The Ferrite Ferret
TRF AM receiver
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The Ferrite Ferret.
This is a great AM radio, built around a TA7642 AM radio chip.
Its name is a play on the "Ferrite Fox". (see below) |
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It's small and portable. If this web page were a radio magazine from
the
1930s
it would say you can take it camping, or take it on your
bicycle. |
It ferrets out radio waves very well. It even
picked up the digital
camera when it came close (sounds like a whistling tea kettle).
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From the top. Doesn't look like much here but it works very
well. I can take it camping and on my bicycle. |
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View from the back.
The coil is the simplest part, but one of the most important parts of the
radio. This one is wound on a plastic cap from a highlighter.
Why not just wind it directly on the ferrite rod, and what's that little
white thing on the left side of the coil? Stay tuned.
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This project started with the building of a Ferrite Fox. What is a Ferrite Fox?
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The Ferrite Fox, version #5 built by "Night Flyer". Read about it
here.
This is the most serious rendition of a TA7642 or MK484 based radio I've
found.Built on a printed circuit board and mounted in a plastic
enclosure, you can take it camping or on your bicycle. |
This guy, in 1933, took his version of the Ferrite Ferrite
on a canoe!
It's an AC tube set
modified to work on batteries. What is the first thing he
did with it? He grabbed his bicycle, rode to his camping
spot and got into a canoe with it. Tube radios and water are
a good mix. So are long pants and a tie when you capsize
your canoe. Is that Ralph Nader?
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For anyone interested in building a TA7642 or MK484 based radio, the
next few pages
will show some of the building of this one, and a few tips you won't find
anywhere else. |
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