Crystal Radio (Page 2): I did!!!

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

jerryc41 wrote:

Did you have a long wire antenna strung outside? : )

It's funny I can remember that.

I did!!!

HOHIMER

jerryc41 wrote:

When I was a kid, I built a crystal radio, and it ... (show quote)

I made one when I was a kid. Used my bed springs as the antenna.

sgt hop Loc: baltimore md,now in salisbury md

my father made one for me when i was about 9yrs old........

utahpete

I built one, too, when I was a kid. Great to listen to after bed time!

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

fjdarling wrote:

Those kits remind me of a 1-transistor radio kit from Heathkit I built when I was about 8 years old. I'm pretty sure I damaged the transistor during soldering. The "razor blade radio" I also made didn't work much better. Couldn't hear the stations very well through the static, even with a long wire antenna on the roof. Those kits remind me of that fascinating period.

I also built one of those Heathkit 'radios' and I use the term 'radio' loosely. It did work but I had to have dad drive me about 30 miles closer to the station to get reception!

bwa

Garson Loc: Tampa, FL

I built one with ear plugs as a kid. If I took it by a window, it picked up a couple stations.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Pardon me but I don't think that is a crystal set. A crystal set used a cat's whisker on a movable arm and an actual crystal. By placing the cat's whisker on different parts of the crystal you could change frequencies and hopefully find a local radio station. My crystal set had a straight wire antenna and had to be securely grounded for it to work. I always used a cold water pipe. Copper wire coils and variable capacitors came much later.

Randyfrieder Loc: Long Island, New York

Jerry,
When I was a kid growing up on Long Island, Levittown, to east meadow, to Dix Hills, now in Lake Grove, I too built a crystal radio.
Mine was a “Heath radio” kit, and I also built a CB base station radio (with tubes and separate channel crystals) from “Lafayette radio electronics” (LRE). I used to ride my bike there, in Syosset, to lust after all the cool stuff!! I even had a 19’10” (the limit was 20 feet!) cb antenna on the roof of my parents house, to talk to my three friends, across the street!!!!
I am now 63, and have grown up (some would argue that statement), with a love and understanding for electronics and circuits, etc.
it’s been quite a ride, going from those days, to my first mac, ImageWriter, micro floppy disks, etc, on January 24, 1984, to the Mac Pro in my house now.
I am guessing that we may be close in age and have experienced the same technological and world changes.
For better or worse, it’s been incredible.
Especially considering that I am typing this on the most amazing and versatile little device, that I own, my iPhone!!!

Randyfrieder Loc: Long Island, New York

In that same time period, I also went from a
nikkormat Ftn
with the 50mm f1.4
(A kit lens, in its day??!!!)
in 1970,
to my current D850,
which is an incredible instrument.
But, then again, so was my nikkormat, back in its day!!
Each had a purpose and did it well.
📷 Regards, Randy 📸

fetzler Loc: North West PA

I have a few crystal radios. Some are more than 100 years old. Crystal Radios can work quite well if they have a good antenna - a couple hundred feet of wire and a ground with a few radial wires. Without a ground they don't work. The radios are not very selective however.

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

jerryc41 wrote:

When I was a kid, I built a crystal radio, and it ... (show quote)

Got a schematic from an electronics book at the library and bought the parts from Lafayette Radio. Several transistors, diodes and compositors. Assembled on a wooden board and ran a wire antenna from outside to the board. Picked up three or four stations. Furthest about 50 miles away. Had a lot of fun with it.

mountain51

My dad had a crystal radio he when he was a kid. It consisted of a flat box with a piece of crystal on it. You had to have a wire ground and a wire antenna but no battery. There was a very thin metal wire he called a cat whisker. The crystal and cat whisker had a glass dome over it. You had to remove the glass dome then moved one end of the cat whisker around the crystal to find a station. It also had connectors for a head set.
He mounted it on the handle bars of his bicycle and say he had the first vehicle with a radio on it. The only problem was that he had to stop and ground the radio to listen to it.
I searched Google but couldn't find a picture of it. Wish I had it to day to give to my grandson.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

Curmudgeon wrote:

Pardon me but I don't think that is a crystal set. A crystal set used a cat's whisker on a movable arm and an actual crystal. By placing the cat's whisker on different parts of the crystal you could change frequencies and hopefully find a local radio station. My crystal set had a straight wire antenna and had to be securely grounded for it to work. I always used a cold water pipe. Copper wire coils and variable capacitors came much later.

While Galena Crystals were indeed used by many early crystal sets, There are several other types of diodes that can be used for rectification. A modern set would likely use a germanium diode. Acid cup diodes work well but having a cup of strong acid on the desk is not so safe.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

fetzler wrote:

While Galena Crystals were indeed used by many early crystal sets, There are several other types of diodes that can be used for rectification. A modern set would likely use a germanium diode. Acid cup diodes work well but having a cup of strong acid on the desk is not so safe.

All way too high tech for me. I bought a Crystal Set Kit from an add in the back of a comic book, under 2 bucks probably under 1 buck. Built it with the help of my dad and learned to read basic schematics from that kit.

jerryd49 Loc: Indianapolis, IN

My folks gave me a Radio Shack Crystal Radio kit for Christmas when I was in the 4th grade I think. Could pick up WIBC (Indianapolis) and a local ham operator a couple of blocks away. Had to listen on headphones. Fun memories. Thanks for the reminder.