It was Christmas 1959. 140 Wentworth St. It started my lifetime love affair with the Radio! I'd connect the ground wire of my Red Rocket Crystal Radio to the metal finger stop of the rotary desk phone in the front bedroom where we kids had beds! This gave me booming signals to tune in with the needle of the Rocket !
At a very young age I realized there was a world out there waiting for me to tune into! Although WTMA blasted in loudly and bleed across the band due to the poor selectivity of the frontend, a glass diode and a ferrous core coil! (There may have been a capacitor resistor that would make sense)
This simple device intrigued me and set my life's course in 3 major ways! First, I became addicted to that ear plug device in my ear pumping in the World all through the night! ( as i write this i have an ear bud in listening to WABC NY replay of this morning's Imus in the Morning.)
Second, not long afterward I discovered WTMA's Mutual Radio Network overnight TALK! Yes Matthew there was life before FOX news! I learned about politics and every sort of cool stuff!
Third, I just had to know how the thing worked and I can be 100% sure my little Red Rocket Crystal Radio started, for better or worse, my career in Electronics both consumer years and my years as a biomedical electronics tech and still today!
Thanks Al for sharing! What an early morning trip down memory lane! And since i can't sleep still its back to my pocket android SirrusXM streaming device!!!!!
