Dalton , you might be able to hear KCJJ. Steady but sometimes low audio after 3 UT tonight here in Va @ 293 degrees NW. Heart tune at 0352

Hey Dalton,

FWIW, I have copied WHO,KXEL and KCJJ here in MA.

With you being that much further West than me, it should ( in theory) be that much easier for you in PA.

K

I will give it a shot tomorrow night.

Thanks, K!

12/1/22

03:24 UTC

750 Khz

WSB a.m., Atlanta Ga.

News talk

Signal - 5/9

Clear channel 50,000 watts

QRB- 800 miles

RCVR- Honda Odyssey car radio

Left the Panasonic on KCJJ all night , continued past 1233 UTC ( sun up + 28 min).
playing Annie Lennox/ why at 1233 UTC.
Briefly just before dawn the Texas station on 1630 may have appeared , two males talking no id could be heard.

Can also hear neighbors apparently clicking on appliances and noisemakers as they get up

Overseas stations on 21 MHz at 1220 UTC BBC 2x , Radio France2x ,China, only Radio Romania in English good copy all with low noise

Hey All,

Cold dry Weather, but mediocre conditions .Mr. Ionosphere not really smiling on me :

0100 local, quick scan

No sign of CMLA /CTOM-1 on 640.
WSB 750 up and down , mostly down.
WHAS 840 , same.
KDKA 1020 no sign ( sorry Dalton )
CKDO 1580 usual signal : up down , fluttery ,noisy partially usable

X band overall fair or worse only WRCR 1700 NYC delivered a reasonable and steady signal ( in some noise)

K

12/2/22

01:20 UTC

1660 KHz

WTOU a.m., Kalamazoo! MI (a.m. stereo)

Adult contemporary music.

Fading and mixing with Spanish language station.

1000 watts nighttime

Signal - 2/4

RCVR- Panasonic RF-2200

WNIS 790 kHz Commanders Vs Giants
Crystal Radio with trap and 386 chip
https://youtu.be/RbNXDgOBfzk

I had WBZ and WWVA plainly on it last night .

It sounds great, davep!

Nice work!

Thanks Dalton , it doesn’t have a decent ground right now it’s on a second floor with no ground in the sockets, the rest of the house has grounding. They skipped over this room remodel? I ran a wire out clipped on to a shovel stuck in the ground and does ok although it can do better!

LOL very creative ground!

Can I use that, or is it patented?

There’s another step - back fill the hole with kitty litter , seriously.

Crystal Radio WBZ 1030 kHz
Great copy tonight at 0050 utc

https://youtu.be/mU2RoB7uAjI

03:00 UTC AM broadcast sounding really good here tonight, in each direction. Anyone else getting better than usual conditions this evening?

03:18 UTC WBBR 1130 KHZ New York, NY "Bloomberg Radio " 50 kW full time, but beams their signal away from the south to protect KWKH Shreveport, LA. They use a four tower array in Carlstadt,NJ overnight. Don't know if I've ever heard them down here. Copy is fair to weak. They broadcast a financial business related format.
Zenith Royal 74 ( the brown one)

Hey A,

Z, My conditions have been crummy lately, maybe things have finally opened up as of tonight.At work until 2330 EST, will scan BCB when I get home.
I never bother checking prop numbers anymore, “ what you hear is what you hear� ( or not hear).

Dave, I saw video - NICE! Please describe your set up : from video, looks like a variable coupling set , can’t tell if antenna coil is series or parallel tuning. Assuming det and trap are typical parallel tuned.

BZ is a sky wave biggie , but , again fairly crummy on ground wave at any appreciable distance. But very close in , here in the IMMEDIATE Boston area, it’s a heat lamp !

Your Antenna set up ?

As you probably already know ,some options are experimentally available to the “ return� side: no connection at all (“ maybe “) , low counter poise, high “counter poise� as a “second “antenna / dipole, earth rods, buried wires ( insulated or bare), maybe techniques/ substances to lower ground resistance etc, etc. LOTS can be done on the cold side.

OR “the old shovel stuck in the ground trick “ ( ha ha)

Looks like you may have the 386 audio preamp feeding a computer speaker- HONKING loud audio.Crystal set audio can be the best of all .

So, details if you can please, “ Inquiring Rock Heads Want to Know “

K

I'll try it!

My cat endorses it!

Yes, but a bit hampered by rain and fog at my QTH

Here you go K. It evolved out of about a dozen I made. Not sure what to call it. It’s just a basic set with a trap for the whole thing.
With everything set off like that I can use any antenna ( 35 feet random on this) and doesn’t effect the freq range. The more power off the antenna the better the trap works , etc.. Selectivity is very good and often an adjacent station can be isolated with the trap .
It’s easy to go by stations until you develop the two hand technique.
The 386 op amp is made by EL Kit and discontinued far as I know - it’s the best sounding I’ve tried. In the vids it’s hooked to a 4 inch sp behind the coils. I have a vol cobbled in - some of the boards now include them.
It gets all locals and some steady 50 k at night. Many stations can be heard although often audio is too low for id or come and go . Batteries are the way to go , although the 386 will eat up a 9 volt in short order, I have it on an adjustable transformer wall wart , has a small hum I can live with.
And yes, the sound quality of a Crystal radio is very pleasing , not hi fi but pleasant and unprocessed
This set can be improved, this one was just to test designs , so with better coils and grounds etc maybe a little better but there’s that
pesky law of much more effort, diminishing returns. Easy advice to anyone is buy a quantity of diodes and test each one in the circuit, not all are the same.

Hey All,

Dave, Cool schematic,it's really nice to get dx on a crystal set .Generally this type of set is more or less know as a Tuggle circuit.

I have used the same architecture for many years now : Antenna coil ( usually parallel tuned, but with an option for series tuning in ant lead ground lead or maybe even both ). Ant coil is in variable coupling to the det coil.

A detector coil, parallel tuned.

Det coil alternative wiring trials : gnd only on det coil's cold end .(ant coil only has the antenna lead, AKA floating ground from det cold to actual ground).
Or bond det cold end to ant coil's gnd .

Trap Parallel tuned in variable coupling to the det coil .

Overall physical layout : Basically the det coil sits still in the middle while the other two coils pulled in or out. This layout can work VERY well even at moderate level building techniques and moderate grade components, on a good A/G.

Way back in the day, my super duper go bananas big 660/46 litz crystal set had a VERY high Q , so a trap wasn't needed.Got all KINDS of Dx.20 Kc separation always , no matter HOW strong , and often 10 Kc. This rig and big outdoor antenna long gone .

Rainy bad weather here last night and also tired, so crashed out. I will wait for clear weather (if THAT actually helps or not ).

K

Thanks for sharing the cool specs, radio brother!

That looks like a well thought out circuit!

Things are wet and foggy here in NW Pa. but the sci numbers are going to be in the triple digits all week!

Going to haul my huge 1960 bi-amp operational Philips upstairs tomorrow and see what results I get.

Going to sack out now, great sleep weather!