A crystal detector is an obsolete electronic component used in some early 20th century radio receivers that consists of a piece of crystalline mineral which rectifies the alternating current radio signal. It was employed as a detector (demodulator) to extract the audio modulation signal from the modulated carrier, to produce the sound in the earphones. It was the first type of semiconductor diode, and one of the first semiconductor electronic devices. The most common type was the so-called cat's whisker detector, which consisted of a piece of crystalline mineral, usually galena, with a fine wire touching its surface.
Galena cat whisker detector used in early crystal radio
Precision crystal detector with iron pyrite crystal, used in commercial wireless stations, 1914. The crystal is inside the metal capsule under the vertical needle (right). The leaf springs and thumbscrew allow fine adjustment of the pressure of the needle on the crystal.
Pictorial diagram from 1922 showing the circuit of a cat whisker crystal radio. This common circuit did not use a tuning capacitor, but used the capacitance of the antenna to form the tuned circuit with the coil.
Galena cat whisker detector from a 1920s crystal radio
In radio communications, a radio receiver, also known as a receiver, a wireless, or simply a radio, is an electronic device that receives radio waves and converts the information carried by them to a usable form. It is used with an antenna. The antenna intercepts radio waves and converts them to tiny alternating currents which are applied to the receiver, and the receiver extracts the desired information. The receiver uses electronic filters to separate the desired radio frequency signal from all the other signals picked up by the antenna, an electronic amplifier to increase the power of the signal for further processing, and finally recovers the desired information through demodulation.
A portable battery-powered AM/FM broadcast receiver, used to listen to audio broadcast by local radio stations.
A bedside clock radio that combines a radio receiver with an alarm clock
Handheld scanner
Baby monitor. The receiver is on the left