Crystal Radios: No Batteries? No Problem!
Our Own Devices
@ourowndevices1About
Ever wonder how a rotary telephone works, how sailors and pilots navigated by the stars, or how mechanical calculators perform complex math using only gears? Then you've come to the right place! Our Own Devices is a channel dedicated to the fascinating world of vintage technology, and the many elegant and ingenious ways our ancestors solved even the most complex technical problems. Questions or comments? Have a fascinating device you'd like covered on the channel? Please contact me at [email protected] Want more fascinating history? I am a regular staff writer for Today I Found Out and many of its sister channels: https://www.youtube.com/@TodayIFoundOut
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Video Description
(To those who swear I've covered this topic before: I have; I just wasn't satisfied with my original video) Remarkably simple and requiring no power source, crystal radios were the primary means of listening to commercial radio broadcasts until the late 1920s and early 1930s, when they were largely superseded by more sensitive tube-based heterodyne and regenerative receivers. However, they continue to be built by hobbyists and are a popular project for teaching children the basics of radio technology. Huge shout-out to Julian Horn and United Nuclear for their invaluable assistance in putting together this video. Check out United Nuclear's fascinating catalogue at: unitednuclear.com Medical Coils/Batteries Video: https://youtu.be/NufNhuWI1iA 0:00 Introduction 0:52 Spark Gap Transmitters 2:02 Coherer Receivers 3:05 Magnetic Hysteresis Detectors 4:38 Reginald Fessenden and the Dawn of AM Broadcasting 5:06 Parallel Tuned Circuits /LC Resonators 6:29 Rectifying/Envelope Detectors 7:23 Hot-Wire Barretter 8:19 Electrolytic Detector 9:18 Early Crystal Detectors 9:50 Crystal Radio Basics 12:17 Cat's Whisker Detectors 12:56 P/N and Metal-Semiconductor Junction Diodes 14:39 Later Crystal Detectors and Diodes 16:26 1923 Ariel Crystal Set 17:11 Self-powered Crystal Radios 17:50 Crystal Radio Optimization and Range 20:52 Foxhole Radios 22:27 Obsolescence of Crystal Radios 23:05 1950s Miniman Rocket Radio 24:18 Outro SOURCES: https://web.archive.org/web/20121228200010/http://www.ieee.ca/millennium/radio/radio_differences.html https://earlyradiohistory.us/1917de.htm https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Materials_Science/Supplemental_Modules_(Materials_Science)/Semiconductors/Metal-Semiconductors_Contacts https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/graves_ariel_crystal_set.html https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/radio/radio-receivers/how-does-crystal-radio-work.php https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/history/radio-receivers/cats-whisker-crystal-radios-sets.php https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/remembering-the-crystal-radio
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