[Boatanchors] Strange Question Antenna

[Al Klase]

Keith,

Schemes like that can work.  You'll probably need to tune an antenna to 
the strongest signal to get maximum energy.

The late crystal-set maven (and excellent electrical engineer and 
captain of industry) Ben Tongue did it this way.
He used the DC output of his detector to charge a super capacitor, 
sometimes over night.  Then he used the DC from the cap to run a low 
voltage op-amp to boost his audio.  Ben was in Upper Montclair, NJ where 
signal were strong.

My experience is that biasing a germanium diode is a fools errand.  
You'll only get a little improvement.  It's better to look for a more 
sensitive headset, and maybe build a double-tuned radio.  See My Page: 
http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/xtal/xtal.htm

Al

ARK Sig Block Al Klase - N3FRQ
Jersey City, NJ
http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/
On 8/12/2022 11:05 AM, Keith Densmore wrote:
> OK, here goes. Has anyone tried to use their shortwave antenna as a DC
> voltage source? By that, I mean rectifying ALL the energy coming into the
> antenna via a step up transformer, diode rectifier and charging, smoothing
> capacitor or small battery?
> Reason for asking--My zero power crystal radio has a germanium diode with a
> forward bias of about .3 volts. Can an untuned antenna generate that much
> voltage to forward bias the diode and therefore increase its sensitivity?
> Thought I would ask before I experiment.
> Thanks, Keith
> ve3gem
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