This circuit is essentially an amplified crystal set. The inductor could be a standard AM radio ferrite rod antenna while the tuning capacitor is a variable plastic dielectric gang, intended for small ...
An old — on second thought, make that “very old” — Sony AM/FM broadcast transistor, which I somehow acquired, finally got a little too cranky for me, Figure 1. The analog-dial tuning knob was sluggish ...
Back in 1966, a suitable toy for a geeky kid was a radio kit. You could find simple crystal radio sets or some more advanced ones. But some lucky kids got the Philips Electronic Engineer EE8 Kit on ...