Links and other
Resources
(26 OCT 06
*The
Xtal Set
Society - a must-visit site, a few select links. Two
projects
on line. If you haven't built a crystal set before, the Oatbox
Radio is
about as reliable as they come, and never fails to bring a smile the
face of
anyone who hooks it up to an antenna and ground for the first
time.
Sponsors a discussion group (see below)
*Al Klase
- has an outstanding page here. I printed it out
immediately. Includes a short course in Crystal Radio 102,
some
neat info on headphone and earplug sensitivity, coil philosophy, and
rock stands
he's made. See his super radio using toroid coils.
*Welcome to Ben Tongue's
Technical Talk - Ben Tongue's
thoughts
on xtal set design, headphone testing, and much, much more. Ben
is the "real deal" when writing about this stuff, so make sure you have
some time to spend on his site. Even has a section on Edison and
the radio business. He keeps adding new stuff; check out how to
use those magnet coils to their best advantage.
* Crystal
Radio Web Site Darryl Boyd's site on sound powered
phones,
oodles of "lost" crystal set construction articles and a bunch of
other stuff just keeps getting better. Largest collection of
published
crystal set plans available.
* Designing
a DX
Crystal Set Mike Tuggle on how to build a real DX
set.
*The VE7SL Radio Notebook
Steve
Mcdonald's site. Crystal sets and ham radio. A nice
synopsis of
just about everything we have learned about making a dx crystal set.
*Gollum´s Crystal
Receiver World.
- some interesting circuits, including how to bias a detector
.
Updates page occasionally, and now has a couple of FM crystal sets
and a nice looking double tuned selective set. Be sure to
visit
the visitors articles sections for the two articles by Berthold Bosch
* Science
Toys Chapter 4: Radio nice detailed pictures on their
progressive
project. Also has the simplest AM transmitter you'll ever
find.
ARRLWeb: Science
Fair/Merit
Badge Projects has a QST crystal radio project you can download in
PDF
Goldenberg Lab
detailed
pdf instructions for a classic slider.
*Crystal Set
Competition from Queensland Australia - beautiful rigs, and plans
for the prizewinning
Mystery Crystal Set (the rage in 1932).
Improvement
of the "Mystery" some more notes on the original by Ken
Bizarre Stuff You Can Make in Your
Kitchen
finally found a new home. Super site.
* The World of Vintage Radio and
Electronics A very nice new site from the UK with bunches of
reprint
articles from Radio Constructor magazine, and more to come.
Crystal
Radio
Circuits by Wenzel Associates, with some new stuff on diodes added
A
crystal radio set for Dad's Mum's and beginners A nice site; worth
visiting, then visit Ian's very fine Electronics tutorials
site.
Loop Xtal Set
Crystal Radio
with Loop
Antenna
Electronic Circuits
has
too-simple xtal set plus one with an op amp booster
Adventures in Cybersound A
'Sensitive' Crystal
Radio , and A
'Selective' Razor
Blade Crystal Radio . Both salvaged before Gnome
Technologies
reformatted their site. Some nice stuff on alternative
detectors.
The rest of this site is great too, including a foxhole radio design by
Lance
Borden
Antique
Radio
Page: Articles - "Foxhole Radios" .
Crystal
Radio
A collection of nice stuff from Dan Peterson, a regular XSS contributor
Ed Ganger's
coil
winding formulas for single and multilayer and spiderweb coils.
CRYSTALª@RADIO
site in Japan; nice set, but most writing in Japanese.
Look at the
rest of the site too.
Germanium
diode
selection a nice, objective comparison of diodes "over
there"
Headphones
how to fix 'em.
Tom
Polk's kid
radio - what to do with those empty soda cans
Very nice looking XTAL SET
Here are two homebrew sets from the 20's. Home
Built, 1
Crystal Set or Home
Built, 2
Crystal Set
Electrical Engineering
Training
Series. Courtesy of the US Navy Training command.
Worth
reading.
136khz.htm Read the
part
about antennas - the long wave guys have to deal with too- short
antennas also,
to the extreme.
The Crystal Set
Some
nice stuff from Brian Hawes' files.
Marconi
magnetic detector try to make one of these and get it working.
FM only: Low
Tech FM
Radios for those of you who asked
Cristadyne
wierd stuff from the past. Got any zincite?
