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4 | CRYSTAL RECEIVERS FOR | BROADCAST RECEPTION PERCY W. HARRIS i ' Kh 2568 LONDON ‘THE WIRELESS PRESS, LTD. (31 2 @ 13, HENRIETTA STREET, W.c.2 CRYSTAL RECEIVERS FOR BROADCAST RECEPTION PERCY W. HARRIS THE s, LID, 2813, HE woe NEW YORK: \ 6 BROADWAY THE WIRELESS PRESS. LD. FOREIGN AND COLONTAL AGENCIES SYDNEY, NSW.: 97, Catence Stree, MELBOURNE : 22/4, Lice Cols Suet. MADRID: Ls Pronea Rediotlegvaic, 43, Calle de Alea GENOA; Agensis Radioesleprafica Italiana, Via Verse 5. AMSTERDAM: Nedeslondsch Perburesw Radia, 562, Keizezegracht. INTRODUCTION Tue advent of broadcast radio-clephony has seoused con- siderable intrest in the simp fers of wireless eeiver with ‘the result that the erystal detector, which wes fast being usted by the thermionic valve, has once “again become Populse. Numerous exystal receivers are ow on. the market, and the beginner in wicless may wll eel sone come fusion a5 to their merits Tho purpase of thie book to exphin in popular language te principles upon which al these rwoelvers are designed, the reasons forthe dileences between them, and how al of them can be adjusted for the greatest efficiency. To moet the roquiements of those who deste to constrict their own apparatus, a detailed description i given of the construction of highsrade crystal reoiver suitable for the reception of broadcast concerts and wieesstime-signls from the Eifel Tower station in Pats The author desies to express his obligation to the following finns.who have kindly supplied illstrations ofthe partienlar oducts Mess G, C, Aimer &Co.,. 2. Avekland& Soa, Henry J Browster & Co, British Radio Sales Co, Ltd, SG. Brow, Lid. Buendept, Ltd, Dubier Condencer Co. (r92t, Li Flows Magneto Co, Lid. A. W. Gamage & Co, Lal, General Electric Co, Ltd, Marcon's Witeless Telegraph Co, Lud, RAL Radio, Led, Sterling Telephone and Bieeric Co End, A.W. Sulivan, Witelese Supplies Co, Ltd Peney W. Hanes, TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Great Paiscirtes or Winetess Recernos. 7 Ti Cuvsrar Recririens aso. tuete Provensies 3 I, Towens von Cavetat. Receivers 20.5 18 IW. Pascricay Cevstae Descrons - 8 Y. Tetpoioxe Heapereces ote VIL Agsmuas axp Eanrn Coxseerioxs 6 VIL Waar Vou stay Exrecr to Hear wint a Cevstar Receive st VILL. How to Anjust 4 Cevstat Detecros 2 TX, Mawaso Siosats Lovo : 26 N. How 10 Bonin 4 Crvsrat Recercen 8 Aprexprs 0 Arrexprs B n Arresons € 73 CRYSTAL RECEIVERS FOR BROADCAST RECEPTION CHAPTER GBNERAL PRINCIPLES OF WIRELESS RECEPTION A WIRELESS receiver, whether fr telegraply’ of telephony, conic a tae oo over eer wave to au founds which can be interpreted by. the ese "The eel Sillernce between wires tegrapy and witless telephony is thatn the former ease the sain waves ae co op into Tong and short trans of waves corespondiag wide dota and dahes ofthe Morse code, when theaters continuoussteean bf waves as ts amplitude varied by the trnemitingapparstas in manne corning to ic ied waves mp Upgn the teanomitling apap "ho the beget seems inpoable that a number of wireless telegraphic and telephonic transmissions can ecu sila: howeiy without the fatener hearing © hore Jumble. of mn, consisting of More, musi and perc, romamultode irr Aen Hon poeta eaten 1 thoxe not required by ising the prteipes of eer ia atance"To undtstind Teonance emule conse fr few moments certain fandinental, properties ef Wines Flr ether waves used in wieesstleraphy generate in any seperate fl esate arent of frequency depending” gpm the wavelength of the waves themetcess Me seed of Cramayel we wane scticallyunfor, belng that of fihty ‘whieh travels at Neto inser ond. Each compte wave wil geste ina reclving’ acral two tiny eurent, ne hall oe the wave hie downgeard rash of current of the aerial and the ‘ther ball Sundar upward eos ‘Now each clectscal condctor has what is known as a 8 CRYSTAL RECEIVERS saw nny” The pein wat SEE ite ents deiner ate ac aE Si oda eae SP Te REE mm wa gps ae cot Sot et Gry hehe cal ea tl ate a ata it tpad a ps Naas ee atkins qpigiGsitnt Ty Cant bet east eaten ioe ba ona Bim tcl Ae here Gee Uy Fah av esha yairaial Seer ema a NaS tet ocelot GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF WIRELESS RECEPTION 9 ese ep tke, the higher will be the note weshall hear, gible to the human ear. er in the aerial ilar