ZN416E AM radio
receiver IC1
14–365 picofarad variable air capacitor (C2)
You could also use a variable capacitor that
goes up to 500 picofarad.
3⁄8"-diameter
×
31⁄2"
ferrite rod
You can also use a ferrite rod with a
1⁄2"
diameter and longer lengths of
either 3⁄8"
or 1⁄2"
diameter as long as they fit in the box that you’re using
for the radio. Longer ferrite rods should give you higher
sensitivity to weak radio signals
than shorter ferrite rods.
We found the preceding three radio-specific
items above at Ocean State Electronic (
www.oselectronics.com).
We noticed that it was less
expensive to buy this vendor’s part #LA-540 — a ferrite rod
already wrapped with a wire coil —
slip off the coil, and then wrap wire to the
number of turns we needed on that rod. Buying a ferrite
rod by itself was about three times
as expensive!
Battery pack for IC1 Resistor
Electrolytic capacitor
Ferrite rod
Battery pack for IC2 Ceramic capacitor Terminal
block IC
SPST toggle switch, used as the on/off switch
830-pin breadboard
Seven 2-pin terminal blocks
Two knobs (for the potentiometer and variable capacitor)
8 ohm, 1 watt speaker
Enclosure
We used a wooden box that we found at a national
craft supply store
(Michael’s). You can use plastic or wood but
do not
use metal
because
it will block the radio signal from the ferrite
antenna.
Four 1⁄2"
long 6-32 flathead screws
Four 6-32 nuts
An assortment of different lengths of prestripped, short 22 AWG
wire
A few feet of 26 gauge enamel-coated wire (used to make the
coil)
On/off switch Speaker
Variable capacitor Potentiometer