J.C. Bose:
60 GHz
in the 1890s very serious crystal sets - not for kids
Producing
wound components detailed discussion of coil construction
Inductors.
- some dope about coils and such
The Unusual Diode FAQ
Museum of American Heritage
take a course on building a crystal radio(if you are a kid near Palo
Alto, CA)
Spark, Bang, Buzz and
Other Good
Stuff. includes making an oscillating diode out of common
materials.
This guy is absolutely nuts. Wonderful site.
An
FM
Crystal Receiver looks like you can make this one without too much
trouble
My Crystal
Radio Page
some sets by Adam Vaughn
Crystal Set Corner
a
nice tutorial from Wireless
Review
Rook Coils for
Crystal
Radios a different way to make basket coils
Philip Miller Tate's Web
Extravaganza! Ramblings from Dr. Whiz.
Vintage
Radio Repair and Restoration - RF Signal Generator
Image 618x875
pixels
a simple dip meter.
AM Loop Antennas
A
Lyonodyne style Crystal Radio Lou may have dug up the
original
design here.
How
to make
a Simple Radio Set
Active
Antenna for those days when the wind knocks down the tree.
Variometer Design
Crystal
Radio.html a school project using a simple variable
capacitor.
Dave Schmarder
has
a nice site with his crystal and tube sets. Will be happy to let
you buy
as well. Be sure to read his experiments with Ben Tongue's
"contra coils".
Klunky Schematic
Drawing
Make your schematics on line
TubePad 5.0
another
way to make your schematics.
Create Schematics With
Paint!
Fun
With
Tubes starts you off with a crystal set and walks you
through
building simple one-and two-tube sets.
Crystal Sets
Some history, some tutorial, and perhaps more to come..
Crystal
Radio
Page Nostalgia plus by Jim Frederick. He also features
Cushman motor
scooters.
Crystal Radio
School Club
Project a nice middle school project page
W4WCG AMATEUR RADIO Clifton
Gantt
has some nice stuff on crystal sets
http://physicsfiles.com/xtal_radio_project.PDF
A very nice Green
crystal set from a physics class; everything recycled.
Vintage Radio
and
Electronics A variety of articles from the British
press.
CRYSTAL RADIO
Dr Duggee has a couple of simple sets, and an interesting loop.
Discover Circuits,
a
collection of 7000+ free electronic circuits schematics to solve
design
problems
http://www.crystal-radio.eu/
A site from the Netherlands with nice looking sets
SHORTWAVE CRYSTAL SETS AND INFO
SETS:
GW0VMR's Short Wave
Crystal
Radio Set can't get much easier than this.
Shortwave
"Mystery" Crystal Radio with variations, by Ken Harthun
HOMEBREW
QRP IS
GUD 4 U strip the receiver down to a shortwave passband xtal set,
or just
build it as shown and copy CW and SSB. Audio amp optional.
Shortwave
Crystal Set Al Klase's experimental sw set (pay
attention
here - Al knows whereof he speaks).
The Creative
Science
Centre build a rough science shortwave set using a sauce
pan
capacitor
INFO:
International
Bureau
> FCC HF Broadcasting Page good info on the shortwave
bands.
HFCC Public Area Shortwave
skeds
from the High Frequency Coordinating committee, have to noodle around
on this a
bit.
Glenn Hauser's
World of
Radio
YAHOO! PHOTO ALBUM S (more than just pictures)
Xtal Set Photos by Dr.
Whiz
Charlie's SW
Xtal Set
Loose Coupler's
pix
Mike Lee's gallery
Richard
O'Neill's
posting of NBS circular 121 from 1922 on building a still hot crystal
set
Bill
Hebbert's photos rook coils and other stuff.
REGENERATIVE AND OTHER RECEIVERS WITH THREE (OR MORE) LEGGED DEVICES
.
Diotran Radio
- a
simple regenny
Harry's Homebrew
Homepages
another couple of regens and other interesting
stuff
Regenerative
TRF
Receiver
W2UW's 1-FET
transmitter/receiver
Thermoradio
a candle powered regenny? Hmmm.
One
transistor FM radio project a supergenny; pretty straightforward
after you
assemble the parts.
