[AT] Way OT Crystal sets

[Bob Seith]

I think that one may have been in one of the Scouting manuals, because I 
remember building it with my brother. Yes, the instructions specifically 
said a blued blade didn't work as well. Dunno why. Anyway, we got Dad to 
switch to ordinary blades for one pack, and so had a good supply. There 
was a dinky radio station just six miles away that came in pretty well 
(WPVL, Painesville, Ohio, 1460 on the AM dial), and of course anybody up 
on the lake shore could get CKLW (Windsor, Ontario/Detroit, Mich) which, 
while at the other end of the dial, was blasting away with 50,000 watts 
across the water.

You could ALMOST pull in that station using just the fillings in your teeth.

Bob Seith

Bill Brueck wrote:

>My first crystal set was really a kit, from raw material except for the
>headphones.   2 inch dia cardboard tube for the form, wrapped with wire
>salvaged from a generator field coil.  The crystal was a safety pin, with a
>piece of pencil lead affixed to the point end, and the pin was bent so I
>could put the lead down onto a razor blade and seek a spot that would work.
>It usually worked best where the manufacturer had etched their name.  I
>remember blue blades didn't work very well.
>  
>