FLECTROMICS AUSTRALIA ee BUILD A VOICE OPERATED RELAY FULL-SIZE KEYBOARD FOR THE ZX-81 REVIEW: MITSUBISHI LT-SV TURNTABLE| FOR FAMILY FUN | crystal set. It does not require system. And it even works dur Over the years we have certainly published many crystal sets but in recent years they have not seemed particularly attractive, This has been because small transistor radios are so cheap and not really worth building yourself. Also the high impedance headphones which are really essential to the success of a crystal set have become difficult to obtain. But | we are getting ahead of ourselves, ‘What is a crystal set and does it bear any relation to the crystal used in so many watches, computers and com munications gear? The answer is that a crystal set is the simplest possible radio receiver and the “crystal” it uses beats no. felation to the crystal element used in precision high frequency oscillators in 68 ELECTRONICS Austrata, Apnl, 1 Rediscover the Crystal Set No batteries, surprisingly good sound, foolproof circuit Perhaps the most satisfying project that anyone can build is a a battery and seemingly uses no power. Yet it can pull in a surprising number of broadcast stations and produce good sound quality when connected to a stereo ing blackouts! computers and so on, No. Originally, the crystal referred to here was a piece of galena, a crystalline lead sulphide ore which is a naturally ac curing semiconductor material. "The galena crystal was mounted in a metal holder and a fine gauge wire called a ‘cat's whisker” was critically adjusted t0 touch a sensitive part of the crystal so as, to form a primitive diode. And as we all know, a diode only conducts in one ditection. This primitive diode was generally call eda crystal detector which referred to its function as a “detector” of radio waves. These days crystal detectors have long, since been superseded by germanium and silicon diodes but the simple crystal 982 set circuit remains as simple as it ever was, asi illustrated in Fig. 1 ‘A ‘crystal set circuit consists of a coil and a capacitor which form a resonant circuit, a diode (or crystal), another capacitor and a pair of headphones, Just how it works can be seen by referring to Fig. 2 Fig. 2{a) shows the coil and capacitor referted to above connected together to form a resonant circuit. The little arrow ‘on the capacitor shows that its variable and can be tuned so that the circuit resonates at a particular radio frequency, The radio frequency is modulated (ie, varied in amplitude) by an audio fre quency to give the symmetrical waveform shown, In radio parlance, the radio frequency (RF) is known as the “carrier” while the audio is known as the “modulation’ Where does this RF waveform come from? From your favourite radio station and itis picked up by the aerial and fed in to the coil, As with any radio, you select your favourite signal by tuning theresonant circuit by means of the variable ‘capacitor. This capacitor has air-spaced plates and is commonly known as a tur ing gang. The word “gang” refers to the fact that there may be more than one of these variable capacitors “ganged” on the one shaft. Alright. So far we have tuned the circuit so that it resonates at the particular fre {quency we want to listen to. This means that it has maximum response at that fre- quency but we still cannot listen to it because its stil in the form of an RF car- fier. We need to separate the audio ‘modulation from the carrier. This is where the diode (or crystal detector) comes in. Fig. 2(b) shows the diode and a load, R1, connected to the resonant circuit. Since the diode only conducts in one direction, it only passes fone half of the RF cattier waveform 2{a). So now R1 is fed with tiny DC pulses of RF waveform which vary in amplitude according to the original audio signal. Ri in Fig. 2(b) actually represents the ee path for the headphones which finally reproduces the audio signal for your enjoyment. The headphones respond to the average value of the DC pulses “detected” from the RF waveform by the diode. The capacitor C1 smooths the waveform so that the signal applied to the headphones is just the remaining audio modulation. Note that Fig. 2(c) is, almost identical to the circuit of Fig. 1 The major difference between the two Circuits, is that the coil depicted in the final circuit has a number of taps to which the aerial is connected No Soldering Required There are two special aspects of this project. First, apart from the fact that it does not require a power source, no soldering is required. This isin line