![]() ![]() The schematic is shown in Figure 3.įIGURE 3. SIMPLE SCHEMATIC, LONG ANTENNAĬrystal sets receive AM (Amplitude Modulated) radio stations by using a simple demodulation scheme. It kept loosening up as I wound it, so my dad patiently helped me wrap it tight. As a kid, I also had trouble winding the big coil. Fortunately, my soldering equipment and skills have improved over the years. It cost $0.43 for a replacement from Allied. At that time, our family only had a huge 100 watt Weller soldering gun and I grossly overheated the poor little diode. One thing I remember about building my first set was that I fried the 1N34A germanium diode. This unrestored crystal set was found on eBay and came with a headphone. Figure 2 shows the unrestored unit I received. I don’t recall what happened to my old set perhaps my mother tossed it out after I left it in the attic. In fact, it was exactly the same model I originally built decades ago. This restored crystal radio kit from Allied Radio in Chicago cost $2.50 in the 1950s and ‘60s. RESTORING MEMORIESįigure 1 shows the restoration of a crystal set I found on eBay that was very familiar to me.įIGURE 1. ![]() BTW, Etsy sells a number of vintage-style crystal sets on its website made of real wood, not plastic! No batteries required. In this article, I’d like to share how the primitive crystal sets of the ‘50s and ‘60s worked and hopefully stir some distant memories for those of you who also built one of these mysterious listening devices. No more uncomfortable Bakelite headphones. Nowadays, all you have to do is ask Alexa to tune into any one of hundreds of radio stations to hear their programming. Some were so faint that my young imagination thought I might be hearing secret messages. I spent many an hour down in our basement with headphones clamped on my ears, carefully tuning the variable capacitor to pull in nearby and distant stations. ![]() It came as a kit from Allied Radio in Chicago for $2.50. I built a crystal radio in 1952 when I was 12 years old. ![]()
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