A sun-powered transistor amplifier
makes this a—
By D. S. Halacy Jr.
T
HIS tiny radio puts satellite tech-
nology in the palm of your hand.
Like radios in artificial moons, it's
powered by the sun—or any other light.
Basically, it's a 1960-model crystal set.
A rugged sealed-in-glass diode has re-
placed the shaky catwhisker and galena
crystal. The usually faint crystal-set sig-
Author Halacy is an expert on the. sun. A
couple of years ago he wrote Fabulous Fire-
ball, a book that tells the story of the sun and
solar energy. Last fall. Macmillan also pub-
lished his Fun with the Sun. a book describ-
ing how to make seven solar-energy projects
at home. The present, article is an outgrowth
of his research for the latter book.
170 POPULAR SCIENCE JANUARY 1960
LIGHT-POWERED RADIO plays indoors
under artificial light, too. Perform-
ance is boosted by connecting antenna
to TV aerial or telephone-dial finger
stop; a short length of wire, with al-
ligator clips at the ends, helps.
nal is magnified many times by a tran-
sistor, in turn powered by a high-efficiency
silicon solar cell.
This unit—and other parts—can prob-
ably be obtained locally for less than five
dollars. All are standard parts, stocked
by most retail and mail-order shops. In a
pinch you can substitute the less-efficient
International Rectifier B2M selenium
cell for the quarter-round section of a
Hoffman silicon solar battery.
First steps. Best place to begin con-
struction is with the case for the radio—
a small plastic box. You may find one in
the medicine chest or at the druggist's.
Start the necessary holes with a hot ice
pick, then file or ream to size Keep try-
ing the part as you enlarge the hole, to
insure a snug fit.
The case can be painted or left trans-
parent. The one pictured has a finish of
Day-Glo spray paint, applied to the out-
side of the case. The paint softened the
plastic slightly and created a wrinkled
finish.
The hinged top is left clear and a piece
of painted bond paper cut to fit inside.
This paper was lettered, and cut to accept
the dial shaft and solar battery. The
lettering is pure whim—there's no trade-
mark or commercial name.
After painting, go ahead with the as-
sembly. Set the antenna mounting base
through the bottom hole, put on the nut,
cut off excess threads, and file smooth.
Add a 6-32 screw and nut to the other
side if you expect the radio to stand up.
Condenser and battery. Install the
tuning condenser in the hinged top by
first removing the dial and the small
flathead screws. Remove both hex nuts;
use one on the outside to hold the con-
denser in place. Then mount the dial and
twist the silver center screw thumb tight.
Place the solar battery in position over
the opening in the bond paper, and fasten
it in place with a strip of cellophane tape.
Bend the loopstick mounting bracket
as shown, snap the loopstick in place, and
fasten the bracket with a 6-32 screw and
[Continued on page 230]
 Space-Age Crystal Set
[Continued from page 171]
nut. Install the phone jack, and the radio
is ready for wiring.
Use stranded hookup wire; it can take
the flexing imposed by opening and
closing the case.
Pitfalls for amateurs. The wiring
shown in the drawing is straightforward
and follows the circuit schematic. If
you're familiar with electronic wiring,
you'll probably find some short cuts. If
you're a beginner, stick to the diagram.
If you run into trouble, don't hesitate to
remove the parts, do the soldering out-
side, and then replace them.
Use care when soldering the diode and
transistor—excess heat will damage them.
Sidestep part of the risk by soldering to
the lugs of a transistor socket, then slip-
ping the transistor in place. You'll have
to clip the transistor's leads to make it fit.
Bend the diode's leads to fit before
soldering it between the base of the tran-
sistor and the loopstick.
Close the case when you've finished
soldering, plug in the earphone, and lis-
ten. There's no on-off switch: The battery
never wears out.
You should pick up stations at their
proper position on the dial as indicated
by the point of the battery or a dot on
the lid. If the calibration is too far off,
make a hole in the end of the case in line
with the slotted screw on the loopstick.
Turning this screw one way or the other
will shift the stations enough to align
the dial.
Outdoors, you'll find you don't have to
point the Solar Mite at the sun—there is
plenty of incident light for satisfactory
operation. Keep the whip upright for
maximum volume.
For stronger signals. Touching the
silver center of the tuning dial may give
you a stronger signal, since your body
acts as a ground. Also try wetting your
finger before touching the dial.
While the Solar Mite will play on the
whip antenna, for peak performance con-
nect the whip to your TV antenna. If
you don't have an outdoor antenna of
any kind, clip a lead on the finger stop of
a telephone dial. You'll find that the
radio works well enough to bring in a
strong station even in the dark—acting
as a crystal set without the help of its
transistor amplifier.