with the fact that itis a project for the begin: ner, This should not stop anybody else ‘who wants to experience the intriguing satisfaction of “getting a crystal set to 80" Second, to be really satisfactory, a crystal set needs a pair of sensitive, high impedance headphones. In recent years these have been very difficult to obtain because they have been rendered vir tually obsolete by modern low: impedance stereo headphones. However, because Dick Smith had a per sonal interest in this project, he made a special effort to obtain a large consign: ‘ment of particularly sensitive phones at a good price. These high resistance phones have an impedance of 2k0 (two thousand ohms) and will be sold for $7.90. Alternatively, you can save some brass and opt for an ‘economy 2k@ earpiece which will set you back only $1.25. For our money, the ‘proper’ headphones are the ones to go for. While they are not hifi and definitely do not sound as “good as a Walkman’ they will certainly give sterling service. Timber Baseboard To make this project, you will require a piece of timber or particle board at least 40mm thick and measuring about 220 x 120mm. On one side of this you will affix a reproduction of the diagram on page 70 of this article. We understand that Dick Smith Electronics will be making available an adhesive backed copy of this diagram with the kit for this project which will include all parts, even the timber just mentioned. ‘All connections on this baseboard are Fig. 1: complete circuit schematic. Fig. 2: (below) explains how it works. to be made via 1/Binch (or metric equivalent) screws and nuts. This ap- proach takes advantage of the fact that, for a nomeritical circuit such as this, wood is quite a good insulator. Virtually any tuning gang with a total capacitance of about 350 to 500pF can be used in this project. The gang to be supplied with the DSE kit has two sec tions which can be connected together to give a total of just over 500pF or about 360pF if just the main section is us ed by itself The tuning gang will be sup- plied with a small aluminium bracket to ‘mount it on the baseboard. The coil is wound on a 60mm length of 50mm ID (internal diameter) plastic water pipe. This is dilled to take mourr ting screws and the coil anchor points. It is wound with 24 gauge enamelled cop- per wire. The enamel on the copper wire 's an insulator to prevent shorts between tums ‘Anchor the wire at one end of the plastic coil former by passing it through ‘one of the termination holes. Pass about 120mm of the wire through the hole and knot it on the inside of the former. Wind (on nine full turns in whichever direction seems easiest, making sure that each This is what your crystal set will look like when itis finished. ELECTRONICS Australa, April, 1982 69CODILE CLI! CHRO HEADPHONES — FIXED CAPACITOR S gall E CRYSTAL DETECTOR (diode) FIXED PLATES MOVING PLATES Afi a reproduction of this diagram to the timber baseboard and follow the wiring layout exactly. Connections are made using screws and nuts (see tex) tum is pressed close to the previous one. When you reach the 10th turn, place ‘one end of a 35mm length of wooden matchstick under the wire. Then place the following turns underneath the matchstick, Continue until you come to 70 the 20th turn. This is again wound over the matchstick, as are turns 30, 40 and 50. Finally, wind on another 15 turns, to make a total of 65. The total winding should then occupy about 40mm of the length of the coil former and the finish ELECTRONICS Australia, Apel, 1982 can be anchored in the same way as tne start The next step is to push a second ‘matchstick in alongside the first. This will not be too hard if you first cut a slight chamfer on the end of the matchstick, Using a penknife or utility knife. Then push’ the two matchsticks about 10mm apart ‘When you push the two matchsticks apart the wire will stretch slightly but itis not likely to break unless you are very hamfisted. The extra tension on the wire helps keep the coil nice and firm. If you now carefully scrape the enamel off the five wires going over the five ‘matchsticks and from the start and finish of the winding, you will have virtually finished the coil, The five wires become the tap connections, which are made with small crocodile clips PARTS LIST 1 timber baseboard, approximately 220 x 120mm 1 baseboard label 1 tuning gang, maximum capacitance 350 to 500pF 1 bracket to suit tuning gang 1 plastic coil former, 50mm ID x 60mm long 12 metres of 24 B & S enamelled cop- per wire knob to suit gang small crocodile clips (OA91 germanium diode 0014F metallised polyester ‘capacitor (greencap) 1 set of headphones, impedance 2k OR 1 2K9 dynamic earpiece (MISCELLANEOUS Screws, nuts, washers, hookup wire for baseboard connections and aerial COST ESTIMATE We estimate the current cost of parts for this project to be approx: imately $7.00 plus the cost of the dynamic headphones Most of the connections in the set are made with screws and nuts, as mention- ed previously. The idea is to drill holes for all the screws and then open out the holes on the underside, with a larger iil, so that the screw heads will be recessed, This will avoid the possibilty of scratches on your fine olde Tasmanian swamp wattle refectory table. Pass each screw through its hole and anchor it with a nut. Then sandwich the ‘wires between two washers and secure the lot with another nut and tighten it down, This method of connection ap- plies to all the connections except for that between the tuning gang and thecoil. In this case, take the coil wire, which has been scraped clean of enamel insulation and securely crimp it around the lug or lugs on the tuning gang While we have shown the diode con- nected one way in the circuit and wiring diagram, it-does not matter which way you connect it. It will work just as well ither way. Just make sure it is a ger manium diode as a silicon signal diade will hardly work at all Aerial and Earth Before you can start receiving signals, it is necessary to have an aerial and earth, These days it is more common to refer to the aerial as the antenna but in crystal set parlance, the “aerial” seems to be the favoured word, AS far as size is concern ed, the bigger the aerial, the better Ideally, it should be at least 10 metres Jong and up to 30 metres or more, if you live a long way from the nearest radio station If you live on an average suburban lot you may be restricted in the size of the aerial but make it as long and as high as possible, within reason. You can string it from the rooftop to a tree or fence post and you will probably obtain a reasonable signal If you live in a home unit, you may find that a strong signal can be obtained from ‘one side of your TV antenna lead. ‘A good earth connection is also essen: tial for good performance. Ideally, con- nnect the set to a copper or galvanised iron water pipe or to the earthed frame of a permanently connected mains operated appliance such as a refrigerator or freezer. Alternatively, you could drive ‘length of water pipe directly into the ground and use that for your earth Connection. With the set itself finished, aerial and earth connected, you are ready to try it out. Connect the aerial crocodile clip to the tap on the coil nearest the earthed end. The crocodile clip for the diode detector can then be the next tap up. Now try adjusting the tuning gang and the chances are that you will hear a signal. You can then try other combina: tions of taps to see which gives the best results Generally, you will find the best results with the aerial tap near the bottom (ear thy end) of the coil, when a long aerial is used. Moving the tap up the coil reduces the selectivity (the ability of the set to separate stations) and may make two or more stations audible at the one time. You may also want to try the effect of having the detector and the aerial con nected to the same tap and the effect of ‘one or both sections of the gang con nected together. Whatever combination serves you best, we are sure that this crystal set will give'a large number of readers a lot of satisfaction. 2 AL age eight, (above) Dick Smith looked quite normal?) although he did have an abiding interest in lizards as this photo Shows. Was there any connection bet ween lizards and his eventual develop ‘ment into an electronics magnate? Top right: This is Maurice Findlay, about 30 years ago when he designed and wrote the article which is the precursor of the tunit featured in this article The article in question was actually published in September 1952. and was the first project ever built by the young Dick Smith. Subsequently, after leaving school, Dick Smith took his fist job working for Maurice Findlay, at Findlay Communications Pty Ltd. Pictured below with the crystal set built for this article, are Dick Smith and Maurice Findlay, as they are today. Dick Smith and the Crystal Set Dick Smith was so keen 10 see this pro- ject cepublished in the magazine that he arranged a. special purchase of these high impedance dynamic headphones They are very sensitive and really look the part ELECTRONICS Australia, Apri, 1982