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Who built crystal radios?
- Thread starter rimfired
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HAWKEYE10
Member
I had a crystal radio when I was a kid in the 50's. I remember listening to WSM radio "home of the Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville. Don
labworm
US Veteran
Never built one, but had the nice looking Rocket Ship Radio in the 50's.
Sort of neat, attach the alligator clip to a radiator, put in earphone (single of course), and listen. As I recall, could only get one station which was audible.
Sort of neat, attach the alligator clip to a radiator, put in earphone (single of course), and listen. As I recall, could only get one station which was audible.
Marshwheeling
Member
I had one of the rocket radios too. Alligator clip on the radio, one ear bud. There were two local stations I could get, plus one from Shreveport, LA.
Project in 8th grade shop class. Got one station (WNJR), the Black music station in Newark NJ. Some I liked, some I didn't. Unfortunately, it was all current. Didn't hold a candle to YouTube or even Pandora. But it was a nice break from walking to school, uphill, both ways.
Maybe my start in electronics.... Early '50s till right now.
I had a slice of galena on a chunk of lead and a *cat whisker*. Wound my own coil on an oat meal carton (don't remember the cap though).
Good times indeed
I had a slice of galena on a chunk of lead and a *cat whisker*. Wound my own coil on an oat meal carton (don't remember the cap though).
Good times indeed
dentkimterry
Member
I made one. Came in a kit. Heathkit I think. Heathkit stuff was lots of fun. You could make many things with one kit. I made a radio transmitter and could broadcast on the neighbors radio.
ohiobuckeye
Member
Maybe my start in electronics.... Early '50s till right now.
I had a slice of galena on a chunk of lead and a *cat whisker*. Wound my own coil on an oat meal carton (don't remember the cap though).
Good times indeed
Been there...done that...exactly as you described. The old round oatmeal boxes were perfect for winding coils. I think I had to invest a whole dime in the lead mounted galena crystal and everything else was salvaged from the scrap pile. Eventually, I saved enough pennies to buy one of the early PNP transistors, a CK722 if I recall correctly, and add a single stage of audio amplification to drive a pair of military surplus headphones. With the transistor, I could carry it just about anywhere and use a short antenna lead with an alligator clip to hook onto just about any large metal object and get a good enough signal to listen to WLW in Cincinnati, about 70 miles away....my first portable radio...
Yes, My Dad was into electronics and taught me how. I had several homemade and some kits.
CAJUNLAWYER
Member
Gawd....I loved Heathkits. Also loved erector sets. Now THOSE were toys!!!
One of the 1st color tvs I saw as a kid had been built from a Heathkit.
Cherokee Slim
Member
I did this as well. It was a Boy Scout project as I recall. WSM, WLS from Chicago I think and a loud screaming preacher from Texas was all it would pickup. I couldn't even get local stations. I say the Marines made me a man, but the Boy Scouts sure built the foundation.
Cherokee Slim
Straightshooter2
US Veteran
Never built one but I did have one of the rocket ship radios. We found out early on that if you put the alligator clip on the ground wire that ran from the top of the telephone pole in the corner of our yard, you could pick up a lot of stations. I remember sitting beside that pole, feet dangling into the ditch along side the house and listening to the world series.
CW
CW
Yup. Been there and did that. Eventually abandoned the project because I couldn't change stations precisely. It was a cool experiment, though - practically something for nothin'.
John
John
Moonman
Member
I got mine with Yellow Top Value Trading Stamps.
CW Spook
US Veteran
My dad and I built one from a Boy Scout kit when I was about 10, then about a year or so later I got a one or two transistor kit. We were only 15 miles or so from a 50kw broadcast station, so that was the only thing I could pick up. I used to keep the earphone under my pillow and listen to it as I fell asleep. That, in turn, led me to build a 2 tube regenerative Knight-Kit SpanMaster as a freshman shop project which started me on SWL'ing and then ham radio. Been at it ever since...over 50 years.
labworm
US Veteran
Really like this thread.
I guess some will never know what they all missed.
I guess some will never know what they all missed.
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i started with a 100mw walkie talkie...ended up making an amplifier for it...opened it up and connected to a groundplane rooftop antenna..this 1/10th of a watt setup could talk 10 miles or so then
Built a crystal set in junior high (7th or 8th grade early 50's) used the oatmeal box and a razor and pencil lead (called a fox hole radio and you can buy a kit now). Eventually used some of my GI Bill to take a radio/tv repair course and built a Heathkit oscilloscope and 23" color tv.
