SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Challenge: 139 Receivers Built

Dave M6XTY

As of September 28, 2026  1248Z

So far, total receivers built: 139 (131 plus 8 honorable mentions).  Total Count:  139.  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)

K6AUS          Scott

Brett K          Tasmania (Australia) 

Dave             M6XTY 

 

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

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

The WN2QHL N2CQR Drake 2-B

I was telling Steve KW4H and Scott K6AUS about my Drake 2-B (Serial #11976): 

I got mine when I was still a novice on April 11, 1974. I still have it and use it.  It had been spared the Magic Screwdriver, because the previous owner was my Elmer, Hilmar WN2NEC. Hilmar was a no-nonsense German immigrant, a tech who knew which end of the soldering iron to grab.  

The only real mod that it had was the installation of a Jackson Brothers reduction drive. This slowed the tuning a lot, and I lost the calibrated dial skirt, but I think it was worthwhile.  I have tuned "normal" 2-Bs and they seem a bit fast to me. By the way, I think you can tell a true 2-B restorer if he has replaced the string on the tuning mechanism of the 2-B, and he has done it often enough to get good at it!  I am sure Steve is in this category! (Can you imagine a modern rig that actually has a STRING in it?  I can't.  I think those tuning dial strings capture a lot of the charm of these older receivers.)   

When Hilmar sold me the receiver, it had a  really cool big knob on the front.  But he had specified that I had to give that knob back to him -- he had borrowed it from a device at work!  Of course, as a teenager, I dallied.  "I really need that knob," complained poor Hilmar. I found a replacement and gave the knob back to him.    

Years later I think I replaced the power supply capacitors with a replacement from Hayseed Hamfest. 

My 2-B opened up a world of DX for me.  Only two days after I got it, I worked ZL2ACP on 15 CW.  And of course on that same day, I worked KP4USA on 15 meter CW.   The operator was Steve, who is today KW4H.   With my earlier general coverage receiver, I could barely hear 15 meters.  With the 2-B it was easy to tune.  

I have more than 70 Drake 2-B articles on the SolderSmoke blog.  Check them out: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/search/label/Drake%202B

Scott K6AUS gets a Drake 2-B from Steve KW4H

 

Serial 10219, after refurbishment by Steve KW4H, with the 2-BQ he sent as well perched on top.

https://nomadiq.net/blog/post/a-drake-2b-from-kw4h

For many years, Scott K6AUS has been doing the mathematical analysis of serial numbers on the Drake 2-B receiver.   His work has been based on mathematics developed during WWII to let the allies know -- just from serial numbers -- how many tanks the Nazis had.  Scott's analysis and the gathering of Drake 2-B serial numbers has been going on since May 2011.  See: https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-many-drake-2-bs-german-tank-problem.html

and for a Scott's presentation of the math: 

https://nomadiq.net/blog/post/how-many-drake-2bs-were-ever-made

We were saddened to learn that in spite of all this work, Scott K6AUS did not have a Drake 2-B himself. Steve KW4H stepped forward to correct this.  Steve refurbished a 2-B and sent it to Scott.  FB Steve. See the link above. 

We have been chronicling Steve's work on this partictular Drake 2-B.  Steve also wrote an excellent two part article on this receiver for Electric Radio magazine. Part I recently went out. Part II is coming. 

Thanks to Scott for all his analysis of the serial numbers.  And thanks to Steve for his amazing generosity. 

Steve KW4H's Restoration of a Drake 2-B -- Part 3 -- Alignment With a New Calibrator

Steve KW4H writes: 

The passband tuner realigning went just fine. To do this, I remove the audio output transformer and push it aside, insulating it from from the components on the chassis underside using a snack-size baggie.  Then, it's necessary to clip the frame of the audio transformer to ground so audio works.  I won't go into the nitty-gritty technical steps, but am just pointing out that in order to align that passband tuner you've got to get that transformer out of the way.  In the 4-line, Drake solved this inconvenience by putting the passband tuner above the chassis, with all of the alignments easily accessible.

