homebrewed. 

VK4PG           Phil -- Nice case, "really pleased"

G7LQX           Working well, video of CW and SSB.  -- (England)

KE2AMP        John     Spring on PTO screw -- great

N9SZ              Steve  nice receiver

KD9NHZ        Piotr  Nice one

KE8ICE          Calvin, Very cool receiver. 

 

WV3V              Jayson!  Got it done!

GM5JDG         Martin.   -- (Scotland) 

KF8BOG          Jim:  A long struggle, but success.  

Chris Wales    Fantastic video.  -- (Wales)

YD9BAX         Wayan! Homebrew transformer!  (Indonesia)

N0NQD         Jeff 

WN3F              Roy -- Made new stickers! 

AB5XQ            Bill  

KB7ZUT          Andy  

AA1OF            Jer

VictorKees        Holland (Netherlands) 

KC9OJV           John -- Manhattan-style convert

WZ5M              1, 2 or maybe even 3 receivers!

K1KJW             Jim in Vermont

KC5DI              Dallas -- friend of WZ5M

Gary                 Australian -- Wooden PTO form (Australia) 

LU2VJM          Juan in Argentina  -- (Argentina)

K1OA               Scott "Most fun in 50 years"

KC9DLM         Ben -- Had EFHW problems

PH2LB             Lex  Yellow, Glue Stick -- (Netherlands)

AI6WR             David

G6GEV            Dave (It was a blast!)  (England)  

KC1ONM        Wayne  MakerLabs NH

KB1OIQ          Andy    MakerLabs NH

KA1PQK         Jay       MakerLabs NH

W1TKO           Mike    MakerLabs NH

K5KHK            Karl

SM0TPW         Mikael  -- (Sweden)

KI7LKB           Brian (coat hanger tube)

M6CRD            Chris  (England) 

W2DAB           Dave in NYC

W4JYK            Wes of VWS

KA4CDN          Mike of VWS

M7EFO             Adrian 

VK5RC             Rob  (Australia) 

KD8KHP          Dave

VK1CHW         Chris (Australia) 

KA0PHJ           Brian

W0IT                Louis

W1PJE             Phil

W2AEW           Alan

KN6FVK          John (Barkhausen-Be-Gone Spray) 

VU2JXN           Ramakrishnan -- (India)

AA0MS            Doug 

9V1/KM7ABZ   Paul  --  (Singapore)

VK2BLQ          Stephen -- (Australia)

N3FJZ              Rick

Daniel               VE5DLD  -- (Canada)

Student 1          Student of VE5DLD

Student 2          Student of VE5DLD

Student 3         Student of VE5DLD

K7WXW          Bill 

NK3H               Mitch

KN4ZXG         Ted

WA1MAC        Paul

N4AVC             Chuck 

K3IY                 Kevin

N6ASD             Ashish in Bangalore (India)

W1DSP             Rick

WD4CFN         Steve

KM5Z             Mike

KF5DAN         Dan

Fritz                 Fritz

N9OK              Joe

WA5DSS         Bill 

K0GDB           Grant

G0JNR            Shane Glow-in-Dark Coil Form

KK7BCO        Tobias

K2BVR            Bob

Robert              Sutton

K5YFO           Dave (Texas) 

KD4PBJ          Chris

KN4GAH        Chris -- EE perspective

F1GMA           Philippe  -- (France)

W2TEF            Todd

EI9ITB            Karl  -- (Ireland)

VU2TUM         Puneit Singh (India) 

AA7EE             Dave Richards

KI5VIR            Jay

CT7AXD       Graham -- Promoted from Honorable Mention! (Portugal)

G3MOT           Josh (England)

KW4H             Steve

NJ7V                Charlie (RedSummit)

N2ETZ            Denny

AB9LM           James

W9XT              Gary

G0PJT             Alex

KF8FZZ         Tyler

N7HPR           Steve (Instructor) (N7HPR Group)

Clark               (N7HPR Group)

KQ4ZHO        Kurt (N7HPR Group)

KQ4OBR        Brian (N7HPR Group)

KR4CUF         Justin (N7HPR Group)

Amanda          (N7HPR Group)

David               (N7HPR Group)

KM4AED       Jamey (N7HPR Group)

KN4MVH      Larry (N7HPR Group)

N5GVW          Dick (N7HPR Group)

W7KAL          Kal

KC9LFP         Joe

SP9DEL         Marian (Poland) 

LB8VA           Ivar (Norway)  

-------------------------

Honorable Mentions: 

*AA7U            Steve No PTO

*VK7IAN        Ian -- No Manhattan boards -- (Tasmania)

*KC1FSZ        Bruce's build on a PC board

* DL1AJG      Andreas -- (Germany)

* Matthew      Student of DL1AJG

* Arash           Student of DL1AJG 

*KA4KXX     Walter -- FB 20 Meter version

SolderSmoke Homebrew Direct Conversion Receiver Hall of Fame Update: 128 Completed, 121 + 7 Honorable Mentions: (As of April 5, 2026, 0833Z)

N7HPR's Group

One of the 10 Receivers They Built

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. 

