| © Ned Norris. This article can be reprinted, | | | | For some fascinating photographs, you might |
| used in newsletters or on web pages as long as it | | | | want to take a look at With their knobs and dials |
| is credited to Ned Norris of RUSC.com, it appears | | | | for tuning in a favorite station they make me |
| in its entirety and the resource box below is | | | | positively envious! |
| included. | | | | There was no simple method for tuning my set. I |
| # # # | | | | remember there was a contact of some sort, |
| Crystal Radio Sets are Alive and Kicking | | | | and that by moving this minuscule distances |
| Author: Ned Norris | | | | across the crystal you could, with much patience, |
| I was brought up under strict conditions. Bedtime | | | | tune in a radio station. Usually, it was faint. Fiddle |
| was at a certain rigid time every night. Lights out | | | | with the contact and the signal would be lost and |
| meant no reading; it meant sleep. It certainly did | | | | found again many timesbefore a signal strong |
| not include listening to radio broadcasts. | | | | enough to enjoy came in. And it would often |
| But as a child of thirteen, I discovered the delights | | | | disappear in the middle of a show for no obvious |
| of thecrystal set. It was a frustrating affair. The | | | | reason. |
| workings of ithave remained a complete mystery. | | | | "He aims and fires, but he misses...and that was |
| How, I wondered then, could a lump of gray | | | | his last bullet. The killer reaches for him, the axe |
| mineral possibly capture radio waves and do so | | | | raised in his other hand, and ..." fizzle, crackle, |
| without a battery? | | | | silence. Mutter, mutter (the latter being me)! |
| Now, several decades later, the answers are easy | | | | Now I understand I needed to pay much more |
| to find on the Internet - here I quickly discover | | | | attention to installing a good antenna - a 50-foot |
| that crystal sets, and the parts to make them, | | | | piece of wire outside the house and as high as |
| are readily available today - even though they | | | | possible - and that I needed a good ground. But |
| look vastly different from the crude thing I had. | | | | as a 13-year-old, I simply wanted to listen under |
| In comparison, today's look...well...positively modern. | | | | the bed covers in the dark to my favorite radio |
| To my amazement, according to Google there | | | | thriller. |
| are 81,200 pages that contain the phrase "crystal | | | | It almost didn't matter what the program was. |
| set". | | | | Each had the compelling signature music, |
| There is even The Xtal Set Society which says it | | | | sometimes just single musical notes, the voices |
| is "dedicated to once again building and | | | | with their sense of urgency, the suspense, the |
| experimenting with radio electronics." It advertises | | | | climax, the scripting formula. I also remember the |
| books, parts and kits. One kit is called the Quaker | | | | screech of car tires in chase scenes. It was |
| Oat Box Radio Pack. It contains one roll of | | | | pretty gripping stuff for a small boy. |
| 24-gauge hook-up wire (100 feet), one | | | | Remember how shoes were always soled in hard |
| germanium diode, one 47,000-ohm resistor, one | | | | leather? Rubber didn't make enough noise. Doors |
| alligator clip, and one crystal earplug. Sounds just | | | | always squeaked; silent ones would not have |
| about as basic as my old set...but I don't | | | | been much use on radio. And do I remember |
| remember the otherinstructions that come with | | | | correctly that detectives were always men and |
| this kit: "You will need to provide your own | | | | that secretaries were always women? |
| antenna wire and oatmeal box." | | | | Today, when I recall those days long ago, I |
| The advertised price is $8.95. Do some reverse | | | | remember the crystal radio set with its finicky |
| inflationcalculations and you will know better than I | | | | connection that would fade to almost nothing at |
| now remember roughly how much I paid for my | | | | the crucial point in the story. Then it would come |
| set back in 1947. Any money I had in those days | | | | back just as the announcer was saying something |
| was 'earned' by not spending my lunch money at | | | | like: "So long! See you next week." |
| school, so I know the set I had was dirt-cheap. | | | | This article is also available as a .pdf file at the |
| Radio Shack sells starter kits too. Describing a | | | | followingurl: |
| project for | | | | # # # |
| "beginning experimenters" at one reviewer said | | | | (c) Ned Norris. This article can be reprinted, used |
| "the Radio Shack crystal radio kit Cat. No. 28-178 | | | | innewsletters or on web pages as long as it is |
| is a pretty fair starter set. It does work, and | | | | credited to Ned Norris of RUSC.com, it appears in |
| some simple modifications will enhance its | | | | its entirety and the resource box below is |
| performance." When he wrote four years ago, | | | | included. |
| the price was $9.99. After some modifications, | | | | Travel back in time to a land where classic old |
| which he describes, he was able to listen to New | | | | time radio shows live-on to be enjoyed once |
| York, Netherlands Antilles, Cuba, Charlotte NC, | | | | more by young and old. RUSC is an Aladdin's |
| Chicago, "and a few others". What a difference | | | | Cave of classic radio broadcasts for you to |
| acoil of wire for an antenna makes! | | | | download and listen to at your leisure. |