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Hi all,
@here When I was young I learned a lot from "The Boys Book of Crystal Sets" (https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Bookshelf/Technology/Boys-Book-...) and the Ladybird book "Making a Transistor Radio" (https://archive.org/details/MakingATransistorRadio-LadybirdBook/page/n0).
These are largely unusable today, primarily because you cannot get 500pF air spaced variable capacitors (they come up second hand on eBay sometimes at a price, but with little guarantee about actual capacitance values). Plus they are dependent on germanium technology, although that is accessible at least for the diodes.
I have a 10 year old nephew who is very keen on electronics. I'd like to introduce him to the same sort of projects. Any suggestions what the modern equivalent would be?
Thanks,
Jeremy
- -- Tel: +44 (1590) 610184 Cell: +44 (7970) 676050 SkypeID: jeremybennett Twitter: @jeremypbennett Email: jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com Web: www.embecosm.com PGP key: 1024D/BEF58172FB4754E1 2009-03-20
The slightly younger generation on this list likely grew up with the Tandy xxx-in-one electronics kits (which usually included the components necessary for an AM radio). As Tandy left the market Maplin picked up the baton, but now they're gone too, which leaves kits like these on Amazon - 50-in-one https://amzn.to/2OVpNb3 200-in-one https://amzn.to/2R0wIkF
The nice thing about such kits is that it's pretty easy to bring in some breadboard and discrete components once the kit itself has been exhausted.
Beyond that there's Seeedstudios Grove Kits (e.g. Starter kit for Arduino https://amzn.to/2R5Gi5G), and things like Adafruit kits https://www.adafruit.com/category/203 (available locally from PiMoroni https://shop.pimoroni.com/?q=adafruit).
-- Chris
On Fri, 28 Sep 2018 at 09:28, Jeremy Bennett jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com wrote:
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Hi all,
@here When I was young I learned a lot from "The Boys Book of Crystal Sets" ( https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Bookshelf/Technology/Boys-Book-... ) and the Ladybird book "Making a Transistor Radio" (https://archive.org/details/MakingATransistorRadio-LadybirdBook/page/n0).
These are largely unusable today, primarily because you cannot get 500pF air spaced variable capacitors (they come up second hand on eBay sometimes at a price, but with little guarantee about actual capacitance values). Plus they are dependent on germanium technology, although that is accessible at least for the diodes.
I have a 10 year old nephew who is very keen on electronics. I'd like to introduce him to the same sort of projects. Any suggestions what the modern equivalent would be?
Thanks,
Jeremy
Tel: +44 (1590) 610184 Cell: +44 (7970) 676050 SkypeID: jeremybennett Twitter: @jeremypbennett Email: jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com Web: www.embecosm.com PGP key: 1024D/BEF58172FB4754E1 2009-03-20 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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oshug mailing list oshug@oshug.org http://oshug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/oshug
Hi,
200-in-one < https://amzn.to/2R0wIkF >
I had this one well over 20 years ago. It was absolutely ace.
It covered a lot of different things. Lots of stuff I understood and lots of things I barely understood until I got to university.
I think it was my 2nd or 3rd kit tho'. I had a super simple one to start with.
Regards, @ndy
Hi,
Looking around there are a number of crystal radio kits available.
https://www.brightminds.co.uk/products/crystal-radio-kit
You don't need a germanium diode, almost any diode will do, but Germanium diodes (1n34a) are still widely available and due to their lower reverse voltage more sensitive than many other types.
There are many small variable caps in the 300-500pf range, just not the (ex military?) large air spaced transmitting caps that were cheap 30+ years ago.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Miniature-AM-Tuning-Variable-Capacitor-/290981523...
The ear pieces are probably the hardest item to source , but again ebay has a number of sources. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-Sensitivity-Headphone-Earpiece-for-Crystal-S...
Derek...
On 28-Sep-18 11:18, Andy Bennett wrote:
Hi,
200-in-one < https://amzn.to/2R0wIkF >
I had this one well over 20 years ago. It was absolutely ace.
It covered a lot of different things. Lots of stuff I understood and lots of things I barely understood until I got to university.
I think it was my 2nd or 3rd kit tho'. I had a super simple one to start with.
Regards, @ndy
and...
Not forgetting the ubiquitous (well a few years ago) ZN414 ...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-TA7642-sim-ZN414-almost-complete-radio-on-a-ch...
Derek
On 28-Sep-18 11:40, ExtremeElectronics.co.uk wrote:
Hi,
Looking around there are a number of crystal radio kits available. https://www.brightminds.co.uk/products/crystal-radio-kit You don't need a germanium diode, almost any diode will do, butGermanium diodes (1n34a) are still widely available and due to their lower reverse voltage more sensitive than many other types.