higher than the highest point of sible eps flo eee yin Elie (hiearay ah gee ea into'a uniform electric current in one direction which will pass OSSM agi SMa ate Sea a tat gene ie seadchaeitstnrtccenteceeel Cee oticsass hantevantes ee elle renee ee iortnett ear er eer ae Fee ee ee sel es oT et a 0 CRYSTAL RECEIVERS transmitter. Briefly tated, then, If we rectify the hgh fre- ‘quency currents set up by waves from a wires telepbone ‘ation, ‘we shall obtain through our telephones a untiec onal Corent which varies in strength ne manne correspond Sng to the variation of spond wares on the transmitter. aid we Sha ear amore or los fatal nepeodocton inc ead pecs o loud speaker ofthe souls oF ase, made o spolen, the distant transmitting sation. Tesi thos be ooen that a wireless receiver of whatever type we lite to conaider har tee fonctions to perform. Fist ‘ust eo atsanged tha the aval to which is connected Ca be brought into clecttcal resonance with the waves 10. be eosived. Secondly, high Srequenes curents crated in the eral and receiver’ ast bevrectibed or tummed ito uae ‘Giectonal erent which wil aoc the tptiones, Thtdy, the apparatss must lave some form of telephone receive? ‘hich hil be operated by thew ected caren. "in broadcast rection we have avalable for ase two dis tinct types of reeiver. Each type made ap of tuee parts, Ina, detector or rectier, and telephones One type known BW epstlseree ad the oer asthe sae reer Fach type has it advantages ‘On the one hand the erptal receivers ate simple to operat, inexpensive both to porches and manta aad tegulse 86 expensive and messy acummulators to supply electialeurent to'them. On the other band, valve secercas aro very much ore etalve an, sera a the termini are apie Dsbefo use number af valves, each of which malta the ‘Strength of signal produced by the gthers. Valve Teceivers are, however, expensive To pufchave in the st place, cost in fegard to replacements of worn-out of broken valves, and rogue both high and low tension batteries to supp sctie {ulzent Co then Furthermore, the highest eftceney fe to Te obtained from them, they nec sled manipelation, (Crystal recetvers if aed within twenty’ of thiety males of bnoadeastng station, vill give quite good results it one or wo pessoilepoe headed on rare acasons ge has en received from bYoadeasting statogs at much greater stances Tn this book only crystal reclvers ae dealt with For particulars of valve reeivers thet operstion nd work the feader is refered to the many exealent text-book sea svaliable. CRYSTAL RECTIFIERS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 22 CHAPTER 1 CRYSTAL RECTIFIERS AND THEIR PROPERTIES Anovr the year ro06 certain American experimenters made the remarkable dicovery that crystals of some mineral se Stanees poses he oF alloing” igh-feequency ‘cgrents f9 passthrough them in one diction, bt notin te ‘other. One of tho earliest substances to be investigated ae the’ ymthetc product, Carborondm. Carboruntin for 19 sive tits chentcal ame, Sco Carbide profvend a large eantiies, at works neat Niagara Falls, by fsing inlet fences mite fl ecards ack "A mune i eoruplew chemical reactors take place im the farmace, and ‘then these cone a substance, to which the ame Carbone sham has Been even, erystalies out in great mses Its gral that many feds Have sen Hr of borin bed foradvertsi purposes in shop windows, Tt may hat ‘sen miced tat the ere thecarborundu at owe ‘tthe mass, the crystals none portion beng otaeadieh eet Colour, whereas nother portions the ae blak, sed we pale eho ter tte artarani i an etry ard Snbstanc, and ie this propery which mates if eal com Ser Noe al spect ol mtr es the retliarretfving propery to whieh we have referred ot ‘rb weghig way pound on ey ones of ea. fondu crystals useful for mirelessparposes wl be found {seis srt ok ott fe best specs fr ‘ie take suitable crystal of earborundum ito the wieess laboratory and stay tonneet ito a electri eic we shall ind that 25 we merece the eletical pressure applied sein ane diretion so the comment through it wal ineredee If swe severe tho dectial pressure, we shall nd that inthe ‘peste direction practically no caerent wll pass In sae SRP te ering properties of aor and ned i ‘lhe egal substances, we dra what enowe a a" hare fctersie curve.” The characteristic carve of a stat of Siborundsm