Here's a very simple AM Radio circuit I've designed couple of years ago. Don't know whether anybody listen to AM stations anymore. But I still use it(maybe I wanted to listen to my own built radio lol..). The radio section is wired using a single transistor(BF494) and it was so amazing that an audible sound is recovered at the output which is faint though. It doesn't use any external antenna and the sensitivity/selectivity of the receiver is pretty good. However I used an amplifier(TA 7368P Toshiba, Low voltage) which drives an 8ohm/1W 4" speaker inside a box rocks the entire room with a high fidelity audio that is unbelievable and outperforms Superheterodyne ones in this regard . It is a reflex receiver.
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The audio recovered at inductor L is rather strong comparing to ZN414 and free from oscillations.(I've never succeeded in building ZN414 which always give me annoying motorboating and chirping crappy I say!)
Using a flat ferrite bar antenna allows local reception for a pocket radio and a big rod antenna captures stations beyond 200miles! So it doesn't require an external wire antenna, adding it only helps in electrical noise catch.
Only critical part in the circuit is inductor L, its optimum value gives excellent results. Make rf parts close to the transistor. I made it on a 1.5" ultra small pcb. 2 x AA battery lasts very long.
Another important thing is that the radio is absolutely silent in between the stations - means no noise at all if no any electrical interferance which is a plus point over Superheterodyne receivers. It was so amazing to tune it during power failure period. So I'll call it a true radio
Just a few questions: what guage magnet wire did you use and what was the dimentions of the rod used in the description of how to make the Antenna. The 2 capacitors with the 472 value are 472 uF ? What ohms value is the speaker ?
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