Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-04-28
The Best Way to Hook Up That Crystal Set

There are undoubtedly q great many
new enthusiasts who think that this
article should have come as the very
first one of the series. They've bought
a lot Of junk or had 1t given to them,
or they've seen it in the stores and
made up their minds they are going to
buy it, and they have been impatient
to know how to wire 1t together to get
the magic sounds Of the broadcasts.
l only want to say. for the benefit Of
these fans. that II they have on this
account skipped the articles which have
preceded this one. they had better go
back and read them first. There's no
use hooking up your set until you have
some idea what you're going to do
with it and the difficulties you are likely
to encounter.
We are going to start with the reg.
ular crystal detector set. We have al
ready learned that it isn't nearly 80
efficient or satisfactory as the audion
bulb. but 1t is within the reach Of any
pocketbook-which the bulb set is not.
And we have warned enthusiasts not
to expect results from crystal more
than Ave miles from broadcasting sta
ton. Right here. let it be admitted
that there are a lot Of amateurs who
are getting fun out Of crysta twenty.
five miles from the transmitter. And
n friend Of mine recently listened to q
band concert from nearly hundred
miles away with an ordinary telephone
receiver.
These things do happen sometimes.
| once sat listening to concert from
200 miles away. and, as my eyes glanced
over the set, I found that the aerial
connection had broken and I was hear
hn t,,t,u utp ,n.fth rtn1 ,k,N
These are the freak happenings Of
radio. They will occur once. but. try as
YOU will. you can never dup icate them.
So five miles is conservative estimate
for a crystal, and any one within that
distance can be fairly certain of getting
results night after night. If you are
within twenty five miles it Is worth
trying n crystal for Il great denl de-
pends on local conditions. Places within
a few miles Of each other will get
vastly different resu Is in wireless.
The accompanying hook-up is self
explanatory, and is the best for crystal
work. 1t employs several instruments
which you can use later when you in.
stall an audion bulb.
For purposes OF illustration, have
used loose coupler. but its place can
be taken by a vario.coup er. tapped
Ac'"uuHo paeAet Ut sPluer-Wep Coiis,
or small honeycomb coils. II your
honeycomb coils are not tapped, how
ever, you will have to use another
variable condenser and put It in the line
between where your aerial comes in
from outside and where it joins the
set or else between the set and the
ground.
Tapped coils are coils that have a
switch on a knob with a blade that can
be slid from one switch point to an
other. each point being so connected
that it includes extra turns of the wire
in the circuit. That is to tune" the
set to the wave 'ength Of the sending
station. The variable condenser shown
in the illustration does the tuning for
the part Of the circuit that includes
the crystal and the telephones. This
part Is called the secondary. The
primary circuit is the aerial. the part
OF the coupler to which it Is connected
condenser II you use one).
You can use any OF the standard
crystals in this circuit. but you will
toned "catwhisker" with good piece
( mineral that they ca ga'ena YOU
ought to be able to buy the catwhisker
md stand for fifty or seventv-five cents
and the piece of gnlena for a quarter.
You viii notice buzZer and push
| 'utton and battery in this diagram
That is a very essentia' part o. the hook
rp and Is used as tester to make sure
hat the fine wire of your catwhisker il
n a sensitive spot on the ga'ena.
In the next article we will explain
this test and also the process Of tuning
! in signals with this hook-up.
! Copyright. 1882, by Public Ledger Compo~,