Sixty years ago, this youngster was pulling in a favorite program without disturbing the rest of the family, thanks to a one-transistor “Space-Age Xtal Set” shown in the August-September 1966 issue of Radio-TV Experimenter.

The accompanying article laments the fact that we were in the space age by then, but to satisfy the radio needs of children, we often resorted to crystal sets (even though the cat’s whisker was replaced by a 1N34 diode).  To move into the space age, something more was required, in the form of a triode crystal.

Sixty more years have gone by, and there’s still something to be said for building a crystal set.  But for those who wish to move into the space age, this set is a good place to start.