Srchown in Fier “Te hostontal line i thi ere shows vols appli to the ‘exita, the aero line being in the centre, To the lle of this line th volts are nngattee, and on the rahe positive, The vertical line Shows meroamperes of current pasing through e CRYSTAL RECEIVERS: the crystal forthe various voltage appli. Twill be noticed Gin Ueeure isa datnck Mang i ve were to tatethe Characteristic current of metal of othr good conductor Wwe ‘Shock find thatthe ie joining the various teadings would be Deretlysteaght, in accosdance with Ohms law. In the aoe Ereryatlvecters however the eurve not stat, andi {hs iegularityin the shape which ees tt mean of aster tuning the vale ofthe partici apociney en gener. "Tot the best rcticaton, we want te ihe carve a the point where e changes most ply. Th the ease of is specimen of carhorundum th change wil be sem to take pace Pie point marked 1-2 vols. Now leas assume that by tans fa ry eal we impose a regular pres of 2 vole aon th aria sehen of ertoruhdon at an {is presse during fecption of wires signals. We wil Imagine forte moment that the wielse receiver connected frthis exystal so tae the high fequeney canrents cant hen there se in pressure in one dizetion through the cesta, due tothe adit efect oft incoming waves the turret wl increase, corresponding tothe increas In presute Se shown by the curves The reversal ofthe wsclaGon Wil | CRYSTAL RECTIFIERS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 13, subtract voltage and cagsea fallin curent, bot he fll will ‘bess chan the provioae rise. If, then ‘we subiet he ecreaso from the iheteas, the net rest wl bean inceas, ‘The reader fs advised to seady this characteristic for Htc time and think over what mt nccor with the varlations roars, Heo son vee at te crirondun ca ets aya kindof valve allowing a pasage of current fn one Azetin, but not to any greateatent in tutes Tie wll also "alse that the charper the ben inthe cvs the better wl be Therecfying eet.” Te wisn become certo inn hata the {ase of eavborendim we cannot obtain satisfactory retina: tion less we impress upon the cys from soe external om u source, a steady electrical presse of 2 volts er so. H we feuld find a eystal of earboramdom the charatentc eum SF which showed that the sudden” change in shape of the EERE Bice af se al ttn cdo pe ss afew withovtimpresing upon iany voitage other than that derived from the cect of the ies waves, Unfor, tunately such erytals of carborundum age but rey, i ever, sd applying the aditinal voltage to br or the purpose of aplviag the additional vltage to bi the carborandum ryt to fe necessary sensitive conalton ie tae a devi known ob" potentiometer” This consists Ufa resister of several hundred ohms connected to ane otto ‘ey calif ve apply a voltmeter to the two eas ofthis restance when a euerent from one dy cb Rowing through 4 CRYSTAL RECEIVERS it, we shall obtain a reading of approximately 15 volts. If iil keeping une terminal of the Cotmeter connected to on fd, we apply the othr terminal tothe centre ofthe tessa, we shall abtain reading of only75 vol or ha the prelons ‘gue. Similarly tein a quarter of the resistance we Tal tnd the voltage to be only i garter ofthe hole find, then, tnt we can ra ally vary ihe voltage by stoving i Gomtaet frome eh of thy Fesistance to the other and th Supplies conenent nea adlosting the applied "cotta other crystal which we. may Fre 4A Retry Potemlon ant fo°test_ wit auditions prteicin nag WaGgE The mated fc bute hoen in Figs Hig shows the wiring of « potentiometer whieh enables ie voltege fo be reversed alter ping the ental pnt of te resstane, This ie move convenient that dag a vent swith a doo necting th eas The resistance usually takes the form of a col of wie on a former, over which raxs a stable siding contach Eg Sa ‘ay be wound ona eslindsia! equate or ether Kind of ce and iS sometimes made ring-shaped tse resistances made of ‘carbon ros, Some potentiometers and the stadstes CRYSTAL RECTIPIERS AND THEIR PROPERTIES 15 mec ay kee place of ide. Practical om of pemtomatc ste howls Figs gan P'ltis natural that the dicotery of the cettying properties of tarborandum should ead (3 the vestigation of othe Substanees to se whether they, too, gave characte cites Oia Siniar wet shape. ft wa Soon ound hat hea huber of natural mineral rysal osesent more oss wel