Cats Whisker Radio

The device at top is the radios cats whisker detector. Cats whisker detector the was called the cats whisker detector because in the original crystal radios the has a tiny metal not always copper touching a semi conducting mineral. The leaf springs and thumbscrew allow fine adjustment of the pressure of the needle on the crystal.
cat's whisker radio

In the 1940s the cats whisker gave way to the sealed crystal with fixed wires commonly called a diode.

Cats whisker radio. The cats whisker detector succeeded for almost 15 years before less finicky vacuum tubes supplanted them. Our new ultimate crystal radio kit comes with an authentic cats whisker diode which is what was used in the original crystal radio sets. Also called the crystal detector it was an iconic component used in many early radio equipments. From about 1920 onwards radio receivers made use of newly developed circuits and.

Today many cats whisker or crystal detectors sets can be seen on the antique and collectors market. Many of these crystal sets were sold as complete radios but there was also a booming market in kits and the components. Crystal radio cats whisker sets. The cats whisker detector is one of the most iconic components used in early radio sets.

Semiconductor rectifiers patented as cats whisker detectors radio pioneer jagadis chandra bose patents the use of a semiconductor crystal rectifier for detecting radio waves. Im sure there is other kinds of detectors out there but i couldnt find them. A cats whisker diode is the old time version of a modern semiconductor diode. There was an enormous variety of crystals sets or cats whisker radios that were manufactured for the domestic market in the 1920s once radio broadcasting had become established.

Military and economic forces behind early 1900s radio made huge contributions to semiconductor research. Swedish crystal radio from 1922 made by radiola with earphones. As the first commercial semiconductor device the cats whisker radio moved semiconductors into the home. Galena cat whisker detector used in early crystal radio precision crystal detector with iron pyrite crystal used in commercial wireless stations 1914.

The crystal detector required manual adjustment of the cats whisker to find a hot spot on the crystal that provided the best radio wave detection. A second pair of earphone jacks is provided. This small wire was similar to a cats whisker. 1970s era arrow crystal radio marketed to children.

Many people made their own radios at home. The crystal is inside the metal capsule under the vertical needle right.