What amazes me is that this is a passive electronics device: without a power source. The sound energy is purely from the transduced electromagnetic radio waves.
@dananorth8958 ай бұрын
A very small speaker and a very, very quiet room. The neighbors won't be complaining and yelling to turn it down!
@melioristicone3338 ай бұрын
Learned the basics for this skill in boy scouts In the early eighties. Cool video
@benjurqunov8 ай бұрын
Also illustrates the amount of energy that's emmited into space compared to the tiny fraction of it that's captured.
@1dgram8 ай бұрын
There's a power source all right, the crazy power being fed into the radio transmitter
@AM-bf9tb8 ай бұрын
@melioristicone333 shutlibs renamed it non-binary scouts. Get with the times bigot.
@wilurbean9 ай бұрын
Those are natural semiconductors and its amazing. They were able to find, characterize and use semiconductors without knowing what they were, in the late 1800s
@ErikPelyukhno9 ай бұрын
Yeah it’s amazing we were somehow able to discover this!
@wilurbean9 ай бұрын
@woodviewvillage3484 no not really. These were early engineer bros like "lol what if I use this rock in my circuit, will it explode? " A lot of early engineering and applied physics was like "what if I put by finger it lol" or "what does it taste like lol". Just boys being boys but they were from wealthy/smart/ both. See Langmuir and Langmuir probes for another example of "yoooo what I I just put my finger in there and see what it do"
@wilurbean9 ай бұрын
@woodviewvillage3484 that difference between the boys and great engineers comes down whether they had the idea to try to apply math to it, after it blew up
@0hellow7979 ай бұрын
@@wilurbeanyou don’t neeeeed math to hone in and tune something, I imagine there was just a lot of fiddling, but very intentional
@OdisseuBR8 ай бұрын
@@woodviewvillage3484please, what means "tartanian"?
@jasont808 ай бұрын
I've been into electronics for 40 years, and I'm still impressed with how we figured out everything to get to this point.
@hitmusicworldwide8 ай бұрын
It only took 10k years in material sciences development and experiments
@tyttuut8 ай бұрын
@@hitmusicworldwide 10,000 years from nothing to the crystal radio, and another 100ish years from the crystal radio to now.
@Buzzhumma8 ай бұрын
I feel the same bro . Defo some reverse engineering of area 52 going on ! 😂
@hitmusicworldwide8 ай бұрын
@@tyttuut on the shoulders of giants a lot of this work started in the 16th century and even earlier. Most folks don't pay any attention to the history of science and they think everything just popped out of nowhere which is why many times a lot of folks are like those make believe natives that get stunned and scared when Indiana Jones lights a match. You'd be surprised how early a lot of our technology goes back when it wasn't being suppressed by religion, wars, epidemics etc
@forkliftofzen53188 ай бұрын
@@tyttuut And now some people are so dumb that they cant figure out if they are a boy or a girl just by looking in their pants.
@gmespia9 ай бұрын
I still have my dad's crystal radio, built in a cigar box in the 1940's, in perfect working order.
@ErikPelyukhno9 ай бұрын
The fact that you’ve taken care of it and it still works is amazing!
@MattH-wg7ou9 ай бұрын
Thats awesome
@hsmallwood408 ай бұрын
I still have mine from 1989 when I was a freshman in high school.
@CaedesGladio8 ай бұрын
Sounds drippy
@SANTIGO_DA_18 ай бұрын
My grandpa gave me and my brother one when we were kids, it’s cool ash
@Renaissancemutant8 ай бұрын
My Dad helped me build one when I was 6. I'd fall asleep at night listening to Vin Scully announcing the Dodgers and wake up to Bob Cranes morning show. 😊
@rbmwiv8 ай бұрын
Way back in the day my grandpa made a crystal radio and taught me how it worked. That’s a fond memory. Thanks.
@kensmith56949 ай бұрын
Crystal radios are a great start to the hobby of electronics. They are also good projects where there is enough to do that it isn't over too quickly but also short enough to do on a rainy weekend day
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
Crystal radios were my introduction to electronics. As a kid it was pure magic. As an adult it's still pure magic, just as life itself is.
