Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Cut 50 feet of magnet wire. Magnet wire is coated in an insulated enamel that must be removed to make an electrical connection. Scrape a quarter inch of enamel of the end of the wire. Wrap the magnet wire around the pencil leaving the bare end close to the eraser end.
Cut one ear bud from the set of headphones. Leave as much wire attached to the ear bud as possible. Strip the end of the wire attached to the ear bud. There are two conductors in the ear bud wire. Tape the diode to one conductor. Attach the diode so the marked end is pointed away from the ear bud. Tape the conductor to the hex nut.
Cut 10 feet of magnet wire for the ground connection. Strip the enamel from both ends. Tape one end of this wire to the hex nut.
Cut a 3 foot length of wire for the antenna. Scrape the enamel from one end. Tape this wire, the free end of the diode and the wire wound around the pencil to the eraser clip.
Slide the hex nut over the coil of wire wrapped around the pencil several times. Sliding the nut will scrape the insulation off of the wire, providing an electrical contact. Attach the loose end of the ground connection to a faucet, radiator or other metal plumbing fixtures with tape.
Listen to the radio through the ear bud. If you do not hear anything, slide the nut over the pencil. The frequency of the radio is determined by where the nut is on the coil of wire.