Crystal radio receiver

Made:
circa 1923 in Salford
'Goltone' crystal radio receiver, made by Ward & Goldstone Ltd Headphones for 'Goltone' crystal radio receiver Headphones for 'Goltone' crystal radio receiver

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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'Goltone' crystal radio receiver, made by Ward & Goldstone Ltd
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Headphones for 'Goltone' crystal radio receiver
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Headphones for 'Goltone' crystal radio receiver
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

'Goltone' crystal radio receiver, made by Ward & Goldstone Ltd, Salford, c.1923.

Crystal sets such as this were some of the first publicly available radios. They could be made at home or purchased ready built, like this example. Because the technology was so new there were many different shapes and sizes of crystal radios, depending on what the manufacturer thought was the best design.

Crystal radios are remarkable because they do not need electricity to work. They rely on the power of the signal they receive to function. The downside of this is that the further the radio is from a transmitter the weaker signal you receive and the less useful your radio will be. It also means you cannot increase the volume on the radio, and so need to wear headphones to listen in.

Manchester was home to one of the UK’s first radio stations, 2ZY, which was set up by Metropolitan Vickers, a key engineering company in the region. Because of 2ZY, people in the North West region could use radios like this to get music, news and entertainment direct into their homes for the first time.

Details

Category:
Radio Communication
Object Number:
Y7001.400
Materials:
metal (unknown) and glass
Measurements:
Overall: 140 mm 100 mm, .6 kg
type:
crystal radio receiver