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The big thing about a crystal set is that it's independent of electricity supply and internet connectivity. We all had one, at some time or other, in the 1950s.

The big thing about a crystal set is that it's independent of electricity supply and internet connectivity. We all had one, at some time or other, in the 1950s. The advent of the 'go anywhere' transistor radio was the thing that pushed the crystal set out of our collective consciousness. But even the transistor radio is being threatened by the ubiquitous internet. However ..... The other day, our telecoms provider went down for six or seven hours. There was no smartphone, no texting, no internet. As my non-technical wife said, very sagely, at the time "That's the quickest way to bring down a country. Just blow up the 3 or 4 telecoms providers." So there is still a place in our repertoires for the humble crystal set and/or a transistor radio.

LeoPanthera 3y ago
I'm not that old, I'm in my 40s, but it astounds me how many people I know that cannot receive any kind of broadcast media. If their internet connection goes down, they have no TV, no radio, and often, no way of making or receiving a phone call. This astounds me. I could not live with such a dependence on a single means of communication.
- Karrot_Kream 3y ago
  Most people these days have a smartphone which is essentially a broadcast receiver, and carriers give the government ways to sending emergency broadcasts. This isn't a substitute for a dynamo radio as a fallback in an emergency, but is just as effective as an emergency VHF broadcast for the TV or emergency broadcasts on AM/FM. In the '90s even though everyone was supposed to have a dynamo radio for emergencies, in practice I knew pretty much nobody who did. If anything it's even better these days because they have their receiver with them at all times instead of in the living room or in the garage or in the car as used to be before smartphones. Most folks in the US have a different ISP at home than they do mobile carrier so there's redundancy that way as well. I do think it's a shame that there's no equivalent to something like the POTS which ran on separate power from the base power you get from the grid, but mobile networks also usually have layers of backup power that's independent of the grid so that's a good substitute.
  - whartung 3y ago
    I don’t recall the details but as I understand it there was a bit going around about how modern phones actually have a built in FM radio but none of them had them enabled or accessible through the software. There was buzz of making that access mandatory but I haven’t heard anything about it for some time. My understanding is that terrestrial radio is struggling against the streaming and satellite providers. Some of the large AM stations at one point had special civil defense status. KFI 640 in LA is one of those in that it’s very high power and no other station shares its frequency. I don’t know what the civil defense status of station are now.
  - LeoPanthera 3y ago
    Where I live was caught up in the SF bay area storms at the beginning of the year, and we had several extended multi-day power outages. It quickly became apparent that the battery backup in the local cell tower lasts about an hour, and then it's just gone. It was very worrying.
  - hulitu 3y ago
    > If anything it's even better these days because they have their receiver with them at all times instead of in the living room or in the garage or in the car as used to be before smartphones. It is not the receiver. It is only the transmiter.
- ianburrell 3y ago
  They make emergency radios which do AM, FM, and weather radio. A lot of them have cranks for power. They are something worth having in emergency kit. Also, lots of people have device that can receive radio, it’s their car. Many receivers have AM/FM, but many people have the antennas in the box. Finally, mobile and home internet are separate. I have used phone as backup when home internet was down. Mobile is usually different provider and stays working longer when power is out.
ravenstine 3y ago
There definitely is still a place for transistor radios. What your wife described is the exact reason why I and some other people own ham and GMRS handhelds. Even an off the shelf FRS radio from Wallmart or whatever is worth having around because they can receive signals from GMRS repeaters. And said repeaters by law are not supposed to be connected to the internet, so there's a good chance they'd continue working and relaying signals for tens of miles even if telecoms are down. Battery power is so ubiquitous now that I think actually owning a crystal radio is mostly obsolete, but knowing how to build one is a valuable skill. Every part can be made from junk. Even a piezoelectric speaker can be made using Rochelle salt.
nucleardog 3y ago
Not that long ago we had a 7-8 day regional power outage. Many people got by just fine. Between wired connections and the cellular network (and a whole… two different companies providing both) there’s enough redundancy in place to cover the majority of people in the majority of situations. And it only takes one person in an area with information for it to be spread and distributed around. I think many people should be more worried about having a few days of potable water available.

LeoPanthera 3y ago

I'm not that old, I'm in my 40s, but it astounds me how many people I know that cannot receive any kind of broadcast media. If their internet connection goes down, they have no TV, no radio, and often, no way of making or receiving a phone call. This astounds me. I could not live with such a dependence on a single means of communication.

Karrot_Kream 3y ago
Most people these days have a smartphone which is essentially a broadcast receiver, and carriers give the government ways to sending emergency broadcasts. This isn't a substitute for a dynamo radio as a fallback in an emergency, but is just as effective as an emergency VHF broadcast for the TV or emergency broadcasts on AM/FM. In the '90s even though everyone was supposed to have a dynamo radio for emergencies, in practice I knew pretty much nobody who did. If anything it's even better these days because they have their receiver with them at all times instead of in the living room or in the garage or in the car as used to be before smartphones. Most folks in the US have a different ISP at home than they do mobile carrier so there's redundancy that way as well. I do think it's a shame that there's no equivalent to something like the POTS which ran on separate power from the base power you get from the grid, but mobile networks also usually have layers of backup power that's independent of the grid so that's a good substitute.
- whartung 3y ago
  I don’t recall the details but as I understand it there was a bit going around about how modern phones actually have a built in FM radio but none of them had them enabled or accessible through the software. There was buzz of making that access mandatory but I haven’t heard anything about it for some time. My understanding is that terrestrial radio is struggling against the streaming and satellite providers. Some of the large AM stations at one point had special civil defense status. KFI 640 in LA is one of those in that it’s very high power and no other station shares its frequency. I don’t know what the civil defense status of station are now.
- LeoPanthera 3y ago
  Where I live was caught up in the SF bay area storms at the beginning of the year, and we had several extended multi-day power outages. It quickly became apparent that the battery backup in the local cell tower lasts about an hour, and then it's just gone. It was very worrying.
- hulitu 3y ago
  > If anything it's even better these days because they have their receiver with them at all times instead of in the living room or in the garage or in the car as used to be before smartphones. It is not the receiver. It is only the transmiter.
ianburrell 3y ago
They make emergency radios which do AM, FM, and weather radio. A lot of them have cranks for power. They are something worth having in emergency kit. Also, lots of people have device that can receive radio, it’s their car. Many receivers have AM/FM, but many people have the antennas in the box. Finally, mobile and home internet are separate. I have used phone as backup when home internet was down. Mobile is usually different provider and stays working longer when power is out.

ravenstine 3y ago

There definitely is still a place for transistor radios. What your wife described is the exact reason why I and some other people own ham and GMRS handhelds. Even an off the shelf FRS radio from Wallmart or whatever is worth having around because they can receive signals from GMRS repeaters. And said repeaters by law are not supposed to be connected to the internet, so there's a good chance they'd continue working and relaying signals for tens of miles even if telecoms are down. Battery power is so ubiquitous now that I think actually owning a crystal radio is mostly obsolete, but knowing how to build one is a valuable skill. Every part can be made from junk. Even a piezoelectric speaker can be made using Rochelle salt.

nucleardog 3y ago

Not that long ago we had a 7-8 day regional power outage. Many people got by just fine. Between wired connections and the cellular network (and a whole… two different companies providing both) there’s enough redundancy in place to cover the majority of people in the majority of situations. And it only takes one person in an area with information for it to be spread and distributed around. I think many people should be more worried about having a few days of potable water available.