Now that is very cool. DIY galena!

My brother was 3 years older than me and I was 4 years older than my younger sister all three of us would listen to the crystal we had three earphones plugged into the one Crystal set every night at 10:00 Monday through Friday. The radio program you listen to was only on for 15 minutes a night it was called I love a mystery . With Actors Jack,Doc, Reggie. We listened to the Crystall. Set then we had to go to sleep right afterward we had to go to. Sleep we had School next day. We really enjoyed the crystal set. Years later my husband and I made Crystal sets for the children when they were little and we listened to it. My late husband used to say they used to listen to the crystal sets . They put earphones in a bowl and with magnify the volume and it really sit around listening to the crystal set. We all enjoyed the crystal set

You are welcome.

You are welcome. You can find additional interesting videos about crystals by searching "Galena Crystal Radio" on KZfaq. Dave

Thanks for your comments. It's fun to experiment with different things, instead of Arduinios and Raspberry Pis all the time Dave, Apple Valley, CA

Amazingly, there are still people poking around with razor blades and other materials to make diodes. Did you pursue electronics in your career?

Nice to hear from you. I'm not quite sure where salt comes in. But adding salt to the grounding rod would probably improve conductivity.

You are welcome.

Lucius, Thanks for your comment. I didn't notice your response until just today. Dave

Go for it.

Victor Mike, I didn't notice your comment until today. Sorry. I regret that I didn't cover the history of xtal radios and present-day collectors better in the article. There were some real beauties back then. I was amazed at all the configurations that were available. BTW, I'm currently working on an article about vintage rectifier tubes, like the 866A, 5U4, 1B3, etc. I have a few questions about them that perhaps you could answer. I also have a photo of the tubes that I would like to send to you. Would that be possible? Thanks. Dave

Glad you liked it. Long live the crystal radio.

Now that's freaking interesting

I think I sent you the dimensions earlier today. Please let me know if you haven't received them. Dave

@@goodsell1322 Dave, I didn't get them.

I don't see a way to attach the drawings. Would you please contact me at dsgoodsell@verizon.net and I'll send them directly to you.

My experience is limited to this one crystal set. It seemed like the sensitivity was about the same for the 1N34A diode or the Galena crystal. As for selectivity, that is probably more a function of the resonant circuit, not the detector. You might contact some of the more serious crystal set people on KZfaq to get a more detailed answer. Thanks for your inquiry.

@@goodsell1322 I don't see other videos of people using the cat whisker Just yourself Thanks reply !

@@uncleruckus4060 Dave Goodsell here. Cat whisker crystals were around long before semiconductor diodes. Early crystal sets usually used some type of natural crystal as a detector. But when germanium diodes became available, they were used in hobby sets because they were easier to handle. However, cat whisker crystals are still popular with serious crystal set collectors and experimenters. Poking around a natural mineral to receive radio signals has a certain magic to it.

Howdy Bob, Thanks for your inquiry. The answer to your question is that it does not matter which way the tuning capacitor is mounted: up, down or on its front, back or side. It will perform electrically the same in all orientations. That said, catalogs tend to show variable capacitors with the rotating plates at the top, because they look better that way. I think the designer of the Allied Crystal Set rotated it “upside down” so brackets could be used to adapt the tapped holes in the front of the capacitor to wood screws in the wooden base. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Dave

Yes I know that it doesn’t matter just was curious but now after looking more closely at your set I may see the reason. I remember my dad built me one back in the early 50’s I believe he used a vertical Bakelite coil form with a few taps and the cat whisker I wore it out over the years until I bought my first 6 transistor Mitsubishi radio.

@@pchts1 Greg, I too have fond memories of my Dad helping me build a crystal set. Regarding the orientation, the variable capacitor has three tapped holes on the front, two at the "top" and one at the "bottom." I suspect that the designer flipped it over so two brackets would make it more stable than using the single hole at the bottom. Dave

@@goodsell1322 When the capacitor is mounted upside down there is less likelihood of damage to plates. Some younger people handle things like bulls in the china shop.

I think the word "whisker" is more of a descriptive term in this case. It needs to be made of a conductive material to transmit the signal.

@@goodsell1322 No, you used to be able to by 'whisker' wire to wrap on that spring.

Okay, I stand corrected. Thank you for your input.

That spring is the "Whisker". Admittedly it's a little coarse. A finer wire would be better.