With snows coming, it's time to think kit building!
Crystal Sets? Yup, you’ve found an entire site about building Crystal Sets. The Society has been growing since 1991; still, some people are flabbergasted to find an entire society dedicated to Crystal Set radios or "Xtal Sets". One web surfer e-mailed, "I was so excited to find your site that I fell off my chair! "The Xtal Set Society publishes a newsletter, numerous books, and has parts and kits for purchase. A listing of newsletter articles from 1993 through 2007 can be found on the Technical Articles Page. Click on the earphones at left to browse and enjoy our site. You'll notice we've added parts, kits, and articles on ultrasound too, starting in 2009. --Patricia, The Crystal Queen Mum, Editor, Xtal Society News. Site last updated 11-17-11.|
Welcome beginners! You'll find links to FAQs, science fair suggestions, and introductory articles on the left. Our Oat Box Radio Kit is a favorite, a great place to start. Order via the Kits page. J.K. Fenton has written "Building Your First Crystal Radio," 5-1/2 by 8-1/2, 15 pages. See the bookstore page to order. To download a May 2009 sample of the newsletter, go to the Membership page. The November Issue of the Newletter mailed 10-31-11. These articles are included: "Building a Mechanical Magic Eye," by H.P. Fredericks, AC7ZL, "An Introduction to Radio Astronomy, Part I," by Phil Anderson, WØXI, and "The Son of Litz-Blitz," by Dan Peterson, W7OIL, and membership correspondence. The basics of crystal sets and radio telescopes have much in common. Phil has been writing a series of beginner articles on radio astronomy. Part I is enclosed in the November Newsletter. A full presentation will be given at Ozarkcon, April 14, 2012, in Branson, Mo. DXing - listening to far off stations - has long been a part of the crystal set experience. Dxers strive to pull out those weak signals generally not audible with a beginner set. Optimizing a set for DXing requires a better antenna, higher impedance (hi-Q) coils and diodes, and more sensitive and matched headphones. See our technical articles pages for a flavor of this aspect of the hobby.
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Click on the kits page for more detail on our three new kits: JFET Detectort Kit, JFET AM Crystal Radio Kit, and AM Band Antenna Tuner kit. Additional detail can be found in the May, July and September newsletters.
The 10-Watt Smart Dummy Load, for QRP, is back due to popular demand! We've restocked the PCBs. Click on the RADIO KITS PAGE at the left for details. We recently announced another QRP kit: the QRP 5-Watt Step-Attenuator and Dummy Load. This kit allows you to reduce your 5W QRP transmitter-receiver power level to your antenna in 12 steps to as low at 2.5 mWatt. |