@kensmith56949 ай бұрын
@@GrantsPassTVRepair They were my introduction too.
@dananorth8958 ай бұрын
100 yrs ago kids built these all the time, age of radio.
@kensmith56948 ай бұрын
@@dananorth895 Make that 80 years and I would agree.
@moonmagnolia77 ай бұрын
I wanna make one.
@billbresnahan99499 ай бұрын
As a kid in the 60’s I remember hearing about a tiny crystal radio POW’s in Vietnam made using just a pencil, Razor blade and some snips of wire. I actually made a few trying to use only what they could get and they worked !
@BornTrespasser8 ай бұрын
Would that work with a graphite pencil?
@desertdude5408 ай бұрын
@@BornTrespasser It should, as long as the lead is hard enough to not have the point deform. I think the real problem is finding the appropriate razor blade, as the finish is the semiconductor. (I think you have to use blades with a blued finish, which are hard to find these days, so you might have to rust blue it yourself or try flame bluing it, unless you have a gunsmith friend who's willing to dip one in the hot caustic salts for you next time he's doing a bluing job.)
@qwertykeyboard59016 ай бұрын
I'd love to cobble a crystal set together using stuff only from the dollar tree. (Yes, that includes wires.)
@newsolo777-r6b8 ай бұрын
Back during WWII U.S. Army soldiers sometimes made what some called Bayonet radios. It didn’t have batteries either if I remember correctly, but they would put together a basic receiver, a coil, a razor blade, an antenna, and a copper wire wrapped around a bayonet stuck in the ground.
@GrantsPassTVRepair8 ай бұрын
Yes I remember hearing people talk about fox hole radios. We have come along way with detector diodes since those days.
@handsomelarsandhisfabulousjars9 ай бұрын
Wow, the more I learn about radio the more impressed I am at the ingenuity of the people behind the tech
@scottsammons77478 ай бұрын
When loading out a barn that a retired Army Major had left behind, I came across a pack of "radio steel" razor blades. It took years for me to understand the purpose behind the name.
@NateFord7 ай бұрын
One day while working from home and dealing with some delusional manic struggles, I became certain I was hearing voices. “It’s finally here,” I thought “the auditory hallucinations have arrived.” Then something about the voices were too… normal? familiar? So I turned off everything that made noise and followed the voices. Turns out they had an origin outside of my head. I followed the noise to its source: The copper coil motor of my oscillating tower fan was picking up AM radio signals and vibrating them out as sound. Google confirmed this happens and I maintained sanity for another day 💪
@GrantsPassTVRepair7 ай бұрын
I suppose that's possible if you are close to a powerful AM radio station.
@NateFord5 ай бұрын
@@GrantsPassTVRepair I was near the one of the highest elevations in one of the most densely populated areas in the world, so maybe I was close to one
@onestarabove7027Ай бұрын
Take your b vitamins. I heard some crazy Appalachian music when my electric fan was running. The cabin I loved in was made of local rocks with a high crystal content. This music was strange like from a long time ago.
@erictaylor54628 ай бұрын
My dad built a crystal radio when he was in high school. He had an antenna across the back yard and he could pick up Wolfman Jack in Pleasant Hill, Or, early 1960's. Wolfman Jack had a pirate radio station broadcast out of Tijuana, Mexico so powerful he could be picked up over most of the Western United States, well into Canada. He'd play Rock and Roll music and make prank phone calls did other funny sketches and what not. He was extremely popular because he did stuff you couldn't do on the radio. The FCC could.t do bunch as he was broadcasting out of Mexico. His transmitter was so powerful it would kill birds as they flew by.
@GrantsPassTVRepair8 ай бұрын
Believe it or not I spoke to Wolfman Jack as a kid. He use to give out his phone number on the radio show, so people could call in and make requests, but I don't think he was operating out of Mexico at that time.