 The 2-B is receiving, but not totally realigned yet.  But before we do that, I'm installing a custom-built calibrator/marker generator that will plug right in to the calibrator socket on top of the chassis.  This calibrator provides selectable 25/50/100 kHz spacing (I'll preset it for 50 kHz).  A note for you:  it's operated by the "CAL" switch on the front panel, and is rewired to run on that 9V battery I've installed on the bottom of the chassis (see photo).  The calibrator consumes almost no power when switched on and the battery should last a very long time.  But now you know where the power source is for the calibrator.  I've also attached a photo of the calibrator so you know what it looks like -- for the 2-B, the screw terminal isn't installed on the circuit board -- instead, I wire it directly to a Drake-style 4-prong plug that fit right into that calibrator socket above the chassis.

 The signal from the calibrator will be used for some of the alignment steps, so I like to install it at this phase.

More on the Drake 2-B from Steve KW4H -- Part 2 -- Recapping. Cleaning Tubes and Sockets. Tube Tester

The recap is finished.  You can see the new Hayseed Hamfest cap on the chassis, as well as the other new caps.  In these receivers, I also replace every old paper cap -- even the ones in the so-called "hard to get to" places.  On the Drakes, you have to work sideways as many of these boards are vertically mounted.  Drake did that to save space and give their gear a smaller footprint.  The tradeoff is the workbench gymnastics.

The 2-B now has a brand new, 3-wire power cord.  The old bypass caps on the AC line were removed, and a new ceramic safety cap installed on the hot line, between the bottom of the fuse holder and ground.  The original purpose of these capacitors was to filter out household AC line noise.  Such things are rarer these days as household appliances are better designed, but for completeness purposes I think a safety cap on the hot line is reasonable.  

All the tubes were tested and substitutions made where needed.  A word about tube testers:  they're good for discovering major faults, but IMO the best tube tester is the circuit it was designed to run in.  So for these tests I'm just looking for shorts, gas leaks, and obviously weak tubes.  

In addition to testing the tubes, each tube socket is cleaned with a disposable interdental cleaner dipped in 99 percent isopropyl.  Following this, the tube pins are lightly brushed with DeOxit D-100L on the end of a q-tip.  All it takes is just a light film.

The 2-B powered up!  We have contact -- and, of course, some other issues to deal with.  The preselector capacitor was noisy -- the cover was pulled off and it was sprayed and brushed to remove any "whiskers" or other contamination that might cause unwanted conduction between the plates.  It's better now, but I'll keep an eye on it throughout the rest of the process.

Since the passband tuner had to be removed and repaired, it's clear from the sound of things that the passband tuner badly needs to be realigned.  That's going to be done next -- as long as we can jam a signal through the receiver, it's best to realign the passband tuner before swinging around and running through the overall alignment process because it has such a profound effect on the audio and signals.  Also, aligning the passband tuner is logistically more complicated than in Drake's 4-line, as two of the slugs aren't easily accessible.  I'll send some photos later showing how we get around that problem.

Wow! I Worked Steve KW4H in 1974 -- He was 15 at KP4USN. I was also 15, but in New York, using my Drake 2-B. And I STILL have the QSL card!

 

When I recently started e-mailing Steve KW4H about the Drake 2-B and about the SolderSmoke Direct Conversion receiver (that Steve successfully built), I noticed near the bottom of his QRZ.com page a picture of an old QSL card from KP4USN.  It looked familiar. 

Steve and I had already determined that we were very close in age.  Steve was a Navy dependent, on Puerto Rico at age 15.  I was up in Congers, N.Y., also at age 15.  I was on 15 meter CW.  

When I saw the picture of the QSL card, I checked my log book. You can see a cleaned up version of the log here.   Look towards the end.  You will see KP4USN. 

But as Steve pointed out, there were several operators.  And he was at this point mostly on SSB.  It seemed that the odds were against us.  But I pledged to try to dig up my old KP4USN QSL card. Steve asked me to tell him the name of the operator and he would tell me he knew him.   