CK722_Webpage
all about
the transistor that got many of us started
radios
Bob's
site features an early one-transistor receiver from Knight Kits
(oh,
where can you find those coils?), a one transistor Heath AM
transmitter, and
more.
Australian Vintage
Radio!
See if you can make one of the valveless headphone amplifiers.
Also has a
simple little one-tuber. (gotta make one soon)
Old-Time
"Interflex" Radio Receiver a Hugo Gernsback project
Transistors
a nice tutorial on how they work.
Radio Frequency Schematics
three projects, including a short wave ZN414 based set, plus a bunch of
other
nice stuff
Regenerative
Receivers
nice page from Wenzel
Simple Radio and other stuff
from Hans
RF
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS A regenny and a reflex
Two
Transistor Reflex Radio
A one transistor cathedral radio
Hobby
Elettronica il Portale Italian site, but you can figure out
the
details of the two transistor AM Reflex radio
The Ingenious
Circuits
of Sir Douglas Hall from Radio Constructor/
Philmore
radio
kit alas, construction details lacking, but you can make it
with perseverance,
I think
Simplest RF
transmitter
Chapter
4: Radio a cute way to make the MK 484 receiver. Will
sell you
the parts.
A nice
variety
of circuits
Regen Shortwave Receiver
The
Transistor Museum
Operating aids
AM Query -- AM Radio
Technical
Information -- Audio Division (FCC) USA helps answer the
questions
about why you can't hear them, or can't avoid them- lists frequency
coordinated
n. and s. american stations- and then go to the next link to:
Distance
and Bearing Calculations Between Two Sets of Coordinates (FCC) USA
How far is it? another
distance
program with some coordinates of selected cities
Combined BCB Freq List!
Good lookup for those stations you never heard of.
Includes
stations below the MW band.
FCC AM
Database
Search not the official site, but works nicely, even when the
agency budget
is still in committee.
AM Logbook nice layout
which shows program formats for many
stations; useful for those that only ID once an hour.
Lightning
Explorer Free Page gives you a map of the US showing lightning
strikes
within the last two hours or so - find out where that static is coming
from.
The DXZone Guide to Ham Radio World
The MIT List of Radio
Stations
on the Internet
Azimuthal Equidistant (Great
Circle)
Projection Map go here to make an azimuthal map with your
location
in the center.
Earth
at Night ever wonder why you never hear some parts of the world?
Earth
View
get a real time view of where it's dark, and where it's not
The official U.S. time with a
day/night map.
G4FON has as good a Morse code
tutorial
and trainer as you can get for the effort of downloading. Uses
the Koch
method of code instruction, but you can just use it to brush up on your
receiving.
AM Band Slogans
At last, a site that matches station slogans to frequency. Too
bad it won't separate those Radio Disney stations that are on the same
freq.
Parts,
sets, and kits
No recommendations on any of these except as noted. If you
have a
link to add, tell me and I'll look at it; if you think someone doesn't
belong
on this "mantle", tell me about it
*
Scott's Crystal Radios Great classic headphones and
homebrew
rigs and repros and other stuff to use them with. You can ask if
you are
looking for something special. Visit his headphone heaven and get
some
serious headphones. Now has some nice drawings of the Heathkit CR
1. Learn how to mount your galena crystals.
* Larry's Genuine
"Rockstand" Detector Handcrafted with cheap American labor; his
(he subsidizes these by keeping a day job). If you get one any
place
else, you're probably paying too much for too little. Larry used one of
these
in the dx contest to clean out the state of California, western Canada
and half
the Baja peninsula. Includes an assortment of rocks with it for
experimenting.(I have one)
*The Xtal Set Society
- serious
kits (at good prices) and some parts, including new 365 pF air
variables, both
single and double ganged (very nice ones - smooth and actually 20 - 400
pF). Also carries a one-tube regenny kit,
designed by
Mike Peebles. Carries a Rocket Radio - nostalgia buffs will like
this
one.
*Mouser -
get the
catalog sent to you; hard to use the online PDF version- best buy for
enameled
wire - lots of parts and service good - get your crystal earphones here
too
when you need lots of 'em. Detailed specs for many parts
available on
line.
Dan's Small Parts and
Kits
- Online catalog, something new all the time; has lots of
neat
buys in quantity. Stock changes, so keep checking back. Good
prices and
service.