@arthorn63088 ай бұрын
This "Short" brought up memories of being a kid in the 1950's and winding my own coil using a small Morton salt cardboard tube to make a crystal radio and using a WWII surplus headset to listen with. Thanks for this post!
@derekheim81728 ай бұрын
Or an oatmeal box!
@cliffordbaxter19928 ай бұрын
Yup, my dad made me one when I was about 5 years old 🙂 I'm 75 now ✝️🇺🇸😀😀😀😀😀
@blackcountryme8 ай бұрын
I had an electronic set when i was a kid, my dad made me an aerial to listen ti radio, i used to sit in the garden under a scaffolding pole and a broom handle woth a wire coat hanger on top.
@grumpy35439 ай бұрын
Yep. And the crystal radio kit I had as a kid still works. Amazing
@derekheim81728 ай бұрын
Yep, totally EMP proof!
@juans66398 ай бұрын
It brings back memories of me making a radio with a Galena Rock. I later upgraded and used a coil, (with a ferrite tuning rod) taken from an old car radio and a IN34 diode with simple headphone/s back in 1961. Thanks
@michaelinglis5679 ай бұрын
I use those 1N34A' germanium diodes in my guitar pedals circuits on occasion. I also build and restore old tube amps (guitar amps and Radios/Receivers). As much as I love old tube equipment I have to admit it's amazing how far we've come in just the past 120 years (Marconi is recognized as patenting the first radio in I believe 1896). I remember building a crystal radio with my father as a kid (1996-ish) and I think that was the moment I started to fall in love with electronics. My father was born in 1939 so when he was a kid every boy his age built crystal radios for fun and he must have thought I'd enjoy it as much as he did.
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
I remember the popularity of crystal radios as a kid, and when my uncle built me one, I was fascinated with it. I interviewed the author of a book on crystal radios in case you are interested in it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWW8daasq5Z3e80
@michaelinglis5679 ай бұрын
@@GrantsPassTVRepair Absolutely am, thanks for the link!
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
@@michaelinglis567 Your welcome.
@Magneticitist8 ай бұрын
I brought a crystal radio in for show and tell in like 2nd grade. Was a present from an uncle I think. It was very out of the ordinary. Wild how all these years later and I can look back and see how it was probably a beginning spark to what would later become a huge hobby.
@joewoodchuck38249 ай бұрын
I built crystal radios in the 1950s before I moved on to single tube regenerative receivers. I still have some Galena.
@wm63819 ай бұрын
I love learning stuff like this and seeing how amazing human beings can be near 100 years ago.... So much from so little.
@panamericaco9 ай бұрын
I've got a crystal radio in my 1962 DKW Junior deluxe. 3 cylinder, 2 Stroke. Wonderful car
@shadowpapito8 ай бұрын
You keep living and you may get the chance to see some truly fascinating things and this video is one of them! Thank you for your time and consideration
@GrantsPassTVRepair8 ай бұрын
Your Welcome
@marshallmcdonald73097 ай бұрын
It's amazing what can be used to receive radio signals. A Quaker Oats tube wrapped in coated wire, a cat's whisker much like you show, and a single small earpiece from a transistor radio. Boy Scouts circa 1976. Got my merit badge. Now it's SSB voice, FT8, FT4, RTTY & SSTV (just to name a few modes).
@chrismofer8 ай бұрын
Yes! I still remember an argument I had with my mom and brother, I had read about a crystal radio circuit and was telling them about it when they explained that a radio couldn't possibly work without batteries! I showed them the sentence in the publication but they insisted it was a typo. Alas, I knew what I had read and was able to build an AM radio with a pencil graphite+blued steel detector 😊
@GrantsPassTVRepair8 ай бұрын
You may enjoy seeing some of the detectors my friend uses in this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWW8daasq5Z3e80
@chrismofer7 ай бұрын
@@GrantsPassTVRepair that was super cool and inspiring thanks :)
@killervell988 ай бұрын
This is actually really fascinating. Thankyou for the content.
@GrantsPassTVRepair8 ай бұрын
Thanks for the appreciation. ;-)
@wetrock27667 ай бұрын
Cristal radio, I had one in 1957, made in plastic in the shape of a rocket.