As of April 5, 2026 0833Z:

So far Total Receivers Built: 128. 121 plus 7 honorable mentions.  Total Count:  128.  Receivers built in 18 countries.   

NE3U (KY4EOD)  Matt 

KQ4AOP       First ham signals ever heard! 

N9TD             Derek

AC3NG          Ryan

VK3TPM       Peter Marks  

W4KAC         Ken 

W4KAC         Ken built a second one! 

N2EPE           Erik

VA3NCA        Wayde    

KI5SRY         Mark -- Gears on PTO screw

 

KA1MUQ       Frying pan receiver

AA1N              Adam

ZL1AUN         Aaron -- Using SSB transmitter -- New Zealand

W8UC             Never before homebrewed. 

VK4PG           Phil -- Nice case, "really pleased"

G7LQX           Working well, video of CW and SSB.  -- England

KE2AMP        John     Spring on PTO screw -- great

N9SZ              Steve  nice receiver

KD9NHZ        Piotr  Nice one

KE8ICE          Calvin, Very cool receiver. 

 

WV3V              Jayson!  Got it done!

GM5JDG         Martin.   -- Scotland 

KF8BOG          Jim:  A long struggle, but success.  

Chris Wales    Fantastic video.  -- Wales

YD9BAX         Wayan! Homebrew transformer!  Indonesia

N0NQD         Jeff 

WN3F              Roy -- Made new stickers! 

AB5XQ            Bill  

KB7ZUT          Andy  

AA1OF            Jer

VictorKees        Holland

KC9OJV           John -- Manhattan-style convert

WZ5M              1, 2 or maybe even 3 receivers!

K1KJW             Jim in Vermont

KC5DI              Dallas -- friend of WZ5M

Gary                 Australian -- Wooden PTO form

LU2VJM          Juan in Argentina  -- Argentina

K1OA               Scott "Most fun in 50 years"

KC9DLM         Ben -- Had EFHW problems

PH2LB             Lex  Yellow, Glue Stick -- Netherlands

AI6WR             David

G6GEV            Dave (It was a blast!) 

KC1ONM        Wayne  MakerLabs NH

KB1OIQ          Andy    MakerLabs NH

KA1PQK         Jay       MakerLabs NH

W1TKO           Mike    MakerLabs NH

K5KHK            Karl

SM0TPW         Mikael  -- Sweden

KI7LKB           Brian (coat hanger tube)

M6CRD            Chris

W2DAB           Dave in NYC

W4JYK            Wes of VWS

KA4CDN          Mike of VWS

M7EFO             Adrian 

VK5RC             Rob

KD8KHP          Dave

VK1CHW         Chris

KA0PHJ           Brian

W0IT                Louis

W1PJE             Phil

W2AEW           Alan

KN6FVK          John (Barkhausen-Be-Gone Spray) 

VU2JXN           Ramakrishnan -- India

AA0MS            Doug 

9V1/KM7ABZ   Paul  --  Singapore

VK2BLQ          Stephen -- Australia

N3FJZ              Rick

Daniel               VE5DLD  -- Canada

Student 1          Student of VE5DLD

Student 2          Student of VE5DLD

Student 3         Student of VE5DLD

K7WXW          Bill 

NK3H               Mitch

KN4ZXG         Ted

WA1MAC        Paul

N4AVC             Chuck 

K3IY                 Kevin

N6ASD             Ashish in Bangalore

W1DSP             Rick

WD4CFN         Steve

KM5Z             Mike

KF5DAN         Dan

Fritz                 Fritz

N9OK              Joe

WA5DSS         Bill 

K0GDB           Grant

G0JNR            Shane Glow-in-Dark Coil Form

KK7BCO        Tobias

K2BVR            Bob

Robert              Sutton

K5YFO           Dave (Texas) 

KD4PBJ          Chris

KN4GAH        Chris -- EE perspective

F1GMA           Philippe  -- France

W2TEF            Todd

EI9ITB            Karl  -- Ireland

VU2TUM         Puneit Singh

AA7EE             Dave Richards

KI5VIR            Jay

CT7AXD       Graham -- Promoted from Honorable Mention!