*Playthings Of Past has
some nice
old stuff, and the prices are very good. Give Gary a try; you
won't be
disappointed.
* Peeble's Originals
has
some really neat old stuff, with more to come on this site.
*Borden Radio Company Lance
has a
nice collection of reprints of articles he has published, and some nice
little
kits, including a one-tube regenny. Will also sell you an
original rocket
radio or a new one.
*Antique Electronic Supply Online
-
kits and hard to find parts.
*Transtronics -
Has a
nice basic solderless xtal set by Techtronics similar to
the older
Radio shack version- check out companion solderless
speaker/amp.
Has some other neat looking radio/electronics stuff, such as an
inexpensive rf
signal generator kit. Minimum $20.00 order. Buy a bunch of
the xtal
sets and hand 'em out to every 10 year old in your neighborhood.
See my review of this one.
Dave Schmarder's Homemade
Crystal
Radios. Also has some parts. Tube sets coming.
John Hern at
the Happy
Greyhound Has some nice parts you might use.
All
Electronics Corp. Has the Techtronics kit for a good price.
Radio Shack - - best
local
buy for small parts, such as resistors, and plastic coated
wire. Forget the solderless radio kits (okay, get the xtal set
and do my
project). Their gazillion and one electronic kits are useful for
breadboarding. Will special order the high impedance crystal
earlugs that
come with the project kits; best price if you only need one or two;
part no. is
10637379. If you aren't satisfied, no-hassle returns.
Rapid online A
UK
supplier that carries the MK 484 IC for a good price.
Allied Electronics
PV
Scientific Instrument's Crystal Radio Page - hand crafted
radios and
kits - they may look pricey, but sets like these aren't junk box
specials,
unless you have a really nice junk box. Will also make you up
a kit -
just give them a price range. If you buy one of their sets and
don't like
it, send it to me for disposal and I will pay S&H - hi.
Crystal radios
built to
order Roger, K8CIX makes some beauties.
ElmerRadio a
variety of
kits
Circuit Specialists
electronic
parts. Online catalog.
Electronic Kits for Kids
Mini Labs Slider
Ramsey Electronics
has a
crystal radio -looks pricey, but worth a try. Construction and
operating
manual downloadable in PDF format.
Einstein's
Emporium has the Smithsonian kit and the Mini Labs kit.
Electronic Goldmine has an
interesting assortment of electronics stuff, including AM tuning coils
and
polyfilm variables. Online pdf catalog. Good service, and
will
actually send a cash refund if out of stock on prepaid orders.
Stock
rotates.
eBay
Listings: Radio Equipment auctions on neat radio stuff.
Ocean State Electronics
a
nice on-line catalog. Has some ZN414s (pricey). Good
selection of
air variables.
radiokits A "credit
card" radio, limited edition (instant classic?) By Fran Golden -
circuit design probably like the new RS kit, but costs more.
Novelty
design..
Dick Smith
Electronics -Australia's answer to Radio Shack - back of
catalog has
a nice electronics reference section.
Brian Smith's
Wireless
Workshop A place to go down under when Dick doesn't have it.
Amidon get your ferrite cores
and
toroids from the source.
MINI LABS
CRYSTAL RADIO
. And yet another source
Circuit Test Electronics
another set
from the UK. Search for "crystal" sells the MX901
C.B. Schrock It took
two years,
but they got their picture links working
Fair Radio Sales Company Inc.
surplus
and some nice matching transformers for high level detection.
Electronix Express good
online
catalog. Still lists the polyfilm variable capacitors.
ONE CHIP
AM RADIO
KIT a MK484 IC radio. Looks good, price looks right, but oh,
those
Canadian shipping charges. Buy several for your scout troop and
amortise
the shipping costs around.
Modules & Hard-to-Get Items
from
kitrus.com. has the MK 484 Chip and the polyfilm varicaps with
knobs for
good prices
American
Microsemiconductor still makes and sells germanium diodes
Vectronics.Com
Their crystal set; pricier than it ought to be for a simple set
MFJEnterprises.Com
has a dip meter for sale.
Alfa
Electronics-DM-4061A
Grid Dip Meter
eHam.net Classifieds
- Search
for used test equipment
Phil Seltzer Online
Toy
Catalog buy a set similar to the current RS kit in bulk - the
minimum
order is a bit high, and I can't say what the set's like, but the price
is
reasonable.