At first I thought the QSL card had been lost, perhaps during one of the many moves between then and now. But early this morning I found it.  Slowly I turned it over.  There it was:   "73  Steve."  

Wow, it looked like the signature of a 15 year old.  I quickly e-mailed Steve and sent him the pictures of the card. He immediately confirmed that the handwriting was his!  Wow, 52 years after the contact, we were in contact again. 

I checked my records.  I had acquired my Drake 2-B only 2 days prior to this contact.  (That explains why I was on 15 meters -- my Lafayette HA-600A did very poorly on this band.  But the band sounded great on the Drake 2-B! ).  Later that day (into the night) I worked ZL2ACP.  I woke my parents up to tell them about that one.  The Drake 2-B was clearly worth every penny!  

There is another signature on the card.  Steve KW4H explains: That was Mike Reininga, who was a young guy back then in the Navy and was one of my elmers.  In order for the card to be mailed officially and paid for by the Navy, it was approved for mailing.  I just tried to look him up, and sadly, Mike passed away some years ago at age 58.  He was 21 when I knew him.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/courierpress/name/michael-reininga-obituary?id=22279830

Here is Steve as a young ham: 

I was first licensed as WP4EAI, and was living in Puerto Rico, as a Navy brat.  In 1975 I upgraded to General Class (boy, that 13 wpm code test was a white-knuckler -- these were the days when you had to take the exam in front of a steely-eyed examiner).  In the photo at the left, you can see some of the old wonderful gear that got me started in this hobby.  A Heathkit DX-60, Hammarlund HQ-180A, and some other stuff I can barely remember.  Some original QSL cards are on the left.  I also operated KP4USN from time to time on the base, and was frequently a control operator for the Maritime Mobile Net, then on 14.313 Mhz.  Stateside, I was licensed as WB4EZM.

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

Here I am at age 15: 

And here is a description of my early radio life: 

https://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-beginning-of-my-radio-life.html

Steve KW4H's Notes on the Drake 2-B -- Part 1 - Excision of an Unnecessary Mechanical Filter

Obviously I am interested in the Drake 2-B.   Steve KW4H restores rigs of this vintage (similar to our own vintage!).  He has sent me some notes on his work on the Drake 2-Bs.  

Steve writes: 

Attached is a photo of a completely needless 455 kHz mechanical filter I found in this 2B.  Never seen this before, but I found the info -- this was the Henry DMF-2, which was a modification kit sold for the Drake 2A and 2B.  Yet more snake oil sold to the "I need a mechanical filter like a Collins" crowd.  There was a REASON why Drake didn't filter on 455 kHz -- it wasn't nearly as effective as filtering on 50 kHz, which is exactly what the passband filter does.  That, along with the 2-BQ Q-multiplier/speaker makes for a terrific receiver that rivals even many of the modern rigs of today.

That filter is clearly unnecessary, and Steve was completly right in getting rid of it.  Still, it is a Kokusai.  Pete N6QW gave me one of those.  I think I have it in my Mate for the Mighty Midget receiver.   One other note:  As a kid, Steve was in Puerto Rico and operated from the navy base club station KP4USN.  I have that station, during that period, in my log book (I worked KP4USN on April 12, 1974 on 15 CW).  I have to dig up the QSL card to find out if it was Steve, or one of his friends.  

KW4H -- Steve -- "Knobs > Menus"

 

I really like the "KNOBS are greater than MENUS" sign.  For years we have been saying that menus are for restaurants.  FB Steve.  

Steve's resotation man-cave is very interesting, as are the rigs he has on the shelf or on the bench.  Lots of good work is obviously being done there.  

I also have one of those KP4USA QSL cards. Steve and I got into ham radio at around the same time, so it is possible that he was on the other end of that QSO.  I will check. 

Check out Steve's QRZ page: https://www.qrz.com/db/KW4H

138 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 August 17, 2026 0845Z:

So far, total receivers built: 138 (130 plus 8 honorable mentions).  Total Count:  138.  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)

K6AUS          Scott

Brett K          Tasmania (Australia)  

 

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

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 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