{"id":7042,"date":"2025-05-02T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T23:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2025\/05\/02\/john-kn6fvks-fb-homebrew-soldersmoke-direct-conversion-receiver-crickets-killed-with-barkhausen-be-gone-spray\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T12:36:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T02:36:17","slug":"john-kn6fvks-fb-homebrew-soldersmoke-direct-conversion-receiver-crickets-killed-with-barkhausen-be-gone-spray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2025\/05\/02\/john-kn6fvks-fb-homebrew-soldersmoke-direct-conversion-receiver-crickets-killed-with-barkhausen-be-gone-spray\/","title":{"rendered":"John KN6FVK&#8217;s FB Homebrew SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver &#8212; Crickets Killed with Barkhausen-Be-Gone Spray!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"247\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9ertsely2Xc?si=LfOaYsDx2H4qBhyu?rel=0\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"440\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>I went to bed worrying about this one. John KN6FVK had been having a lot of problems. He had repeatedly reported hearing nothing (crickets!) when he fired up the receiver. Members of the Discord group had provided a lot of coaching, but still, CRICKETS! John had a good sense of humor. When I pointed out that oscillations in the AF amp are caused by a feedback path that meets &#8220;the Barkhausen criteria&#8221; John said he went to Lowes and bought a spray can of Barkhausen-Be-Gone. It seems to have worked. Actually I think John put some additional capacitance on the DC rail of the AF amp. In any case, he was going to wait for the evening for test out the fixed receiver. The time difference with California meant that I went to bed with fingers crossed. Happily the BBG spray and (more likely) the extra capacitance worked. John sent us some really nice videos of his receiver in action. I really like the inscriptions on his pine board. This should become &#8220;a thing.&#8221; <\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>John writes:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span color=\"oklab(0.952331 0.000418991 -0.00125992)\" face=\"\"gg sans\", \"Noto Sans\", \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: oklab(0.555434 0.0458316 0.113021 \/ 0.0392157); border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;\"> <\/span><b><i><span face=\"\"gg sans\", \"Noto Sans\", \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;\">I<\/span><span style=\"background-color: white;\"><span face=\"\"gg sans\", \"Noto Sans\", \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;\">&#8216;m very ok now&#8230;. &#8212; sigh \/ smile <\/span><span face=\"\"gg sans\", \"Noto Sans\", \"Helvetica Neue\", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: break-spaces;\"> &#8212; THANK YOU ALL for your help and patience. As painful as this was, it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. After I build an actual work bench, I might try this again (looks are important). But I&#8217;m definitely going to start playing with it and learning from it. On to Mods and Upgrades! Need to learn-up on this &#8220;Barkhausen&#8221; silliness too. -73<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"247\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TRz7iwOC5nM?si=csWd4iEfOLT2_WV9?rel=0\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"440\"><\/iframe><\/i><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><b>Here is John&#8217;s receiver pulling in CW (WB6CGJ):<\/b><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"247\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VMlFkCNDUj0?si=Mf6f_V0xYkaoT1nL?rel=0\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"440\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><b>Congratulations John, Welcome to the Hall of Fame. <\/b><\/div>\n<div><b><br \/><\/b><\/div>\n<div><b><\/p>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image_1753099721.png\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" data-original-height=\"130\" data-original-width=\"158\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image_1753099721.png\" width=\"292\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;\"><b><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Join the discussion &#8211; SolderSmoke Discord Server:<\/span><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;\"><b><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt;\"><a data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/discord.gg\/Fu6B7yGxx2&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1739470652838000&#038;usg=AOvVaw1ZoxkyzfQb8pwED_KtyCKW\" href=\"https:\/\/discord.gg\/Fu6B7yGxx2\" style=\"color: #1155cc; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">https:\/\/discord.gg\/Fu6B7yGxx2<\/span><\/a><\/span><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;\"><b><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> <\/span><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;\"><b><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Documentation on Hackaday:<\/span><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;\"><b><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><a data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/hackaday.io\/project\/190327-high-schoolers-build-a-radio-receiver&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1739470652838000&#038;usg=AOvVaw026vJuHIWdv6aJ9NJ9QDHJ\" href=\"https:\/\/hackaday.io\/project\/190327-high-schoolers-build-a-radio-receiver\" style=\"color: #1155cc; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/hackaday.io\/project\/<wbr><\/wbr>190327-high-schoolers-build-a-<wbr><\/wbr>radio-receiver<\/a><\/span><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;\"><b><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> <\/span><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px;\"><b><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">SolderSmoke YouTube channel:<\/span><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><u><\/u><u><\/u><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: \"Trebuchet MS\", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.61px; font-weight: 400;\"><b style=\"color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;\"><span face=\"Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><a data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@soldersmoke&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1739470652838000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3FnV3eIUU7IiaVG8c_Qd3v\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@soldersmoke\" style=\"color: #1155cc; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@<wbr><\/wbr>soldersmoke<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/b><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I went to bed worrying about this one. John KN6FVK had been having a lot of problems. He had repeatedly reported hearing nothing (crickets!) when he fired up the receiver. Members of the Discord group had provided a lot of coaching, but still, CRICKETS! John had a good sense of humor. When I pointed out &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2025\/05\/02\/john-kn6fvks-fb-homebrew-soldersmoke-direct-conversion-receiver-crickets-killed-with-barkhausen-be-gone-spray\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;John KN6FVK&#8217;s FB Homebrew SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver &#8212; Crickets Killed with Barkhausen-Be-Gone Spray!&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336,9,11,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-california","category-dc-receiver-build","category-dc-rx-hall-of-fame","category-tj-dc-rx"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7044,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7042\/revisions\/7044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}