rectfing propeten, although cond were farsupeir toons Gatena ('naral oxideof leat) sone of the mos seas tive of Such erystal Fused eicon, whic is nla goo toaybieite (a oxide of the rare mel malybenum) on Porites, copper pyres and many olles miner oes have ss Reuse omic. "Aver poplat, useuland sensi Teor s made by plating in contact tw septal Combine tious whtch work excellently ane ainelte [natural oxide of 2ane) and copper pyres, since sad chaleopytite (x comploy zero point, whic means that we can tse these datocors without ‘et of specially-reated galena 6 CRYSTAL RECEIVERS Purpose. Another method which can be need satistactrily Sch cartorandam to allow the tip ofa fine wie to rest Sen esac. "Cale eer nara eat aon, olybdenite, sow pyrite, and copper pyres, ll work eet ‘th light contact ofa fine wire point The svce i est made FS ststance which does not eeadlly oxide, as even hin ean ane ‘im of exide upon this point i detsimental. For this reason fine god or patina wires ave somtimes ssed. In the case sf combinations af tw erystals, both see sted Sato cups by Imeans of fase metal a the two eeysal Surfaces brevet {ogee with laity Bem pres, ee ea pve uni wei over le futlate,thowe being but good nts Tela inst theressze be made to fnd fe he Best postion, Gales, fv CRYSTAL RECTIFIERS AND THEIR PROPERTIES. 17 example, has many points om ite sutface which are entiey frenatie, ihe sabe ‘omuatne ‘ave the sdeanage th wi ey at sy sete overt ae Surface, they” sally possess some relying propertes pactcaly everywhere, Pig: sbaws atypical chaactersie ‘ot “Gerasite:"” (A tade' dongration) ‘ila welladusted combination of zine and. chalcopyrits, “he dotted line sows the characteristic of another portion of Ske sas of te sae dete The slope of the ec ve i not so great and for this reason th detector mat Srscnnitve at thet point. Fig. 7 shows a. characteisti of ‘he crystal whic passes under the nase of" Cerusite For the the characteristic raves in hie chapter the writer tndebled to." The Pringles of Radio Communietion,” by THT Monerote." New Verk! |. Wiley and Sons CRYSTAL RECEIVERS 8 CHAPTER [11 bid aT yncerts are ns sed for the ertegth shorter than tat om ‘ehh the conerts ae (TES THEE Eee Fa. ee the : t ee we De ae a ve teegmomezentse gma er Teck Sat ae lm ieee * sty meet {o being i either the cafacty ft and a broad wave, saab gdest ena Re ie induct fhe Aner at mace ie te OF Toker “gsc ap sa ar am Pak imoket engi etaeactaninuas wea ara ar Hg rea We somite ees gro Mast theses TUNERS FOR CRYSTAL RECEIVERS 49 shld ve a great deal of the wept properties ofthe wire, these depend to a considerable extent Upon te heck ‘suspended above the earth. If we have alenty eek oe uf series with the eral, we can neease the loll ence ae by connecting s variable condenser actecs te te a Seay Ph noel do te Goa ees wey more eticiene to obtain he wave tength By cone longer collin series without a condenser ator het ai) {as later ll increase the wavelength, fee ane see ie lected prsre on the detector aa infesece Snide the asa i eo tong for the reception of the signals owe wane: “Is such Creametantes it nok sana (tee the inductance, asthe practically wiyeay Wea be done woul te by sbirtening the wits “Wereas Peco retice the total capacity by inserting a varahie one de le ler n ve Se va "alle capacity than ether of theme as Hos artleGondeners cat of tS etal plate insulated fom one another. and so arranged tigen seat be gradvally brought over the other The asian crea is gained when the two ets are inumediatey ieee {minimum when they ate mast widely separ ee {puron fom of "eartbhe condenser csi of too met fue, separated by insulating material and Pad oy att 2561 one another. Suck tubular condineers Pave ile Sal manimum capacity, Bue are often concesee oe Aes TEE simple form of ting eo for we with eae (etctor consists of an inslating tube woud wth fact wre and supported by suitable end pieces, Abe seed Hace a metal od, on which runs & aiding ome ‘Haat beneath the’ contact the wie fa ased yen the insulation, |The aera is then connested to ont ced ara Sila the rod careyng the sider is joined to ie seh {hah ieanency cents theacrl wil shen acca the tne of the eo nt they come tothe sid eae Ia Fig 9 sho such een When the high requeney eamtats sre owing inthis eit

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