{"id":7793,"date":"2025-05-01T19:32:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T09:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2025\/05\/01\/alan-wolke-w2aews-fb-homebrew-soldersmoke-direct-conversion-receiver\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T12:36:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T02:36:17","slug":"alan-wolke-w2aews-fb-homebrew-soldersmoke-direct-conversion-receiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2025\/05\/01\/alan-wolke-w2aews-fb-homebrew-soldersmoke-direct-conversion-receiver\/","title":{"rendered":"Alan Wolke W2AEW&#8217;s FB Homebrew SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver"},"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\/AOtht5m7SPA?si=mTmUgvA-1bF42ovC?rel=0\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"440\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>It is really and honor to have Alan Wolke W2AEW build one of our receivers. Alan is a true wizard. Armed with an amazingly popular <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/w2aew\">YouTube channel<\/a>, he has taught electronics and ham radio to thousands of grateful viewers worldwide. A Field RF Application Engineer for Tektronix, Alan has a special knack for showing us how to get the most out of our test gear. <\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>So many times have I gone back to videos that Alan made years ago, just in an effort to refresh my memory on the insights that he shared. For example, it was from him that we learned how the diode ring mixer really works &#8212; what it really means to say that this mixer multiplies signals by 1 and -1. Alan even showed us how to get our &#8216;scopes<a href=\"https:\/\/soldersmoke.blogspot.com\/2020\/11\/diode-ring-magic.html\"> to display the multiplication<\/a>. This was all very cool and very typical of Alan&#8217;s work. His videos have been an important reference for this direct conversion receiver effort. <\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>On this project, Alan dug into his junk box, only to discover to his dismay that he didn&#8217;t have the AF transformer that we recommended. I am sure that Alan could have whipped up several alternative circuits that did not require the transformer, but he wanted to build the receiver the way we recommended, so a slight delay took place while Mouser filled his order. <\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Alan did build the circut modularly, stage-by-stage, using the Manhattan method, but he admits to giving in to his temptation to use a very small board. This may be the most compact of our 60+ DC receivers. <\/b><b>In an encouraging reminder that even the great ones worry about unwanted feedback, Alan writes:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span face=\"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;\"><i><b>Why am I always compelled to build as compactly as possible? I hope feedback doesn\u2019t bite me in the butt!<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<div><span face=\"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif\" style=\"color: #222222; font-size: x-small;\"><i><b><br \/><\/b><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span face=\"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif\" style=\"color: #222222;\"><b>Thank you Alan! And welcome to the Hall of Fame! <\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span face=\"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif\" style=\"color: #222222;\"><b><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\"><br \/><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/trappedinscopeS201.jpg\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"441\" data-original-width=\"441\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/trappedinscopeS201.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><em style=\"background-color: white; font-family: \"Lucida Grande\", \"Lucida Sans\", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: start;\">(This picture was created by displaying NTSC video from my digital camera on Alan&#8217;s old Tektronix 485 oscilloscope using a simple converter circuit that is described in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5FYF5uhCzAM\" target=\"_top\">video on my YouTube page)<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image_1753104645.png\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" data-original-height=\"450\" data-original-width=\"450\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image_1753104645.png\" width=\"240\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">QR code for his YouTube site<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/w2aew_XY_screen2.jpg\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"175\" data-original-width=\"434\" height=\"161\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/w2aew_XY_screen2.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">X Y Screen<\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"><b>On the SolderSmoke Blog there are 41 posts tagged with &#8220;Wolke&#8211;Alan&#8221;: <\/b><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"><b><a href=\"https:\/\/soldersmoke.blogspot.com\/search\/label\/wolke%20--%20Alan\">https:\/\/soldersmoke.blogspot.com\/search\/label\/wolke%20&#8211;%20Alan<\/a><\/b><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/w2aew_in_the_lab.jpg\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"900\" data-original-width=\"1200\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/w2aew_in_the_lab.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"><b>Alan&#8217;s QRZ page: <\/b><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qrz.com\/db\/W2AEW\"><b>https:\/\/www.qrz.com\/db\/W2AEW<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: left;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/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; 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; 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; 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; 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; 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; 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; 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;\"><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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is really and honor to have Alan Wolke W2AEW build one of our receivers. Alan is a true wizard. Armed with an amazingly popular YouTube channel, he has taught electronics and ham radio to thousands of grateful viewers worldwide. A Field RF Application Engineer for Tektronix, Alan has a special knack for showing us &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/2025\/05\/01\/alan-wolke-w2aews-fb-homebrew-soldersmoke-direct-conversion-receiver\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Alan Wolke W2AEW&#8217;s FB Homebrew SolderSmoke Direct Conversion Receiver&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11,162,12,161],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dc-receiver-build","category-dc-rx-hall-of-fame","category-oscilloscope","category-tj-dc-rx","category-wolke-alan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7793","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=7793"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7798,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7793\/revisions\/7798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homebrewradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}