The Hamberg Radio
The radio is a simple slider crystal set. Headphones need to be high impedance type such as WE 509w's etc. The radio came with Hamburg Brother headphone when new. Even a crystal earphone can be used. It uses a galena crystal and a catswisker, but you can move the catswisker off to one side and put a 1n34 type diode from the galenas holder to the catswisker to make it simple to run. Note: a galena crystal and a catswisker do the same thing as a diode will. Just make sure it is a germanium type diode and not a silicon type diode. The catswisker can be tricky to adjust while trying to get a station at the same time. The problem is you don't know if the catswisker is not adjusted right or if you are not tuned to a station. This is why I recommend a diode especially for a beginner. Once it is running with the diode and a station is heard, you can remove the diode and try to adjust the the catswisker on the galena crystal to bring in the same radio station. Antenna should be as long a wire outside and as high as you can get it. Ideally it would be 200 to 300' long and 50 feet in the air, but most people can't do that. 50' up 10 feet in the air will work on this set. I've seen it run on 20' taped to the inside wall of a house. and work. Just not very well. Ground can be a water pipe. Ideally it would be a copper rod pounded in the ground 10 to 15" deep. But again not practical for most. A water pipe works OK. |