Odd and Home-Made Radios

Dad built this radio as part of a contest held by a local Ham Radio club.

The object was to build a transceiver using as many junk box parts as possible. Entries were judged in several categories. Here's how dad did:

Appearance of coils = 10
Wiring = 7
Trim = 2
Ruggedness = 3
Use of components = 10
Simplicity = 5
Serviceability = 5

Dad also built a geiger counter using a GM tube, a 2N107 transistor amplifier, and a HV supply consisting of a penlite cell, pushbutton, audio output transformer, and a spark gap rectifier. I haven't been able to find it yet.

Here's a radio someone built into a soap dish, complete with three tubes, "A" and "B" batteries, and the loop antenna.

This used to be a Sentinel table radio, until I modified it. I did a lot of tinkering with this set, and the latest change was to make the entire set work off 6 VAC, using a step-up transformer for the B+.

This is the chassis from an old TRF set that dad was using in the garage. It needs some work.

You might notice that the wiper on the volume control pot is not wired. In the regular TRF sets, the wiper lead was connected to the mounting bushing, because the wiper went to ground. One end of the pot went to the RF and detector cathodes, and the other end went to the antenna. As the volume was turned up, the cathode resistance was decreased, and the resistive shunt across the antenna was increased.

Some people doodle when they're bored. One night, I built a radio.

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