G3MOT           Josh

KW4H             Steve

NJ7V                Charlie (RedSummit)

N2ETZ            Denny

AB9LM           James

W9XT              Gary

G0PJT             Alex

KF8FZZ         Tyler

N7HPR           Steve (Instructor) (N7HPR Group)

Clark               (N7HPR Group)

KQ4ZHO        Kurt (N7HPR Group)

KQ4OBR        Brian (N7HPR Group)

KR4CUF         Justin (N7HPR Group)

Amanda          (N7HPR Group)

David               (N7HPR Group)

KM4AED       Jamey (N7HPR Group)

KN4MVH      Larry (N7HPR Group)

N5GVW          Dick (N7HPR Group)

W7KAL          Kal

KC9LFP         Joe

SP9DEL          Marian

-------------------------

Honorable Mentions: 

*AA7U            Steve No PTO

*VK7IAN        Ian -- No Manhattan boards -- Tasmania

*KC1FSZ        Bruce's build on a PC board

* DL1AJG      Andreas -- Germany

* Matthew      Student of DL1AJG

* Arash           Student of DL1AJG 

*KA4KXX     Walter -- FB 20 Meter version

SolderSmoke Podcast 263: DR-PR, UM, DCRX, SKN, Design, PSSST, W7ZOI, FT-101, HW32A, VK, HST, AMP, MAILBAG

Pete Juliano N6QW

February 23, 2026

SolderSmoke Podcast #263 is available for download: 

Audio:  http://soldersmoke.com/soldersmoke263.mp3

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn164glxQ6s

Opening 

May 26, 2014, coming up on 12 years! That was the 1^st podcast where Pete N6QW was interviewed by Bill in Podcast #161,  which means 102 podcasts ago. 12 Years of Julian-ismo.  Thanks Pete!  

What to build?  Question faced by VWS Makers Group and by Charlie of RedSummit RF.   Regen?  Test Gear?  Simple oscillator?  

But did you DESIGN it yourself?  What does that even really mean? Barrie Gilbert in Jim Williams' book:  https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2025/12/homebrew-you-say-but-did-you-design-it.html

Grayson KJ7UM on a podcast -- Make it your own way.  Copper Clad and Glue!  Manhattan style! "BUILD SOMETHING!:  Tube testers not necessary.  OK to call thermatrons "vacuum tubes."  No ruling on calling them "valves" yet. 

Pete:  

-- When hams were hams -- Turning a Heath monobander into a tribander

-- Simple SSB

-- W7ZOI rigs

-- The Yaesu FT-101

SHAMELESS COMMERCE DIVISION:   Mostly DIY RF!   Patreon!   But no more Amazon.  We do not want to help Bezos make more money. Even if this will cost us.   So please,  consider a donation or a Patreon sponsorship instead.  But no more Amazon through SolderSmoke.  

Bill:   

-- Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico on 2 meters -- status report. 

-- Working Australia on 20 meter SSB in the morning. 

-- The SpiderWeb net. 

-- The Hubble Space Telescope -- an old friend

-- One contact on Straight Key Night (Dean reminded me).  I worked NB1U on 20 meters with QCX from KD4EBM. 

Dean: 

-- The University of Michigan ant the Direct Conversion receiver project.  

-- Boxing up the amplifier.  A tale of woe.  Identifying oscillations.  A QSO with the Dominican Republic: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2026/02/a-qso-with-dean-kk4das-northern.html 

 Travails with other homebrew gear... Trying to find a working transceiver.

AI assisted repair of Bitx40 PA in my Mythbuster 

VWS club station update, tendency of Flex and other SDR makers to not release even basic technical information.

MAILBAG: 

Ian VK3MO  Huge antennas, big signal, friendship with WA3O https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2025/11/vk3mo-and-wa3o-brotherhood-of-ham-radio.html

Bob KD4EBM  2 meter propagation info

Todd K7TFC  -- Mostly DIY RF

Mike K6STR  Worked Pete on 40, building for CW and SSB on 2 meters

Grayson KJ7UM    German Avionics,  MMM Origin.  Old Steampunk Homebrew rig: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-very-interesting-old-steam-punk.html   

Phil  W1PJE   Forrest Mims III     Mims's sad denial on climate change. 

Ciprian  YO2DXE         Heard the SAQ Alternator  see: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2025/12/alexanderson-alternator-on-172-khz.html

Tom NS6T:  Very useful azimuth map with grey lines: https://ns6t.net/AzShadowMap/experimental.html

Walter KA4KXX -- 20 meter Direct Conversion Receiver.  FB Walter! 

WN2A Mike   Dos Equis man is BACK! https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2026/01/hes-back-dos-equis-man-most-interesting.html

KB4HG Rhett:  On USB on the Old Military Radio Net with a PRC-74.  Want one! 

SolderSmoke Homebrew Direct Conversion Receiver Hall of Fame Update: 108 Completed + 7 Honorable Mentions: Total Receivers Built: 115 (As of February 20, 2026, 1503Z)

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. 