@GrantsPassTVRepair7 ай бұрын
I remember those plastic rocket shaped crystal radios as a kid.
@plethoraOFtrivia7 ай бұрын
Yeah. I had one. They are cool. And a rather cheap toy to manufacture. Thanks for the 1957 memory. IT WAS A GOOD YEAR!
@kensmith56947 ай бұрын
They still made them well into the 1960s. The "rocket" shaped came back in the era of Apollo, IIRC.
@kevintucker33549 ай бұрын
Fascinating!! Thank you.
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
Thanks for watching. I have an expanded video on crystal radios at this link. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWW8daasq5Z3e80
@adamtribbett32948 ай бұрын
My Grandfather built something to that effect while POW in WW2. Took him a year or so but they could listen. B17 pilot Lt.Col Everette E Tribbett 305th bomb group POW Stalag 3 Thank you for sharing your radio. That's too cool.
@moonmagnolia77 ай бұрын
That’s very cool that he knew how to do that, was able to obtain the materials and get away with creating it as a POW, and live to tell about it!
@adamtribbett32947 ай бұрын
@moonmagnolia7 he absolutely did, his name was Lt.Col Everette E Tribbett, POW at Stalag Luft 3. Part of the Great Escape as well but...He fought for you to doubt him.
@adamtribbett32947 ай бұрын
@moonmagnolia7 hey MOON MAGNOLIA... YA your name explains it all. Good luck to you.
@ErikPelyukhno9 ай бұрын
Scientific discovery never ceases to amaze me. Who was the mad lad that discovered that a coil of wire and a rock could capture radio signals?
@gordswaitkewich9404 ай бұрын
This takes me back to my childhood in the 50s. Had a crystal radio. Then I found a very early automotive radio that was a crystal. These solidified my interest in electronics
@JubileeValence6 ай бұрын
We made Crystal radios as kids back in the 60s
@DrBovdin8 ай бұрын
It is quite interesting that the semiconductor receiver predates the thermionic valve receiver with quite a few years.
@peted52178 ай бұрын
Had Crystal radios in 1950s. No external power. Worked when grounded.
@haweater15558 ай бұрын
The detector is a substance with properties of a diode, conducting one way only. So it can chop off half of the AM radio wave and let it directly drive the speaker.
@HappyQuailsLC8 ай бұрын
Reminds me of people hearing their neighbors' ham radio transmissions tbrough their toasters
@r4z0r848 ай бұрын
I remember the crystal radio kit I had as a kid I was blown away when I could listen to the radio from a crystal haha
@adam38039 ай бұрын
Finally a channel that truly deserves a like and a subscribe
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
Thank you. You may enjoy this interview I did, by the author of a book on crystal radios. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWW8daasq5Z3e80
@donbailey66008 ай бұрын
Honestly this is more impressive for its time than modern semiconductors. Dudes actually figured this out starting w absolutely nothing!!!
@GrantsPassTVRepair8 ай бұрын
Here is the guy I got the crystal radio diagram from. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWW8daasq5Z3e80
@bettinashope96377 ай бұрын
@@GrantsPassTVRepair❤
@eclectictech8 ай бұрын
I remember building a 'crystal' radio using the diode as the crystal. Later connecting it's output to the input of an amplifier circuit. Later added an SCR to control the power to the amplifier so I could use momentarily switches to turn it on and off. Some years later after one of my grandfathers passed away, I inherited a couple of 'cats whiskers', one with the Galena insert. Haven't tried it yet, but have a nephew that I might show how this stuff works, he's really curious about things.
@petermoller83378 ай бұрын
I had a crystal radio as a child 1960’s listened to short wave cricket from England 😊
@juholuomala84145 ай бұрын
Wow i cant believe this! We found one of these boxes (without the texts) with a friend while clearing out his grandparents old house. We had no idea what it was but thought it to be some kind of war related communications device. The instructions were missing and replaced with handwritten instructions that did not make much sense.