There are many small variable caps in the 300-500pf range, justnot the (ex military?) large air spaced transmitting caps that were cheap 30+ years ago.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Miniature-AM-Tuning-Variable-Capacitor-/290981523...
The ear pieces are probably the hardest item to source , but againebay has a number of sources. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-Sensitivity-Headphone-Earpiece-for-Crystal-S...
Derek...On 28-Sep-18 11:18, Andy Bennett wrote:
Hi,
200-in-one < https://amzn.to/2R0wIkF >
I had this one well over 20 years ago. It was absolutely ace.
It covered a lot of different things. Lots of stuff I understood and lots of things I barely understood until I got to university.
I think it was my 2nd or 3rd kit tho'. I had a super simple one to start with.
Regards, @ndy
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Thank you all for your suggestions. I now have my hands on the necessary parts for a modern crystal set.
It is clear that there is not really a good modern replacement for either book: teaching the keen teenager the basics of radio design using today's technology. I think I have just identified my next work experience student project :-)
Best wishes,
Jeremy
On 28/09/18 11:42, ExtremeElectronics.co.uk wrote:
and...
Not forgetting the ubiquitous (well a few years ago) ZN414 ...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-TA7642-sim-ZN414-almost-complete-radio-on-a-ch...
Derek
On 28-Sep-18 11:40, ExtremeElectronics.co.uk wrote:
Hi,
Looking around there are a number of crystal radio kits available.
https://www.brightminds.co.uk/products/crystal-radio-kit
You don't need a germanium diode, almost any diode will do, but Germanium diodes (1n34a) are still widely available and due to their lower reverse voltage more sensitive than many other types.
There are many small variable caps in the 300-500pf range, just not the (ex military?) large air spaced transmitting caps that were cheap 30+ years ago.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Miniature-AM-Tuning-Variable-Capacitor-/290981523...
The ear pieces are probably the hardest item to source , but again
ebay has a number of sources. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-Sensitivity-Headphone-Earpiece-for-Crystal-S...
Derek...
On 28-Sep-18 11:18, Andy Bennett wrote:
Hi,
200-in-one < https://amzn.to/2R0wIkF >
I had this one well over 20 years ago. It was absolutely ace.
It covered a lot of different things. Lots of stuff I understood and lots of things I barely understood until I got to university.
I think it was my 2nd or 3rd kit tho'. I had a super simple one to start with.
Regards, @ndy
_______________________________________________ oshug mailing list oshug@oshug.org http://oshug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/oshug
- -- Tel: +44 (1590) 610184 Cell: +44 (7970) 676050 SkypeID: jeremybennett Twitter: @jeremypbennett Email: jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com Web: www.embecosm.com PGP key: 1024D/BEF58172FB4754E1 2009-03-20
Back in the 60s magazines were the starting point. So I made crystal sets etc from parts I could get in surplus shops. I think now the magazine of choice would be "Make" (group please add to this). As to kits, the choice is almost too wide. I won, and then gave away, a technical Lego kit which included a progammable controller. That looked good. However, one of the best kits I ever had was hand-picked by a friend of my Dad. I think I would do this, probably based on Arduino or the Pycom stuff with some sensors/actuators and links to pages that would allow someone to make their own. It pains me to suggest starting with micropython rather than javascript or C but I think that's probably the right thing to do.
Paul
On 28/09/2018 09:25, Jeremy Bennett wrote:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1
Hi all,
@here When I was young I learned a lot from "The Boys Book of Crystal Sets" (https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Bookshelf/Technology/Boys-Book-...) and the Ladybird book "Making a Transistor Radio" (https://archive.org/details/MakingATransistorRadio-LadybirdBook/page/n0).
These are largely unusable today, primarily because you cannot get 500pF air spaced variable capacitors (they come up second hand on eBay sometimes at a price, but with little guarantee about actual capacitance values). Plus they are dependent on germanium technology, although that is accessible at least for the diodes.
I have a 10 year old nephew who is very keen on electronics. I'd like to introduce him to the same sort of projects. Any suggestions what the modern equivalent would be?
Thanks,
Jeremy
Tel: +44 (1590) 610184 Cell: +44 (7970) 676050 SkypeID: jeremybennett Twitter: @jeremypbennett Email: jeremy.bennett@embecosm.com Web: www.embecosm.com PGP key: 1024D/BEF58172FB4754E1 2009-03-20 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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