Crystal Sets, Is That What You Said?
In the 1950's living outside of Pittsburgh I was fortunate to have some very high powered AM radio stations close by namely KDKA. This early pioneering radio station had a 50KW transmitter and was "Clear Channel". Bottom line a simple crystal set with a modest antenna could hear KDKA. I had a crystal set and an exposed bed spring antenna provided many hours of enjoyment. No Crystal set was complete without a pair of Brush headphones. I am a side sleeper and to this day one of my ears (the one one the side facing down) is slightly bent from an earphone constantly pressing on that ear.
It was an an amazing time for me as I did not have a kit crystal set but one that I actually homebrewed myself. So it is today that there are many new radios, totally driven by technology, that are like those crystal sets of old.
Sparse on hardware but driven by software. There is a "hot on fire" new SDR radio that is enjoying viral trending status and that is the uSDX. Costing less than $100 in parts it will change the face of ham radio.
Guido PEINNZ, started with the low cost QCX, CW Transceiver from QRP-Labs which by itself is around $60 and repurposed that hardware into a multi-mode, multi-band 5 watt SDR Transceiver. The rest is history with history being made on a daily basis. The Big Guns of ham radio are more than dipping their toes in these waters.
I predict by Christmas we will be seeing full built radios coming from China (maybe Wuhan) and the price point would be in the $100 to $150 range. I am also suggesting this is the new Bitx type radio with a lot more Bells and Whistles.
Yes simple crystal sets, now simple SDR rigs.
73's
Pete N6QW