Tarnished Silver as a Crystal Radio Detector

A fully tarnished, shiny black silver artefact was tried out as a detector in place of the germanium transistor in my series-tuned, shunt-fed crystal radio.

Series-tuned Shunt-fed Crystal Radio - Schematic

Fortunately the presence of an untarnished spot facilitated the metal to metal connection.

A length of pencil 'lead' was used to probe the tarnished portion to locate the 'sweet spot'.

The local 612 kHz, 200 kW AM broadcast station, just 20 km away, was received quite well using a 60' wire antenna and balanced-armature phones. Headphone current, measured using a 1mA FSD 60 Ω meter, was 300 μA as compared to 750 μA with the germanium transistor and 50 μA with a razor blade as the detector. 

It was a confirmation of the shiny black tarnish being silver sulphide (a semiconductor).

A silver coin, stored in a plastic pouch and tarnished a dull grey, in its failure to detect, indicated that its tarnish was silver oxide (a good conductor of electricity).

Related post: Foxhole Radio Detector Variants
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Carbon Microphone as a Crystal Radio Detector

A vintage telephone carbon microphone, which possesses multiple contacts between carbon granules and metal, was tried out as a detector, replacing the germanium transistor in my 

series-tuned, shunt fed crystal radio.

Vintage telephone carbon microphone

Series-tuned Shunt-fed Crystal Radio - Schematic

Its performance, after a bit of tapping, was as good as that of a razor blade detector (akin to moving the pencil or carbon contact on the razor blade to find the sweet spot).

Its performance improved considerably with a rundown button cell in series.

The carbon microphone behaviour was successfully simulated using two metal plates of size 8" x 8" x 1/16" with carbon granules salvaged from a discarded water filter.  

With one plate placed horizontally on the table, a thimbleful of carbon granules was distributed at the four corners and then sandwiched by the other plate. The top plate had to be moved to and fro to find the right spot.

During tests the signal strength was found to be fair with the specimen directly connected and very good with a rundown button cell connected in series with it.

Related post: Tarnished Silver as a Crystal Radio Detector

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