Foxhole radio powered by a lemon?

fixer27

fixer27

Joined
Nov 17, 2004
Messages
14,031
I watched "Mail Call" and the host had a lemon, a piece of wire a lead pencil and a razor blade.

The host (R Lee Ermey) said that a radio could be assembled from those components.

After much google searching, I still cannot find the plan for a foxhole radio of that design.

Does anyone know where these plans can be found?
 
Hey Fixer..

There are plenty of plans on the net..
gotta look a little harder is all..

also...

You don't need the lemon to power it..
It powers by itself....

We made some on a school field trip you the local Uni..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
I found lots of plans for "Crystal controlled foxhole radios" but none with that darn lemon.

Presumed that a wire was ran into the pencil that was inserted into the lemon, and the wire was wrapped around the pencil and ran to the makeshift speaker.

That would make a great camping project.
 
Fixer..

Yaa you don't need a crystal to run it..

The pensil is used to tune in,, using a razor blade..

Look up Radio Ray on the Hoodlums forum. He is the local radio expert...I think I got plans from him..I also believe he knows how to make them..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
fixer27 said:
I watched "Mail Call" and the host had a lemon, a piece of wire a lead pencil and a razor blade.

The host (R Lee Ermey) said that a radio could be assembled from those components.

After much google searching, I still cannot find the plan for a foxhole radio of that design.

Does anyone know where these plans can be found?
Click to expand...

The lemon is just for the twist in the martini you'll want to drink while assembling your radio.

You will need some high-impedance headphones (your walkman headphones will not work).

The coil can be made from the wire. You'll need a capacitor. Theoretically, you could make that from wire too. But aluminum foil and paper work better. The detector is the razorblade and pencil. Along the very edge of the blade you can find diode crystals; this takes a little patience.

Follow a standard circuit for a crystal radio and there you go.

Of course, you'll need the Vodka for the martini too.
 
The lemon is just for the twist in the martini you'll want to drink while assembling your radio.

Strictly Gin martini's for me thanks...:D

I understand that the radio (carrier?) wave will run the makeshift radio, the reason "why" I had thought that the lemon was needed was for a low grade power source made from inserting something metallic into the lemon.

Hmm, a WAG (wild guess) could the lemon have been the speaker?
 
The non functional lemon was probably added by the writers who couldn't conceive of it working without some kinda power source.

nstead of discarding their used razor blades, American soldiers on the Italian front added a safety pin, a pair of earphones and a coil of wire with 120 turns and rigged up a radio receiving set to provide entertainment in their foxholes. The blued steel surface on a double-edged Marlin blade gave the rectifying action for detection of strong signals without crystals or tubes. The blade is tacked to a piece of wood with a wire taped to it and going to one side of the coil. The other side goes to ground and to one side of the headset. From the other side of the headset a wire goes to the safety pin, which is driven into the wood base at one end so the pin may be moved across the unground part of the blade to find your station.
Click to expand...

QST1044.jpg
 
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