CRYSTAL RADIOS
 I work on vintage radios as a counterpoint to my professional career as a Field Applications Engineer for a major semiconductor company, as in a billion transistors under your thumb nail.  It's refreshing to work on devices where you can actually see the individual components.  In between high-end ommunication-receiver restorations, I build crystal sets.


A Crystal-Set Circuit Tutorial:


Crystal Radio Coil

Coils can make or break a crystal set.  Here are some thoughts on their design:
     

One of the weak links in many sets is the earphones.

Headsets


Deck Talker


Sound-Powered Telephone Spotter's Guide


The Search for Steel Galena

Steel Galena


You can mount your own mineral crystals for use as detectors:
      
Mounting Crystals


A look at some vintage detectors:

 TWO WIRELESS DETECTORS

Perikon Detector


Crystal-Set Projects:
Pretty Good Crystal Set Build a

Pretty Good Crystal Set

The PGXS Mark II
People building their own PGXS's

at the Radio Technology Museum
A minature crystal set for urban areas:  
City Mouse Crystal Set
Crystal Radio SkyWaves High-Performance Crystal Set
A simple but effective
 SINGLE-TUNED SET
that rejects short-wave signals.   
Crystal Detector
Now you'll need a detector stand.  Here's one you can build: 
An experimental
 SHORT-WAVE CRYSTAL SET
Short-wave Crystal Set


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