Crystal Radios: Kits and Projects

Here's another site courtesy of Test and Measurement World magazine (www.tmworld.com). This one has lots of information on building crystal radios.

Crystal radios always remind me of my ham radio days and I still hold a current ham license, General Class, by the way. I think I used to make a few of these radios when I was a teenager. There's a great feeling to putting together a kit like these, putting the earpiece in your ear, and hearing sound. It's not just the fact that it works which is always exciting, it's the fact that it works with so few parts and seems so easy to do. Yet, if you don't do it, you never get that thrill any other way. What's particularly neat is that the radio seems to work out of nothing. You can't see the radio waves, can't feel them, and in no way can you physically detect them with just your being. Yet, the waves are there, waiting for something to detect them and play them as audio.

If you've never built a radio receiver before, you should give serious thought to doing so. It'll be a thrill you'll love. Trust me.