@MikinessAnalog8 ай бұрын
one of the few videos that provide an amplified audio account of what crystal radios actually sound like.
@misterbulger8 ай бұрын
Crazy to think our bodies also have crysalizations within them making us walking antennae. The crystal hippies were onto something. Catching a vibe is literally recieving the right radio wave frequencies from your environment.
@moonmagnolia77 ай бұрын
What are the crystallizations in our body? Would we have to have metal in our bodies too? Is that where the stories of some people picking up radio signals from their metal fillings came from? I know if you’re standing on dirt barefoot you’re grounded. I admit I’m ignorant, but am curious.
@misterbulger7 ай бұрын
@@moonmagnolia7 calcifications happen throught the body especially in the pineal gland in your brain. Your blood is full of iron too.
@skeetrix55778 ай бұрын
i live in st Louis where that old box was manufactured. its now a ritsy area called "the cortex" with a ton of new development going on. i wish i could have seen the original building before it was demolished probably decades ago
@jessemeyer4458 ай бұрын
I freaking love stuff like this
@scottbunsen22719 ай бұрын
This is the coolest thing I've ever seen.
@JonnyMack339 ай бұрын
Awesome! Isnt it funny that stuff like this isn't taught in schools! We need to be creating future geniuses with this beautiful knowledge!
@drivestowork9 ай бұрын
I almost remember the instructions in my Cub Scout Handbook how to make a crystal radio set. A board, a piece of pipe, a safety pin bent open w/a piece of rubber eraser on it to insulate your fingers...
@haweater15558 ай бұрын
It was Maxwell who theorized the properties of radio waves with mind-boggling math, decades before Hertz created them.
@UDX4570PalmSprings-yh1mv9 ай бұрын
Crystal radios are a blast, you have an awesome rig right there. Thanks for sharing it with us!👋🤠👍⚡️🎙
@vicroc49 ай бұрын
I used to have a crystal radio kit from (I think) Ramsey. Never did get it working, but then, I was young and impatient and we didn't have a whole lot of strong AM broadcast stations around.
@anthonybonilla60308 ай бұрын
I remember making my first crystal radio in the seventh grade at home and back junior high school
@travman90079 ай бұрын
Dang I did not know that! I can't believe this is the first time I've heard of such a thing. Great video!
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
Thanks!
@moonmagnolia77 ай бұрын
Me too! Thank you!! Very cool!
@tonyanderson-ln9gl9 ай бұрын
Baldor (now part of ABB) is well known for high quality electric motors. I never knew they made crystal radio sets.
@philippa.65638 ай бұрын
That is actualy impressive i like how this was possible in the 1800's
@SKYGUY12 ай бұрын
About 1956 my Dad taught me to build a razor-blade radio when I was about 9 years old... Then I got a "store-bought" version called a Rocket Radio. Now I've been a Ham Radio operator since 1976. Still playing w/ those invisible waves.
@aarondenby19938 ай бұрын
So cool! Thank you for sharing with us. This kind of education is getting my important by the day
@rockpadstudios9 ай бұрын
amazing what they got working with so little to work with
@jackrenders89375 ай бұрын
these videos are so cool, please continue making more
@GrantsPassTVRepair5 ай бұрын
Thank you.
@fargoalspach5578 ай бұрын
This was really cool information, I love my radio’s.
@paulyagoda1429 ай бұрын
Thats good stuff. I'd like to build a couple of these with my grandchildren. That's a great project to get them interested for certain.
@digitaldreamer54813 ай бұрын
I remember my grandfather, helping me to build a crystal radio when I was a kid. He did tv repair and was a license ham operator(SK now) in Michigan. Later on in my life, I learned to make a foxhole radio while serving in the Marines. That is why I’ve been a license ham since I was 11 years old. 😮
@bruceparker93539 ай бұрын
When I was a kid 60yrs ago, I had a plastic toy that looked like a red n white rocketship. maybe 6" long. Pull off nosecone for earplug. Out of the tail section was alligator clip with a wire. Clip on barbwire fence, listen to A.M. radio. One station only. No batteries either!
