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FA unbuilt p-box shortwave regen receiver

T

Tom Biasi

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jonathan Kirwan said:
Yup, I've bought and built many of those kits! Prices sure have
changed, though, eh?

Jon
Hi Jon,
I don't know how old you are but the first kit I ever built was a crystal
set. I was about 10. I remember having my Dad run a long wire to a tree and
hooking it up to the set.
I grounded another wire to the radiator pipe.
I moved the slider across the coil in vain all day, but at night I heard
"WABC New York" a thing I will always remember. At least I have remembered
it for 46 years.
Tom
 
J

Jonathan Kirwan

Jan 1, 1970
0
I don't know how old you are but the first kit I ever built was a crystal
set. I was about 10. I remember having my Dad run a long wire to a tree and
hooking it up to the set.
I grounded another wire to the radiator pipe.
I moved the slider across the coil in vain all day, but at night I heard
"WABC New York" a thing I will always remember. At least I have remembered
it for 46 years.

It wasn't my first project, but close to it -- I built a crystal
radio, too. However, in my case, I when to a rock show and bought
some galena; melted some lead into a small cap which held the galena
crystal I selected; used a needle to touch it for a 'diode'; wired my
antenna coil on a toilet paper tube with magnet wire; got a small
cylindrical magnet and two think sheets of steel for diaphragms, wound
a tiny coil for deflecting it; made myself my own earphones that way;
and mounted all this onto a wooden block. It took some adjustments
(winding the coil several times, struggling with the earpiece, etc.)
but I did get it to work well for the local stations we had with
broadcasts at or above 5kW in the daytime.

I also bought some autunite when I was buying the galena, back then.
Nice piece of it. Still have it. Degrades everything it sits on,
though. Great for the Geiger counter I later built, using a string of
NE2s as a 1400V regulator.

Jon
 
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