# 1920's Crystal Radio project



## Kristin D (Nov 20, 2007)

fu


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## Glenmore (Sep 10, 2004)

Kristin that is one really neat project. First time for me to see such a contraption. Thanks for sharing.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

That's Neat Kristin

It makes me recall the one I made in school, along time ago,,, 7th grade if I recall that right....with had a great teacher and we called him Mr.Wizard,, if you recall that old show on TV,,, LOL ... it was about the same just some wire on a TP tube...and some other parts..but it worked..fun stuff 


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## challagan (Feb 7, 2006)

Cool project Kristin. 

corey


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## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

Very good Kristin!

I've made several of those... I found out that by adding more coils in series, the volume increased a lot... I could lay the earphone on the bed and hear it several feet away!

My pieces of Galena were a lot larger than yours though... maybe it was more plentiful in my early days... (late 40's early 50's)...

Looks really COOL... Oats box n all!

Good job!!

What station do you get?


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

An interesting project Kristin, for the AM broadcast band, 60 turns of 24 gauge enamel covered wire with a 0.0005mfd tuning capacitor in parallel was the norm. Size of the crystal is unimportant so long as it has a "hot" spot (after the war I used Germanium point contact diodes removed from government surplus equipment) A high impedance pair of headphones are required, the higher the better but at least 3000 ohms. Let us all know how well it works.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Kristin

"Looks like I have stirred up a few memories" yes, many .many memories..for radios.... 

About the age of 12, I would hook up a wagon to my bike and make a trip once a day to the dump, ( up hill both ways ) about 10 blocks from home and pickup all the radios and TV's I could load up in my wagon,,,then take them back home and put them in my bed room and take them down to parts ,,LOL LOL ,I had boxes and boxes of tubes,trans.caps,parts,etc. you name it, my dad and mom asked what are you going to do with all that junk you have in your bed room and I would always just say don't know but I like to play them... LOL ,I had more Tv's than a Radio/TV store,,,, I would love to turn them all on at one time LOL, just to drive my dad nuts LOL LOL , but he would slip in from time to time to watch his shows ( boxing and wrestling) all at one time ,,,back then we only 4 channels on TV and many AM radio stations, nothing like having about 25 radios going at full blast and the TV's going on at the same time ....multi tasking back then ,,,,,,LOL

Thanks for clicking my memory button for radios,,,, LOL hahahaha...


Just as a side note,,,,,when I hit the old age of 15 I got the car bug and started draging home old cars and taking them apart in the drive way and that was the end of the radio days for me,,, then not having a driving lic.
I would take the motors out and put them on blocks and start them up all the time...and spend my week ends with a box of Tide Soap and a tooth brush cleaning the drive way up, LOL LOL 
Then the bed room was a new storage spot for eng. parts and car parts.. and the radios and TV's got put in the trash can..and back to the dump where they came from LOL LOL > > >

Many,many memories but some of the page numbers have been removed until someone like Kristin puts the pages numbers back in place ,hahahahah. 

Thanks Kristin
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Kristin D said:


> Joe,
> Haven't even got up and running yet still colecting bit's and pieces as it were. I got a set of headphones a few weeks ago, turns out they would not work with a crystal set, more like a Zenith Trans-Oceanic type set  if you know what they were. So I went back and bought another pair from the same guy this time armed with my pocket digital meter so I knew what I was getting, Bingo I got a pair of phones that will work. Thanks to the nice folks I have met on the other forum they keep sending me more bits and pieces to keep my head swimming and not "build" yet. I'll probably make a few once I get going, but I have always wanted a Quaker Oat's box one ever since I had my first one which was a Cub Scout kit from the early 60's. I have even found a reproduction graphic of the early oat's box label I will probably have printed and wrap around the second one before I wind the coil.
> 
> Looks like I have stirred up a few memories by posting this and when it's done I'll post more pictures and a parts list + information on where to get parts if anyone want's to make one.
> ...


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## George II (Nov 8, 2007)

I remember when I was in cub scouts in the 50's when we made our first crystal radio...me and our friends kept winding more and more wire and then less wire to see how far we could receive a station. Funny thing, it was a couple weeks ago I was sitting around remembering the fun things we id as kids and those crystal radio cae to mind...then I was trying to remember how we did it and what we neede to make tem work..I eve went so far as tro try to suss out the magic stuff to make one...Now thanks to you Kistin I am off lke a prom dress o make one again.....where is that web site you found ? Thanx
George II
aka 
George Cole


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi George

Just a Butt in post 

http://www.crystalradio.net/crystalplans/index.shtml#new
http://www.crystalradio.net/howitworks/index.shtml

Once you make one or two pls. post a sanpshot or two..

#42
Oat Box Crystal Radio Set
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## Rolf Maxa (Feb 8, 2005)

*Old Days*



Kristin D said:


> Not much of a woodworking project but I thought I would share it anyway. Somehow I became nostalgic about crystal radios like I had as a kid. I used to wake up with an earache from the earphone when I would fall asleep on it, but it was exciting listening to WABC in New York and Jean Shepard on WOR at night.


Kristin, I thought I was the only person in New York City that listen to Jean Shepard. If I remember correctly her performed at the Limelight Club and the show was broadcast on the radio for 45 minutes. I don't remember the time by it may have been from 11 to 12PM. WABC wasn't the Good Guys?
I love the old days.


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## hitnailonhead (Sep 28, 2007)

*foxhole radio*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skKmwT0EccE&feature=related


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## Joe Lyddon (Sep 11, 2004)

hitnailonhead said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skKmwT0EccE&feature=related


WOW, what a _sharp_ radio!

First time I've seen a razor blade used as a detector!

Seemed like there was capacitor missing too...

... but it worked... somehow...

Again, really _sharp_!


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Thanks for the link hitnailonhead


It's the same one we all made in class , I didn't know it was called a fox hole radio, but now I do 
But back then we used the old razor blades , the blue ones  (made by Gillette I think) and we used staples , from a desk type stapler ,no paper clips back then  that I recall ...we only used paper clips to pick locks   in the girls gym locker room... LOL LOL to get our sling shots material.. them things make great rock holders... 

http://www.routerforums.com/64107-post4.html


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hitnailonhead said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skKmwT0EccE&feature=related


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Such a design without a tuning circuit is pretty useless these days, in an area with several reasonably powerful AM stations, they will all come in at the same time, with the strongest station predominating. The technical description is that it totally lacks selectivity. The oxide coating on the blade turns it into a metal oxide detector, from my experience as a youngster, no where near as good as a Galena crystal with some good hot spots.


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