new-home

The January 09 Newsletter is out and includes the following: "Radio on a Stick," by D.L. Baker, WØXI's new "Circuit Tidbits" column - with a bit on op-amp inductors, "An RF Tuner" project by H. Kranz, member correspondence, "Monitoring Our Acoustic Cousins," by Phil, WØXI, and the Dayton Twenty-Minute Xtalset. Click on the membership/newsletter link at left to subscribe and enjoy!

DXing - listening to far off stations - has long been a part of the crystal set experience. Dxers strive to pull out those weak signals generally not audible with a beginner set. Optimizing a set for DXing requires a better antenna, higher impedance (hi-Q) coils and diodes, and more sensitive and matched headphones. See our technical artiles pages for a flavor of this aspect of the hobby.

Nearly 5,000 US radio stations occupy the AM and Extended AM bands: 530-1600 & 1600-1700. View our The Broadcast Band article for details.

See the Radio Logbook. It's great for keeping a list of those stations copied, including frequency, time, date, equipment, and ionospheric conditions.

Crystalfest 2008 was held Oct 25-26 in Cave Springs, AR, just south of Bentonville, in NW Arkansas. Click to see some great rigs pictured!

See our brief Dayton report and Dayton Flat Ferrite Pack Special!

Check out the QEX article "A Great Teacher: The Crystal Set," by WØXI, posted on the article-index page, as a download. The QEX article is courtesy ARRL.

To order call 405-517-7347

You are visitor #:

Crystal Sets? Yup, you’ve found an entire site about building Crystal Sets. The Society has been growing since 1991; still, some people are flabbergasted to find an entire society dedicated to Crystal Set radios or "Xtal Sets". One web surfer e-mailed, "I was so excited to find your site that I fell off my chair! "The Xtal Set Society publishes a newsletter and numerous books, all of which you can find more information about on this site. A listing of newsletter articles from 1993 through 2007 can be found on the Technical Articles Page. Click on the earphones to browse and enjoy our site. --Patricia, The Crystal Queen Mum, Editor, Xtal Society News. Site last updated 01-05-08.

Welcome beginners! You'll find links to FAQs, science fair suggestions, and introductory articles on the article-index page. Click on the links in the left-hand column.

Changes are announced for the Crystal Set and 1AD 2009 contests by Jack, KE4ID. Go to the Rap-N-Tap Club House Forum for details. This forum - sponsored by the Xtal Set Society - has 1,060 members and an archived history of 45,047 posts since 1995.

Evan's Set

The set pictured above is Evan's (NØGMR) 2008 DX winner, using high-Q caps, reduction drives, and Litz wire basketweave coils. See the Crystalfest 2008 link for an enlargement.

The new XS-801 joins the list of kits. It's an ideal transition for those who've finished a starter kit and desire to learn more and hear more stations. Features include a built-in antenna match, large 4.2 inch diameter by 3.7 inch long close wound #18 wire coil, and predrilled 8 by 10 chassis and 6 by 10 panel. vol 12&13

Crystal Radio Projects, Vol 12 & 13, is chucked full of fun projects. Pictured on the front is the "Modern Morgan." Check out this volume of the newsletter, along with our other books in our Midnight Science Bookstore.

Check out the "Big Galena Crystal".

Introducing our Ultrasonic Receiver Kit, the Ultra-RX1. You can DX the alien nations - insects, rodents, bats - in the 35 to 45 kHz ultrasound band. Signals emitted across species vary from single tones to chatter with a rich mix of harmonics and pulses.

ultra rx1

See our 365 variable cap with 8:1 built-in reduction drive and the stand-alone 6:1 reduction drive on the parts page. Reduction drives gear down the rate the capacitor plates move relative to the knob motion.

Update 12-18-08, the Mounting Bracket for the 6:1 reduction drive, RD1, now has a cousin, RD2 that fits not only the 365 and 365:8-1 caps but also the 365 dual-gang capacitor with trimmers. See the picture on the parts page.

Our Oat Box Radio Kit is a favorite, a great place to start for newcomers. Click on the link above to download the plans, updated 05/01/08. Order via the Kits page.

New 8-Step Attenuator Kit available. Ideal with generator & meter/scope to measure coil Q. Trap Coil Q Measurement Method outlined in downloadable pdf file.

step attenuator