@sladewilson25958 ай бұрын
This guy is a must have in an zombie apocalypse
@stevecrawford35518 ай бұрын
This is excellent… it ties together all the science and wonder of how these things work as a kid. Thanks for sharing. All the best! 🥳🎉😎
@markrix9 ай бұрын
New meaning to rock radio
@wireman40299 ай бұрын
Your knowledge reminds me of my grandfather, he was an amazingly intelligent man. I wish I knew a fraction of the information you possess.
@steveokoy9 ай бұрын
In my hi school days (1970) i made a crystal set using pencil lead and a razor blade.. No batteries. after some time, I got hold of a 1N34a diode which was better and louder in the headphones. Then my uncle gave me an OA70 germanium diode which was the best so far at that time. To have station selectivity , I tried a Variable Capacitor with an antenna coil.
@christopherleubner66338 ай бұрын
Make sure to adjust the rock for best reception.❤
@Funkylogic7 ай бұрын
You can grow the crystal out of sugar on a string hanging in an old milk bottle in the fridge. Made one with my Grandad back in the early 70s.
@rmccarthy83527 ай бұрын
How many radio stations can you get with your rock candy? None.
@Funkylogic7 ай бұрын
@@rmccarthy8352 so your less than 10 years old ?
@spvillano5 ай бұрын
@@Funkylogic sucrose isn't a semiconductor at standard temperatures.
@animehair05silently885 ай бұрын
... what about glucose and fructose then?
@spvillano5 ай бұрын
@@animehair05silently88 they're tasty. They're not semiconductors alone, any more than boron is a semiconductor alone - it's a dopant to the silicon that converts the silicon into a semiconductor, rather than insulator. There are other compounds that are semiconductors in living organic systems, bone comes to mind. Assorted polymers, which abound inside of every cell also come to mind in specific configurations. Hell, under specific pressures and temperatures, sucrose can be a semiconductor, just not at STP, which is, you know, where we live.
@markrowland13665 ай бұрын
I made one when I was ten years old. My father's ancient world war one earphones, brass and bakelite.
@johnnyredux40195 ай бұрын
Mind blown!!! Thanks for sharing this.
@generator69469 ай бұрын
Listened many hours to a crystal radio! I still listen to radio at night but it’s just interesting any more …
@joelex79668 ай бұрын
They are crystals that act as a frequency filter. Different spots on the rock will filter different frequencies.
@henrikstenlund53858 ай бұрын
yes, I have one of those and played with it 60 years ago.
@Dadaf19 ай бұрын
My favorite channel genuinely. Please teach us more
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
I appreciate your comment. In case you haven't seen my video interview by the author of a book on crystal radios, you might enjoy this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWW8daasq5Z3e80
@dennisfitzgerald94348 ай бұрын
I made one with pencil lead when I was about 8 yrs old. Very few kids nowadays get to experience fun exciting experiments like My generation did.😢 GenXer
@jacobhargiss99098 ай бұрын
I built one of these in grade school with my dad for a science fair project.
@JusNoBS4209 ай бұрын
After 3 shorts you got my sub. This stuff is so cool. And great presentation on your part sir 👏
@HUMINT19 ай бұрын
As I’ve stated before sir I wish I lived near you. I love messing around in the garage and figuring out stuff like this
@LostInThe0zone8 ай бұрын
I made a cat's whisker radio years ago before I was in my teens. I have long forgotten where I found the recipe, but remember being thrilled that it worked.
@GrantsPassTVRepair8 ай бұрын
Detectors can be constructed in many ways. Here are some wild examples. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWW8daasq5Z3e80
@sumo-ninja9 ай бұрын
This is my new favorite channel... You popped up in my feed yesterday and i subscribed immediately... Such interesting stuff!!
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
Thanks. I'm thrilled to encounter people,besides myself, who enjoy my child like fascination with these principles. All the best.
@Rocketman88002Ай бұрын
RF excites more than meets the eye! By way of inductive coupling a modulated AM broadcast signal can be picked off a barbed wire fence.
