Anyone built a crystal radio kit?

[DENNYDOG]

I think something like this would be fun to build with my nephew.

[Brian]

I actually got interested in them again for a fantasy project. I've been into old tme radio shows for a couple of years and even went so far as to buy a Hallicrafters SW500 tube SW radio to listen to them on a local AM station that boradcasts Monday through Thursday nights. Went with the Hallicrafters so I could listen through a set of magnetic headphones. I'm plannng on building a low powered tube AM transmitter and broadcast the shows through it an pick them up on the crystal radio. Yes, I absolutey am looking to go back to my childhood and hear them as close to original as I can get and that's a long way from listening to them through my laptop.

[onepixel]

I built one when I was a kid. It was fun and very gratifying to build something that actually worked!

[nitrous]

When I was a kid, I would tape record broadcasts from my crystal radio. The recordings were stellar, as they would be "crystal clear" (ie, free of any static or interference.) I was amazed by the sound of these taped recordings. Quite amazing.

[toxcrusadr]

I built one also as a kid. I remember it had a green clear plastic case. I corkscrewed all the wires by winding them around a pencil. It looked real nice.

I built a foxhole radio a couple years back and couldn't get it to work. Never did figure out why.

[Philcofan42]

Originally Posted by toxcrusadr

I built one also as a kid. I remember it had a green clear plastic case. I corkscrewed all the wires by winding them around a pencil. It looked real nice.

I built a foxhole radio a couple years back and couldn't get it to work. Never did figure out why.

Did you use a blue razor blade? The foxhole radio is tricky. Mine worked great when I finished it, but now it doesn't seem to want to. I might try swapping out the razor blade and see if that won't get it going again. You can still find blued razor blades (the one I used is for cutting carpet), but you can also take a normal blade, scuff it up and let it rust a little. You can also heat the blade to blue it yourself.

[Kiwick]

Is it possible to build a crystal set out of a dead transistor radio? i mean, using a the tuning capacitor, a germanium diode, maybe one of the miniaturized ferrite core coils and so on?

Also, is a high impedance 1920s moving iron cone speaker suitable for a crystal radio?