![]() At the same time, batteries and electronic starters were becoming the norm in transportation vehicles. Having the ability to demodulate a radio signal without a power source was a big deal, especially in rural America, where access to electricity was not yet commonplace.Ī galena crystal and ‘cat’s whisker’ detector on a 1920’s Howe receiverīy the late 1920’s, electron tube technology and manufacturing capabilities for radio components had advanced to the point where tube radios would outperform crystal sets at a price that many could afford. This providing a means of demodulating an AM radio signal. If touched lightly with a very thin wire, known as a cat’s whisker, at just the right spot on the crystal surface, galena will act just like a diode allowing DC current to pass through it. Galena is chemically Lead Sulphide and deposits of this mineral are quite common throughout the world. Crystal radios derived their name from use of galena crystals as detectors. The beauty of the radio was that it was a passive device needing no power source other than the radio station’s broadcast that was received by a good antenna about 50 feet long and 15 or so feet above the ground. If you didn’t have one, you were simply living in the past.Ī family listening to a crystal radio in the 1920’sįortunately, in the early 1920’s the crystal radio had been around for a while and it was easy to make or purchase a completed set on a limited budget. The frenzy around radio in the 1920’s was not unlike the excitement around cell phones and the internet today. Even though a tube-driven radio was not yet commonplace, many people listened to these stations on their crystal radios. After KDKA’s historic broadcast, large 50,000 watt stations began popping up in all major cities around the world. However, hearing the election results was not as easy as powering up an AM radio receiver because radio electron tubes had only been invented a few years earlier and they were still too expensive for most people to afford in a radio set. For the first time in history people knew who won the election before reading about it the next day in the newspaper. ![]() The date was Novemand the world was about to change forever when radio station KDKA out of Pittsburgh PA made its first broadcast of election results from the 1920 presidential election. Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Day (N1DAY), for sharing the following guest post:Ĭrystal Radios – Construction, Listening, and Contesting ![]()
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