As of February 20, 2026 1503Z:

So far 108 completed receivers, and 7 honorable mentions.  Total Count:  115.  Receivers built in 17 countries.   

NE3U (KY4EOD)  Matt 

KQ4AOP       First ham signals ever heard! 

N9TD             Derek

AC3NG          Ryan

VK3TPM       Peter Marks  

W4KAC         Ken 

W4KAC         Ken built a second one! 

N2EPE           Erik

VA3NCA        Wayde    

KI5SRY         Mark -- Gears on PTO screw

 

KA1MUQ       Frying pan receiver

AA1N              Adam

ZL1AUN         Aaron -- Using SSB transmitter -- New Zealand

W8UC             Never before homebrewed. 

VK4PG           Phil -- Nice case, "really pleased"

G7LQX           Working well, video of CW and SSB.  -- England

KE2AMP        John     Spring on PTO screw -- great

N9SZ              Steve  nice receiver

KD9NHZ        Piotr  Nice one

KE8ICE          Calvin, Very cool receiver. 

 

WV3V              Jayson!  Got it done!

GM5JDG         Martin.   -- Scotland 

KF8BOG          Jim:  A long struggle, but success.  

Chris Wales    Fantastic video.  -- Wales

YD9BAX         Wayan! Homebrew transformer!  Indonesia

N0NQD         Jeff 

WN3F              Roy -- Made new stickers! 

AB5XQ            Bill  

KB7ZUT          Andy  

AA1OF            Jer

VictorKees        Holland

KC9OJV           John -- Manhattan-style convert

WZ5M              1, 2 or maybe even 3 receivers!

K1KJW             Jim in Vermont

KC5DI              Dallas -- friend of WZ5M

Gary                 Australian -- Wooden PTO form

LU2VJM          Juan in Argentina  -- Argentina

K1OA               Scott "Most fun in 50 years"

KC9DLM         Ben -- Had EFHW problems

PH2LB             Lex  Yellow, Glue Stick -- Netherlands

AI6WR             David

G6GEV            Dave (It was a blast!) 

KC1ONM        Wayne  MakerLabs NH

KB1OIQ          Andy    MakerLabs NH

KA1PQK         Jay       MakerLabs NH

W1TKO           Mike    MakerLabs NH

K5KHK            Karl

SM0TPW         Mikael  -- Sweden

KI7LKB           Brian (coat hanger tube)

M6CRD            Chris

W2DAB           Dave in NYC

W4JYK            Wes of VWS

KA4CDN          Mike of VWS

M7EFO             Adrian 

VK5RC             Rob

KD8KHP          Dave

VK1CHW         Chris

KA0PHJ           Brian

W0IT                Louis

W1PJE             Phil

W2AEW           Alan

KN6FVK          John (Barkhausen-Be-Gone Spray) 

VU2JXN           Ramakrishnan -- India

AA0MS            Doug 

9V1/KM7ABZ   Paul  --  Singapore

VK2BLQ          Stephen -- Australia

N3FJZ              Rick

Daniel               VE5DLD  -- Canada

Student 1          Student of VE5DLD

Student 2          Student of VE5DLD

Student 3         Student of VE5DLD

K7WXW          Bill 

NK3H               Mitch

KN4ZXG         Ted

WA1MAC        Paul

N4AVC             Chuck 

K3IY                 Kevin

N6ASD             Ashish in Bangalore

W1DSP             Rick

WD4CFN         Steve

KM5Z             Mike

KF5DAN         Dan

Fritz                 Fritz

N9OK              Joe

WA5DSS         Bill 

K0GDB           Grant

G0JNR            Shane Glow-in-Dark Coil Form

KK7BCO        Tobias

K2BVR            Bob

Robert              Sutton

K5YFO           Dave (Texas) 

KD4PBJ          Chris

KN4GAH        Chris -- EE perspective

F1GMA           Philippe  -- France

W2TEF            Todd

EI9ITB            Karl  -- Ireland

VU2TUM         Puneit Singh

AA7EE             Dave Richards

KI5VIR            Jay

CT7AXD       Graham -- Promoted from Honorable Mention!

G3MOT           Josh

KW4H             Steve

NJ7V                Charlie (RedSummit)

N2ETZ            Denny

AB9LM           James

W9XT              Gary

G0PJT             Alex

Ohio                Tyler

-------------------------

Honorable Mentions: 

*AA7U            Steve No PTO

*VK7IAN        Ian -- No Manhattan boards -- Tasmania

*KC1FSZ        Bruce's build on a PC board

* DL1AJG      Andreas -- Germany

* Matthew      Student of DL1AJG

* Arash           Student of DL1AJG 

*KA4KXX     Walter -- FB 20 Meter version