{"id":12976,"date":"2015-04-14T12:16:02","date_gmt":"2015-04-14T16:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=12976"},"modified":"2015-04-14T12:20:16","modified_gmt":"2015-04-14T16:20:16","slug":"tinkering-with-the-credit-card-crystal-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/tinkering-with-the-credit-card-crystal-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinkering with the Credit Card Crystal Radio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Credit-Card-Crystal-Radio-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, we published a short post about a credit card crystal radio<\/a>\u00a0from an eBay seller in the UK.<\/p>\n

I purchased a\u00a0kit–at $17-18 US shipped, it’s quite a modest investment for what might be a fun little project.<\/p>\n

\"Credit-Card-Crystal-Radio\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The crystal radio arrived while I was traveling during Easter break, but my free time has been so (extremely) limited lately, I was only able to unpack and try out this new arrival yesterday.<\/p>\n

\"Credit-Card-Crystal-Radio-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The biggest surprise for me was the fact that this isn’t really a kit–the board is fully populated and requires no soldering whatsoever.\u00a0The board feels of very good quality.<\/p>\n

All that is required is connecting the high-impedance earphone, earth\/ground and aerial\/antenna to the board. Since all of these components can be connected with the supplied alligator clip cables, getting it on the air took all of 20 seconds. I simply hooked up the ground and connected the aerial to my sky loop wire antenna.<\/p>\n

I instantly heard a signal and\u00a0station ID which confirmed it was our closest\u00a0local broadcaster on 1010 kHz.\u00a0\u00a0This station isn’t of the blowtorch variety, but is the strongest one I receive on the MW band simply due to its proximity. Audio was quite faint through the earpiece, but I believe if I tinkered with antenna length and the two variable capacitors, I could improve reception.<\/p>\n

SWLing Post<\/em> reader, Richard Langley, received his crystal radio and had a very similar experience\u00a0with reception.<\/p>\n

\"Credit-Card-Crystal-Radio-4\"<\/p>\n

With any crystal radio (especially one this small), performance is directly correlated with antenna length, availability of a good ground connection and, of course, strong broadcasters in your vicinity.<\/p>\n

I plan to spend an evening tinkering with this little receiver and see if I can pick up some of the night time powerhouse AM stations on the east coast.<\/p>\n

I can say this: if you’re looking for a simple, uber-compact emergency receiver\u00a0for your go-bag, bug out bag or emergency kit, this one will certainly fit the bill. This crystal receiver and all of its components weight no more than a few ounces and could easily fit in compact pouch or sleeve.<\/p>\n

Have\u00a0any other readers have enjoyed tinkering with this little emergency crystal radio?<\/p>\n

If you would like to purchase one, try searching eBay with one of the links below. The product will only appear in the search results if currently available.<\/p>\n