A homemade point contact diode
January 6th, 2010
You might have other things around the house that can act as diodes. Move the pencil lead around on the razor until the sound is loudest, or the meter reads highest. The safety pin acts as a spring to lightly press the pencil lead onto the razor. The pencil lead is attached to a safety pin by wrapping it with bare copper wire and soldering it. We can replace our store-bought am fm headphones diode with a homemade point contact diode and compare the results. The soldiers found that an old rusty razor blade and a pencil lead worked just fine. However, it is surprising to find out just how many ordinary objects can act as a diode, letting current flow one way better than another.
Entry Filed under: Technology