Radio frequencies constantly saturate the air around us, carrying signals that broadcast music, information and controls for electronics and toys. You can build a simple receiver that will pick up the signal coming from a radio frequency, or RF, transmitter. Otherwise known as a radio, the receiver consists of a few simple parts, some of which can be found around your own home. With some trial and error, you can develop an RF receiver that will be tuned in to the transmitters and broadcast signals of your choice.

Instructions:

1.Punch four holes in the side of your sturdy plastic bottle, such as a shampoo bottle, with a nail. There will be two sets, one located near the top and one near the bottom. The holes in each set will be spaced about a half-inch apart running parallel to the top and bottom of the bottle.

2.Thread one end of your magnet wire through the top two holes and pull about 8 inches through.

3.Wind the long end of the wire tightly around the bottle, making sure each wrap touches the wind before it. After every five winds of the wire, wrap a small loop around a pencil or pen so that you will have a series of small loops that stand out from the other windings. These are called wire taps (see reference 1). Continue winding in this pattern until you reach the bottom of the bottle. Remove the pen or pencil from the smaller windings.

4.Thread the end of the wire through the holes punched in the bottom of the bottle. Use wire cutters or a sharp knife to strip both free ends of the wire as well as the wire taps of vinyl coating to reveal the bare magnet wire underneath. Do not strip any coating from the wire wrapped around the bottle.

5.Solder a Germanium diode to the wire end at the bottom of the bottle.

6.Cut and strip off one end of a telephone cord to reveal the four inner wires. Locate the yellow and blue wires---the wires that are used to transmit the audio signal in the handset---and solder one to the free end of the Germanium diode. Wire the other to the wire end at the top of the bottle. The color wire you attach to each end will not matter, as you are simply completing a circuit. Connect the uncut end of the cord to a telephone handset.

7.Ground the radio receiver by clipping an alligator jumper to a bare portion of the wire coming from the top of the bottle. Clip the free end to a solid piece of metal with a good connection to the earth, such as a pipe.

8.Clip one end of an alligator jumper to between 50 feet and 100 feet of standard insulated wire. This will act as an antenna. Connect the free end of this jumper to one of the bare coil taps on the bottle. You should now be able to hear radio stations coming through the telephone handset. The coil tap the jumper is connected to will determine the station. You may need to adjust the antenna or string it to a high point such as a tree branch to get a clear signal.

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