crystal radio: the first real free energy device

[Brian516]

Try adding a second diode the way I show mine on page two of the thread. I'm interested to see if it makes a difference.

Scotty,
The second diode from HP+ direct to ground kills the signal almost entirely.

New measurements:

In my variometer setup, I have a 1n34A diode, and a 365pf variable antenna matching capacitor. Also, I have a tiny 10pf glass (vacuum?) capacitor as a condenser, which doesn't seem to matter either way since it does nothing thus far. 

Last night at optimal tuning, on the 1300AM (WCLG) station @ 1.2miles away, 44Watts power:
with my connections proper, I measured -24uA and -24mV.

Today at optimal tuning, same station @ 1.2miles away, 2.5kW power:
-240uA and -356mV

It appears that the actual power I am getting comes from ground, and the airwaves have a negative potential.

With a 1Kohm resistor and 125ohm speaker from a telephone (fairly new style), the audio is actually audible from about 2 feet away.  If I rid the room of any other noise, I can barely hear it at a distance of about 6 feet. 
I have a 6 conductor, 24awg telephone wire antenna on the roof. It is approx 20ft long for the horizontal part, then there is about 25 feet extra laying on the upstairs floor loosely coiled up, then it runs thru the floor another 12 feet to where my connection is.   I am going to go up and run the excess 25 feet along the ceiling and see if it changes any of my measurements.

Gyula,
That page definitely has a lot of great info that I will be applying at some point soon.  I want to read thru most of it before I really dig in, and also experiment with this simple setup for a bit to gain a better understanding before I start adding circuitry and components. But that info will certainly come in handy!


Bill,
I've got it lighting an LED!! Dimly, and it changes in brightness with the modulation, or so it seems.  Now to find a lower power LED to see if I can get it to light even brighter!

Brian