POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Crystal radio set made by Western Electric Co. Ltd, England, c.1923

Object No. K360

A crystal set was the simplest form of radio as it needed no power source to receive signals. A typical set comprised an aerial, a detector, a tuner and an audio output, normally an earpiece. The aerial was usually a piece of long wire. Greenleaf Pickard (1877-1956) was a pioneer in the early days of wireless. He experimented with methods of receiving radio signals, using mineral crystals to filter out noise in the signal. After testing more than 30,000 combinations of materials he finally patented his 'crystal detector' in 1906. This featured a crystal of silicon that was later connected to a radio circuit via a fine, sharp piece of wire known as a 'cat's whisker'. Crystal radio sets were popular in the early 1920s when the cost of radios was considerable and radio broadcasting had just began involving expensive licences. After radios became more common crystal sets continued to be made by boys as a hobby for some decades. Challoner, Jack, (edit) '1001 Inventions That Changed the World', New Burlington Books, London, 2009, p.538 Margaret Simpson, Curator