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Philmore VC-1000 Crystal Set |
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Box top of the Philmore VC-1000 crystal radio
kit. |
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How it looked when it was new (photo from
Worthpoint).
The description "Earphone With Headband" agrees with the drawing
on the box, but it came with a crystal earplug.
This might have been a cost cutting measure. Later kits
didn't even come in a box, they were in a blister pack. |
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This radio was given to me by a fellow
crystal set fan named Vic Rodriguez.
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The radio only has three parts. A coil, a
variable capacitor, and a 1N34A crystal diode.
It works very well for a radio consisting of three
parts!
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The drawing on the base is a self-adhesive sticker
supplied with the kit.
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The crystal diode is
original to the kit, though it doesn't match the picture on the box. |
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At one time the diode was this style. |
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The prewound coil consists of 80 turns #24
enameled wire, with a tap at turn 25, on a 2" diameter
cardboard tube. |
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Recreated self-adhesive template.
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| Entry from the
1960 Philmore catalog. |
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The picture of the radio on the box is from the
1950s and didn't match what came in the box. |
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| This is how the original
circuit was wired. Notice the "chicken head" knob. |
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The 1955 circuit and the 1965 circuit. Which works
better? We'll have to try both in order to find out. |
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This box is from 1955. |
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Steve Mark listening in with his VC-1000. Photo taken around 1965
by his brother, Cary. |
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Eventually they did away with the box
and replaced it with this shrink-wrapped abomination. The
Inwood, NY address dates this to sometime after 1970.
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coil is wound on a block of wood. The drawing of the kid on
the card looks like he uses the word "Dolp" when he begins a
sentence. "BUILD YOUR
OWN SOLID STATE RADIO" is a marketing gimmick to make a kid
think this thing will rival a transistor radio.
What is the
hank of black wire for? It looks too short to be used for an
antenna but maybe that's what it is. |
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A brief demonstration. |
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| Note: Some of these pictures were
harvested from the Internet. The potential
copyright infringement and fiducial
responsibility, both present and hereditary, have been disregarded with antipathy.
Intellectual property rights of current owners and
future heirs, not as of yet conceived or imagined,
have been nonchalantly ignored.
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