Build Your Own Crystal Radio

Abstract
Here's a science fair project that shows you how to build your own radio receiver! You'll learn the basic circuit elements required for receiving radio signals, and you'll be able to listen to AM radio broadcasts with something you made yourself. A nice feature of this project is that you can make it as easy or as advanced as you want.

Objective
The objective of this science fair project is to build a simple crystal radio from scratch, then experiment to make improvements.

Introduction

Cell phones, satellite TV, walkie-talkies, car radios, GPS, and baby monitors all rely on radios to function. This fun science fair project wi nable you to understand the basics of how a radio receiver works and give you the satisfaction of hearing radio broadcasts on somethin you built from scratch.

Terms, Concepts, and Questions to Start Background Research

To do this science fair project, you should do research that enables you to understand the following terms and concepts:

Radio wave, frequency Amplitude modulation (AM)

Antenna Tuner Resonance

Detector or demodulator Diode

Electrical power

Bibliography
Here are some sources to get you started:

Brain, M. (n.d.). How Radio Works. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/radio.htm

Wikipedia Contributors. (2009, March 26). Crystal radio: Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_set If you want to follow an interest in radio further, try The Amateur Radio Relay League website:

ARRL. (2009). ARRL: The National Association for Amateur Radio. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://www.arrl.org

Materials and Equipment

Many of the supplies listed below are available from the following suppliers:

Antiques Electronic Supplies: www.tubesandmore.com

Computer Controlled Automation: www.angelfire.com/electronic2/index1 Dan's Small Parts and Kits: www.danscloseoutsandspecialdeals.com

RadioShack: www.radioshack.com

To do this science fair project, you will need the following materials and equipment:

Cylindrical oatmeal box, 4-in. diameter (1)

Masking tape

Mounting board, wood, about 6 in. 9 in. (1)

Screw, any size to tether wire to mounting board (1)

o o

Screwdriver

Spool of 20 or 22 guage solid plastic insulated wire, 75-foot (1); available from RadioShack, part # 278-1224 Germanium diode (1n34, 1n34a, 1n60 etc.) (1); available from:

Antiques Electronic Supplies, part # P-Q972

Dan's Small Parts and Kits (no part numbers available, must search for the part name on their site)

Computer Controlled Automation (no part numbers available, must search for the part name on their site)

47-kohm resistor, 1/4- or 1/2-watt (1); available from:

o o

Antiques Electronic Supplies, part # R-A47K

RadioShack, part # 271-1342

Dan's Small Parts and Kits (no part numbers available, must search for the part name on their site) Alligator clip (1); available from:

RadioShack, part # 270-346

High-impedance ceramic earphone (1) Note: An earphone, headphones or "ear buds" from RadioShack will not work. It must be high-impedance ceramic earphone, not the kind used on transistor radios); available from:

o o

Antiques Electronic Supplies, part # P-A480

Computer Controlled Automation (no part numbers available, must search for the part name on their site)

Optional: PVC pipe coupling, inch, (2). Used to make antenna insulators if needed. See Figure 2 for details.

Optional: Fahnestock clips (4); you could also use a machine screw through the bottom of the board, secured by a nut. Then us a knurled nut or another nut to tighten the wires down. Available from:

o o o

Antiques Electronic Supplies, part # S-H11-4043-6 Multimeter or microammeter and voltmeter

Microammeter must be capable of reading as low as 5 microamps (mA) Voltmeter must be capable of reading as low as 100 millivolts (mV)

Disclaimer: Science Buddies occasionally provides information (such as part numbers, supplier names, and supplier weblinks) to assist our users in locating specialty items for individual projects. The information is provided solely as a convenience to our users. We do our best to make sure that part numbers and descriptions are accurate when first listed. However, since part numbers do change as items

re obsoleted or improved, please send us an email if you run across any parts that are no longer available. We also do our best to mak sure that any listed supplier provides prompt, courteous service. Science Buddies receives no consideration, financial or otherwise, from suppliers for these listings. (The sole exception is any Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com link.) If you have any comments (positive or egative) related to purchases you've made for science fair projects from recommendations on our site, please let us know. Write to us a scibuddy@sciencebuddies.org.

