Is there any way to check out the system and the cat whisker adjustment - like with an Ohm Meter? (I get continuity across the detector in both directions.) Or is the only tried and proven way to hook up a long outside antenna, a solid ground, a set of 2000-ohm earphones, and experiment and listen carefully and find a signal by trial and error as I move the whisker?
I would really appreciate some advice from an experienced crystal set person!
Thanks.
Dennis
If your digital meter has a diode check, you could use that to see if the crystal is acting as a diode in one direction. If it is, then I wouldn't monkey with it. Be sure to disconnect the crystal from the ckt when checking it with a DMM. Usually, I think if the earphones are not connected, then the crystal is not in the ckt.
Another thought is to temporarily replace the crystal with a 1N34A germanium diode. I have an ERLA tube-amplified radio that uses a crystal detector. If your detector is like mine, it's in a can and the whisker was adjusted in the factory. I left the can in place, but disconnected it from the ckt. Then I hid a 1N34A.
:I have recently acquired a crystal set with an ERLA fixed crystal detector, and I am completely new to this old technology.
:
:Is there any way to check out the system and the cat whisker adjustment - like with an Ohm Meter? (I get continuity across the detector in both directions.) Or is the only tried and proven way to hook up a long outside antenna, a solid ground, a set of 2000-ohm earphones, and experiment and listen carefully and find a signal by trial and error as I move the whisker?
:
:I would really appreciate some advice from an experienced crystal set person!
:
:Thanks.
:
:Dennis
:
:
:Hi, Dennis. The only sure way is hook up an antenna and listen. If you have a signal generator, maybe you could use it for a strong signal?
:
:If your digital meter has a diode check, you could use that to see if the crystal is acting as a diode in one direction. If it is, then I wouldn't monkey with it. Be sure to disconnect the crystal from the ckt when checking it with a DMM. Usually, I think if the earphones are not connected, then the crystal is not in the ckt.
:
:Another thought is to temporarily replace the crystal with a 1N34A germanium diode. I have an ERLA tube-amplified radio that uses a crystal detector. If your detector is like mine, it's in a can and the whisker was adjusted in the factory. I left the can in place, but disconnected it from the ckt. Then I hid a 1N34A.
:
::I have recently acquired a crystal set with an ERLA fixed crystal detector, and I am completely new to this old technology.
::
::Is there any way to check out the system and the cat whisker adjustment - like with an Ohm Meter? (I get continuity across the detector in both directions.) Or is the only tried and proven way to hook up a long outside antenna, a solid ground, a set of 2000-ohm earphones, and experiment and listen carefully and find a signal by trial and error as I move the whisker?
::
::I would really appreciate some advice from an experienced crystal set person!
::
::Thanks.
::
::Dennis
::
::
I would agree with Doug about using a 1N34 for testing. Just about any germanium diode will work. I find germanium diodes to be better than just about any spot on a crystal.
Norm
:Thanks for the advice.
:
::Hi, Dennis. The only sure way is hook up an antenna and listen. If you have a signal generator, maybe you could use it for a strong signal?
::
::If your digital meter has a diode check, you could use that to see if the crystal is acting as a diode in one direction. If it is, then I wouldn't monkey with it. Be sure to disconnect the crystal from the ckt when checking it with a DMM. Usually, I think if the earphones are not connected, then the crystal is not in the ckt.
::
::Another thought is to temporarily replace the crystal with a 1N34A germanium diode. I have an ERLA tube-amplified radio that uses a crystal detector. If your detector is like mine, it's in a can and the whisker was adjusted in the factory. I left the can in place, but disconnected it from the ckt. Then I hid a 1N34A.
::
:::I have recently acquired a crystal set with an ERLA fixed crystal detector, and I am completely new to this old technology.
:::
:::Is there any way to check out the system and the cat whisker adjustment - like with an Ohm Meter? (I get continuity across the detector in both directions.) Or is the only tried and proven way to hook up a long outside antenna, a solid ground, a set of 2000-ohm earphones, and experiment and listen carefully and find a signal by trial and error as I move the whisker?
:::
:::I would really appreciate some advice from an experienced crystal set person!
:::
:::Thanks.
:::
:::Dennis
:::
:::
As for polarity, it probably won't matter what way you hook up the diode. With it hooked one way, it'll detect positive modulation. With it hooked the other way, it'll detect negative modulation. Hook it up so that it yields the strongest signal. I do believe that standard broadcasts have balanced modulation. There are some broadcasts, however, that attenuate one of the two modulations, and I'm not sure which ones these are.
