CRYSTAL RADIOS AND HAM RADIO

CRYSTAL RADIOS

I found a science book in the school library when I was in the sixth grade. Our librarian, Miss Parks, was the person who recommended it. That yellow science book was where I learned about the Scientific Method and crystal radios. The crystal radio design in the book was identical to the You Tube version of the foxhole radio described here. The original diagram had a razor blade and “cat whisker” wire as a diode detector in place of the germanium crystal shown below.

I could never get the first radio to work with a razor blade. I kept experimenting. I eventually ordered a galena crystal (thus the name “crystal” radio). THAT WORKED! We got signals late at night from 50,000 watt clear channel AM stations like WSB Atlanta on 750 Kilocycles AM, WWL New Orleans, 870 KC and WSM Nashville on 650 KC AM. Those radio signals reached all the way to the center of MY UNIVERSE, Wildwood, Florida. This Wikipedia article on Crystal detectors points out that galena crystal detectors and germanium diodes were represent the early stages of semiconductor and computer technology. The high school project I submitted to the National Science Fair was built using early solid state devices known as transistors. A picture of my science fair project appears at Solarized Transistorized Ham Radio Communications System.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

The steps of the Scientific Method help you to think through any problem, science or otherwise.

HAM RADIO – COMMUNICATIONS THAT OPENED MY UNIVERSE

After I experimented with crystal radios and various antennas I acquired a shortwave receiver, a Hallicrafters S-38C.

The S-38C was not selective enough to work Morse Code on the 80-meter band or 40-meters. It was barely okay for listening and getting familiar with the broadcast and amateur shortwave bands.

I was able to buy a used Hallicrafters S-76 about the same time I finished constructing my first CW (Morse Code) transmitter. The transmitter ran about 10 or 12 watts input power. It was a 1-tube 6L6 crystal-controlled oscillator. I found a great article on the Internet with what appears to be an identical circuit diagram to my first home-brew transmitter. Here is the circuit:

That was it – a one-tube transmitter with an output of about 10 watts into an 80 Meter doublet antenna strung between pine trees. The good thing about it: IT WORKED AND I WAS ON THE AIR with my new Novice Class License WN4BZI. Within a few months I had taken the code and written exams and had my General Class License W4BZI.

I took out muy first bank loan to buy a new transmitter. I worked in watermelon fields to save money to upgrade my receiver. Here is what my new rig looked like after a few months: S-76 receiver and World Radio Laboratories Globe Scout Model WRL 40A at 40 watts AM phone and 50 watts on CW.

I was very active on 80-meter CW, 75-meter phone, 40-meter and 20-meter CW. I developed a strong network of Florida hams in the afternoons on 75-meter AM phone band. Often 40-meters was open to Europe in the wee hours of the night (2 AM to 5 AM). Mama complained I was bumping around in the middle of the night, keeping her awake. However, she and Daddy continued to encourage my technical pursuits.

Here is what the W4BZI station looked like in 1956. This rig traveled the country with me from New York to Seattle to Illinois and to Atlanta.

Hams confirm radio conversations with one another by sending QSL cards. Here is the QSL card I used while living in Wildwood.

In addition to hundreds of contacts in the United States, here are some of the international QSL cards I collected in the mid-1950s, my high school years.

This 1950s ham rig traveled around the country with me over the decades. I was W7AOD in Seattle, K9xxx in Illinois and I let my ham license expire in Georgia in the 1980s. Regretting the lapse of my license, I I applied to take the General Class Exam, studied the theory and code portions and started over as a new ham. I became KF4LDV. I requested a call sign change, and became W4BZI again.

Here is my new W4BZI call sign issued in 2006. It was renewed in 2016 and is now expires20 August 2026.

So in the mid-1990s, newly minted W4BZI bought a modern 100-watt transceiver, a Kenwood TS450 S. It is a nice little radio.

Nancy and I moved to the fourth floor of a four-story building in 2019. After studying the building for months, I found a way to install a 40-meter dipole and a 66 foot End-Fed Long Wire antenna in the attic. The feed lines go into the through a 1.5″ hole in the corner ceiling of my ham shack/office.

Here is the new Yaesu FTDX10 aI cquired in December 2021. This 100-watt transceiver is feature- and function-filled. It is very complicated to learn use.

It took some time to get my new ham shack arranged and the equipment connected. II have been listening to CQ on the 40 meter and 20 meter bands so I’m feeling pretty good about reading Morse code up to 15 or 20 words per minute . However, I did not realize how rusty my fist is at sending CW.

My very first contact with the Yaesu FTDX10 at my Park Springs location was with K5??. Here is his QSL card.