Experimental Procedure

Note Before Beginning: This science fair project requires you to hook up one or more devices in an electrical circuit. Basic help can be found in the Electronics Primer. However, if you don't have experience in putting together electrical circuits you may find it helpful to have someone who can answer questions and help you troubleshoot if your project isn't working. A science teacher or parent may be a good resource. If you need to find another mentor, try asking a local electrician, electrical engineer, or person whose hobbies involve building things like model airplanes, trains, or cars. You may also need to work your way up to this project by starting with an electronics project that has a lower level of difficulty. Important Safety Notes Have an adult help you with this science fair project. Do not listen to a crystal radio during a thunderstorm. Make sure that you follow the instructions and ground your antenna properly. 1. Take the oatmeal container (empty, of course) and on the open end, come down about a 1/2 in. and carefully poke two holes. Thread the wire through one hole and back out through the other, as shown in Figure 1, below. Pull about 1 ft. of wire out, for making the connection to the rest of the circuit. Tape the wire on the inside of the oatmeal box, to keep it from slipping out.

Figure 1. Diagram showing how to wrap the tapped coil.

2.

Wrap five turns of wire around the oatmeal box and make a "tap," see Figure 1. Remove a short span of insulation, and twist th wires together. 3. Continue wrapping, and every five turns, make a tap, until you get to 40 turns.

4.

At 40 turns, poke two holes next to the last turn of wire. Cut the wire off so that you have 12 ft. extra to connect to the rest o the circuit. Poke the wire into the first hole and back out the second hole. Tape the wire in place inside the box. You now have your coil wound, as in Figure 1.

5.

Next you will need an antenna and a ground. The antenna can be any wire (insulated or bare), as high and as long as possible. Make sure not to place it near electrical wires for your safety and the performance of the radio. Also don't let the antenna "groun out" to trees or the earth (ground). You can make insulators from plastic water pipe or couplings. See Figure 2, below.

Figure 2. Crystal radio antenna diagram.

6.

The ground can be made by connecting to a water pipe, or to a metal rod that is pounded at least 2 ft. into the ground. 7. Figure 3, below shows the remaining connections that you need to make.

Figure 3. Diagram showing completed crystal radio.

8.

Hook it all up and connect the alligator clip to one of the center taps. You should hear something! To tune the radio, try connecting to another tap.

Variations
Building a radio is your first step. To make a good science fair experiment, you should investigate some of the following questions.

A number of interesting experiments become possible if you add meters to measure the current and voltage in your radio. "To measure the current in our radio, we will need to have the current flowing through the meter. To do this, we connect the microammeter between the earphone and the ground connection, so that any electricity that is going to flow throught the earphones to make noise is going to have to flow through the meter also. The meter can be connected in two ways, one is forward and one is backward. If the meter is connected backward, the needle will start reading below zero. If this happens, just reverse the connections, so the needle reads above zero. To measure the voltage, we connect the meter to both of the earphon

wires." (Field, date unknown) Depending on the radio stations near you, you need a meter that will read as low as 5 microamps and around 100 millivolts. You can calculate the power (in watts) that your radio receives by multiplying the volts times the amps.

Simon Field suggests these variations: "Try different lengths of antenna, and watch the current go up as the longer antennas catch more of the power from the radio station. Try more than one antenna. Try connecting the ground wire to different things that are connected to the ground, such as pipes, metal fences, etc. As you try each test, make sure you tune the radio again, because your changes may affect the tuning." (Field, date unknown) You should check out this source for more details and additional ideas.

Lewis Whaley suggests another variation for this project, based on the "foxhole radios" which American soldiers in World War II built using razor blades and a safety pin (or graphite pencil point) in place of the germanium diode. How could this work? Build one and compare its performance to the circuit described above. For more information, see: http://bizarrelabs.com/foxhole.htm

For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Electricity & Electronics Project Ideas.

Credits
This science fair project was inspired by projects on the following websites:

Boyd, D. (2005). Build a Crystal Radio. Retrieved January 30, 2006, from http://www.crystalradio.net/beginners/index.shtml

Note for this source: See "Power from radio waveshooking up a meter to measure the voltage and current" about half way down the page.

Field, S. Q. (n.d.). Science Toys You Can Make with Your Kids: Building a Radio Out of Household Implements. Retrieved November 21, 2004, from http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/radio/homemade_radio.html Edited by Andrew Olson, PhD, Science Buddies