Thomas
I have a Fluke DMM with a diode test feature. When you hook it up to a diode with the correct polarity, the meter gives not ohms, but the forward voltage drop -- e.g. 0.7V for a silicon diode and less for a germanium diode. But it still doesn't tell you the forward resistance drop.
A silicon diode's forward voltage drop is too high to use for a crystal radio with most signal strengths. I have an ERLA radio that has an RF tube amp, followed by a crystal detector, and then a couple of AF stages. In that case, a silicon diode would probably have worked, but I still went with a 1N34A germanium.
When 1N34As went 10 for a dollar, I bought 20, a liftime supply. Now they're way up to what, maybe 50 cents each?
The nice aspect of using a 1N34 diode for testing a crystal radio is that you can try to find a station just by adjusting the tuning. Once you get that verified, you can substitute the crystal and then just monkey around with the cat's whisker.
Here are 1n34a diodes on Ebay lot of 25 for 19 cents each.
http://cgi.ebay.com/25-Germanium-Diodes-1N34A-Diode-Crystal-Radios_W0QQitemZ320025675335QQihZ011QQcategoryZ7287QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
As our ears get older, trying to hear a station on a crystal radio becomes much more difficult -- even if you're not near ready for a hearing aid. So, depending on your age, if you can't hear anything on your crystal set, ask a younger person to try.
You are right. I just thought my area didn't have strong stations. I sometimes connect an amplifier to a crystal set. It allows me to play around with parts and still hear the signal.
Norm
:Dennis, one more caveat.
:
:As our ears get older, trying to hear a station on a crystal radio becomes much more difficult -- even if you're not near ready for a hearing aid. So, depending on your age, if you can't hear anything on your crystal set, ask a younger person to try.
:
:
:
:Hi Doug
:
: You are right. I just thought my area didn't have strong stations. I sometimes connect an amplifier to a crystal set. It allows me to play around with parts and still hear the signal.
:
:Norm
:
::Dennis, one more caveat.
::
::As our ears get older, trying to hear a station on a crystal radio becomes much more difficult -- even if you're not near ready for a hearing aid. So, depending on your age, if you can't hear anything on your crystal set, ask a younger person to try.
::
::
::
What causes hearing to go bad anyway? Do the nerves die out or do the membranes stiffen? Perhaps we could bombard the membranes with lasers. If, when I am 60, I cannot hear overtones from my records, I will be rather depressed.
Thomas
ANON
:When will someone come up with Lasik for your ears? I'm only 27, and I know that my hearing isn't what it used to be. I'm certain that my eye site isn't what it used to be. Very annoying.
:
:What causes hearing to go bad anyway? Do the nerves die out or do the membranes stiffen? Perhaps we could bombard the membranes with lasers. If, when I am 60, I cannot hear overtones from my records, I will be rather depressed.
:
:Thomas
Thomas,
In 1950 when I was sixteen I could walk down the street and hear the horizontal sweep from TV sets inside houses. Now that I'm 72 I am not bothered much by that. My left ear is immune to amything above 5K and and the right one cuts out at 10K. It really isn't a problem though. I still enjoy concerts, records, CDs, and radio. Stereo is still just as well defined as it ever was. By the way, directional sense is not a function of frequency or volume. It depends on phase difference caused by arrival time of the sound at the ears. I suppose the the wider your head the more acute this sense. Don't fret though; age related hearing loss happens so slowley that you don't notice it and most of us refuse to admit it.
Will
:
:Thomas
As far as your hearing goes... believe me if the younger generation then is anything like today only worse... you'll be grateful that you can't hear the noise/music they'll be generating then..
And what could be worse than rap and heavy metal... I wonder.
..Oh probably Iranian-camel-kissing-rap and Nuclear-prayer-rug-rap-moans!!
I just found out why Arab High-Schools can't teach driver's education and sex education on the same day.
... because each school only has one camel.
marv
:Thomas... your eye site is the socket that holds it. ...lol
:
:As far as your hearing goes... believe me if the younger generation then is anything like today only worse... you'll be grateful that you can't hear the noise/music they'll be generating then..
:And what could be worse than rap and heavy metal... I wonder.
:..Oh probably Iranian-camel-kissing-rap and Nuclear-prayer-rug-rap-moans!!
:
:I just found out why Arab High-Schools can't teach driver's education and sex education on the same day.
:... because each school only has one camel.
Well, anyway, I don't want my hearing to go bad. It annoys me to no end that sometimes my ears feel clogged and lack function. Things don't seem to be as crisp as they used to be.....I do keep my ears clean, though. I also know that I can hear up to 30 KC. That's a frequency that hurts the ears! It's so high that you feel it more than hear it, and it still hurts! I have this problem whenever I turn on the speaker on my wire recorder when the erase oscillator is turned on. I've also had my ears tested for that frequency, so I know I'm hearing it.