C
& S Sales -- Product Detail has a Maxitronix set similar to the
current
Radio Shack version. Watch out for the earplug (see my review of
their
901 kit).
Micro-Mark
here is some low melting point metal for mounting rocks
CRYSTAL RADIO
Buy the
Smithsonian set in Mexico - oooh, those prices!
Pete's
Electronics
Pete is in the UK and has an eclectic set of interests and some parts
you might
be looking for, including germanium transistors.
Brainywires A crystal
set with
transistor amp assembled with magnets?
1N34A Diode Ceramic Earphone Crystal
Earphone
MPF102 2N2222A 1N3A has some parts to sell.
Old Time Crystal Radio Kits
&
Mystery Crystal Radio Kits to Build Yourself or Give as Gifts!
Radios
Old toy
crystal sets. Bring your checkbook
Byers Custom Chassis and
Enclosures (by k3iwk)
Since I have been mostly been building my own, or helping students with
theirs,
I can't say how most of the kits will work out, but will put up a new
page and
post reviews if you send them to me.
Books
<>
Gasoline
Alley
Antiques NOVELTY RADIOS has some original Miniman rocket radios -
very
pricey, but some people will spend anything on nostalgia.
Welcome to oldradios.com -
offers some
of the small radios of yesteryear as collectors items. Take a
look and
bring your checkbook.
GOLLUM has some
neat pix at
his site too.
Antique Radio
Classified:
Radio on the Web order sample copy of the magazine on line; you
might get
hooked
Antique Radio Resources
links page to a lot of antique radio sites, including some pix
of early
crystal radios.
Radiomuseum
Rottenburg pix of some nice old crystal sets
Radios
Antigos
no Brasil a nice page from Brazil, in english
Peter's Radio-Page
ancient radios
AGN another
beautiful set
Xtal Radio
Index
Japaanese site with some nice pix
Misc
crystal
sets some nice old radios
Antique Wireless Association
Pre-1930 has some
old sets
and some interesting repros.
LWCA Longwave Home Page when you're
ready to
go down low....
Altair's Natural Radio
Projects
and when you want to really go low, go here (might need an amp)
Pickard,
Greenleaf Whittier : some biographical notes on the crystal
detector's inventor
Virginia City Radio Museum
Radio Operations Aboard
Submarines
. Not a darn thing to do with xtal sets, but oh, the
memories...this
fellow's last sub, USS Amberjack was the first one I served aboard
John Jenkins SparkMuseum
No. 176: Crystal Sets
let
John Lienhard at the University of Houston take you back to the joys of
being
9. Link to a rare Sears xtal set ad as well. When you get to the
bottom
of the page, go to the rest of the series; marvelous reading. This is a
later
version of the episode: read them both No. 1695: Crystal
Set
TELEGRAPH,
RADIO,
AND SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS MUSEUM
Antiques of
Science
& Technology
toy
crystal radios, germanium diode radios Some pix of "toy" crystal
sets.
EarlyWireless
American Radio Relay League
The A#1
organization for Hams. Use this site to check out the ham fests
and swap
meets near you.
Marine Radio History - Morse
Hammond Museum of Radio
Fessenden
and the Early History of Radio Science
Transcripts of The
Engines of
Our Ingenuity the rest of John Leinhard's articles. Must
reading.
Radios
crystal
radios from the 50's and 60's. Bring your checkbook.
Braun
short bio of one of the other crystal set inventors
Crystal radio
Some old xtal sets from a Belgian site
Rocket Radio
another rocket radio remembrance
marconicalling
digital archives from the UK
Ediswan
1923
an early xtal set
United States Early Radio History
Crystal radio
some nice
looking sets
The
Project Gutenberg eBook of The Radio Amateur's Hand Book, by A.
Frederick
Collins c. 1922
Popular
Electronics
Magazine of the 50s through the 80s
Rockheads in (Cyber)Space
<>thecrystalsetradioclub -Cyberspace crystal radio club; bandwidth courtesy of Yahoo. Join in and connect with other rockheads. Anyone can watch, or join in. Lively postings and good stuff. (Got to join to see the pictures) This is a closed group, but email me and I'll get you an invite; same with the next group.Have anything you want to add? drop me a line
