Hi all

Cam someone please help me with a query I have about an old crystal set I
used to own.

When I first came to live in Melbourne (1970s) my parents purchased for me a
small crystal set.at a local, now long gone, toy store. As I recall the set
was manufactured in England although I may be wrong on this point.

It was housed in a small plastic box (red?) and from memory was about 2
inches long and maybe an inch wide and high.

Inside the box was a small wound coil (about 1/4" diameter) around a thin
cardboard tube. There was a ferrite rod inside this which could be slid back
and forth within the tube by means of a small rod that stuck out of the end
of the ferte rod and protruded from the end of the box. This was used for
tuning stations. There was also a piece of wire coming from the box with an
alligator clip on the end. This was the antenna and by attaching it to a
long piece of wire one could receive stations. There was also another piece
of twin wire protruduing from the box which went to a crystal earpiece so
that you could listen to stations.

Aside from this I think there were only two other components - a diode and a
capacitor as I recall which formed the crystal set circuit. Unfortunately
the set is now lost after so many years.

This was my first introduction to radio and despite moving on to bigger
radios and getting my ham license, this example of a crystal set has always
stuck in my mind as being a particularly simple but efficient example of
electrical engineering. I now have a young son of my own and would like very
much to buy one of these sets.

Does anyone know who manufactured these sets and whether they are still
available to be purchased?

cheers Peter VK3PB