@troyallen21859 ай бұрын
This was so cool, i can only imagine a conversation ending with "alright I'm moving to the side of the rock" 😂
@Zizie_sc9 ай бұрын
Right! Lol this is the stuff they probably found at the Grand Canyon 🤣
@DutchmanRadio9 ай бұрын
“I’m getting some interference, please move up a quarter pebble”
@richardgouda-rn1lq9 ай бұрын
🤦🏾♂️
@porcupinepunch68938 ай бұрын
@@richardgouda-rn1lq What was that for?
@woodyspooner4 ай бұрын
Crystal radio receiver, how interesting to see how such a simple device works ⚡️⚡️
@Robert-ow7sz27 күн бұрын
I had one in 1955 that was made by Modern Radio Laboratories. In mid Florida, I could hear every night The Voice of America from just north of Cincinnati.
@r0ckworthy8 ай бұрын
Galena is silver ore right out of a silver mine. It's just rock with a high amount of silver and lead in it. Both very highly electrically conductive metals.
@newmonengineering9 ай бұрын
I made them from solder and Sulphur. You just melt the solder to a liquid bead and then drop a pinch of sulpher powder onto it. It cools down and solidifies and then you can probe it with a needle. You make the ball on the end of a wire obviously. It works great and super simple to make
@5roundsrapid2639 ай бұрын
That’s what galena is, lead sulfate. You just made your own crystal!
@kensmith56949 ай бұрын
@@5roundsrapid263 I wonder if it works with tin in place of the lead. Modern solder is tin with no lead
@gbenother87559 ай бұрын
Nah. Lead is still used. Educate yourself.
@kensmith56949 ай бұрын
@@gbenother8755 I am educated and I solder stuff.
@computersales8 ай бұрын
That is pretty cool you can do it with pyrite. Makes me want to try it sometime.
@gavincurtis8 ай бұрын
I use a lead pellet cat whisker on mine for heavy metal sound.
@datadumped9 ай бұрын
My older brother had a kit to make one. It had an antenna, an earphone, and a ground wire. It worked pretty well, but if you bumped it you lost the station you were listening to.
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
The need to adjust the cats whisker was the down side, but the 1N34 Diode eliminated this problem.
@ErikPelyukhno9 ай бұрын
I made a kit with a similar setup 20 years ago, it really sparked my interest in electrical engineering from a young age!
@GrantsPassTVRepair9 ай бұрын
@@ErikPelyukhno You may enjoy my interview with the author of a book on crystal radios.kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWW8daasq5Z3e80
@bettinashope96377 ай бұрын
@@GrantsPassTVRepair❤
@bettinashope96377 ай бұрын
@@GrantsPassTVRepair❤
@benwrenchin9 ай бұрын
This is my favorite channel on KZbin right now. I wish I could subscribe twice.
@lokiva85408 ай бұрын
Crystal radios relied on the lack of competing strong signals needing discrimination. Amplifiers and power supplies allowed design of diode detector AM radios of far lower distortion if they DC biased the diode to mostly operate in a more linear region of its curve. That however deceases sensitivity, and so requires either a more amplified front end, or change to entirely different design higher performance synchronous detectors of far higher electronic complexity. And then comes AM stereo, where Kahn ISB failed the political games even if better tech than FM subcarriers, or digital IBOC.
@DavidWoods-y7t8 ай бұрын
In 1960s my uncle demonstrated several crystal radios to me
@prnothall93024 ай бұрын
I had a crystal set when I was young. No batteries, no electric plug, no actual speaker, just clunky headphones. ( I’m 74 )
@timmy2dogsable5 ай бұрын
Working in my shop one night. I had a chrome air cleaner top and bottom laying on a bench playing music. I have no idea how. It was acting like a speaker.
@fabianf.70899 ай бұрын
I don’t really know much about electricity, but I think the stuff you build and the explanations are cool. I subbed
@lusoverse87108 ай бұрын
If you're gonna try this, you need high-impedance headphones, or put it through an amp.