It also annoys me that my eyes don't like to focus like they used to, and my right one won't focus on distant objects at all. They seem lazy. It's harder to find small items, because they don't automatically focus right away like they used to. Maybe it's a smoking thing, but my brother has the same problem, and he doesn't smoke at all.
T.
But now that we're veering off topic, I would like to pose a conundrum.
Some, but very few, people have perfect pitch. They can hum any musical note out of the blue or identify any note with 100% accuracy. How can this be done? The only way I know to measure various frequencies with precision is to have a freq counter, which requires an accurate, stable local oscillator. I have been unable to find any physiologist or other specialist that was aware of an oscillator embedded in the brain.
Musician friends tell be that you are born with perfect pitch, it isn't learned. They also tell me that perfect pitch isn't necessarily an advantage for musicians - those with perfect pitch are aware of even the slightest flat or sharp tuning, and it becomes distracting.
:Hmmmmmmm............
:
:Well, anyway, I don't want my hearing to go bad. It annoys me to no end that sometimes my ears feel clogged and lack function. Things don't seem to be as crisp as they used to be.....I do keep my ears clean, though. I also know that I can hear up to 30 KC. That's a frequency that hurts the ears! It's so high that you feel it more than hear it, and it still hurts! I have this problem whenever I turn on the speaker on my wire recorder when the erase oscillator is turned on. I've also had my ears tested for that frequency, so I know I'm hearing it.
:
:It also annoys me that my eyes don't like to focus like they used to, and my right one won't focus on distant objects at all. They seem lazy. It's harder to find small items, because they don't automatically focus right away like they used to. Maybe it's a smoking thing, but my brother has the same problem, and he doesn't smoke at all.
:
:T.
But I've only ever known it to mean: "A riddle, the answer to which involves a pun or play on words"
like:
Q. What's the difference between a jeweler and a jailer?
A. One sells watches and the other watches cells!
...And I've always thought... Why did they have to invent a word "conundrum" just for that? ... lol
Well, I do have perfect pitch, and it is annoying sometimes. I can only listen to a record so many times before I find flaws. The more the band appeals to teenagers and such, the more the listeners seem to tolerate bad pitch. There are quite a number of songs from the 1950s forward that have terrible pitch, and were huge hits when they were new. Still, if the artist did something like write the lyrics, and they're really good, I appreciate the artist for what they are able to put on paper. There were a number of very popular ballads from the 1960s that were huge hits. I like them a lot, but now I've found all of the flaws, and so I can't listen to them too much. I'll have to come up with a few titles. I guess that's why I like Glenn Miller and most of the other bands from the 1940s, because they usually were on key.
Also, I tend to be able to count seconds fairly well, but I believe that most people can do this if they try. What's amazing is that when I'm extremely tired, time flys by...like when I wake up in the morning, and there doesn't seem to be enough time to get ready for work. What seems like five minutes can be ten or fifteen. I can count seconds in my head and look at my watch at the same time. The seconds in my head seem correct, and the watch actually seems to move too fast. Obviously it doesn't, unless you want to get into quantum physics or something bizarre like that. Whatever it is, I guess the ticker thing in my brain slows down when I'm tired. I wonder if I appear to move in slow motion to others. I suppose I do. Usually, when I'm tired, people tell me to move faster, even if I think I'm moving at a normal pace. I've never tried to pay attention to pitch when I'm tired. I don't really care, at that time. I suppose I'd be fairly bad at it, though, if I tried to keep perfect pitch.
I wonder if our brain works in frames instead of a continuous flow. That might have something to do with perspective of time, at least.
T.
And JS Bach wrote "The well tempered clavier" .. calculating all of the actual exact frequencies of every note on a keyboard and all the harmonics etc... all without a frequency counter..
T.
...and I am also amazed at what these two guys did under the circumstnces... y'know?
I would bet money that RS doesn't carry them any longer, although you could check their on-line catalog.
Those were useful gadgets, and I would like to buy one becsuse mine has disappeared.
:Hi Doug
:
: You are right. I just thought my area didn't have strong stations. I sometimes connect an amplifier to a crystal set. It allows me to play around with parts and still hear the signal.
:
:Norm
:
::Dennis, one more caveat.
::
::As our ears get older, trying to hear a station on a crystal radio becomes much more difficult -- even if you're not near ready for a hearing aid. So, depending on your age, if you can't hear anything on your crystal set, ask a younger person to try.
::
::
::
Thomas