Crystal Cat Whisker

At the dawn of radio, people discovered that by using household items, they could build a simple radio receiver to pick up news, weather, farm reports and other broadcasts at very little expense. No power source was needed as the radio waves picked up by a long wire antenna provided the induction. A crystal acted as the diode and a thin wire which touched the crystal bestowed the feline sobriquet which provided this post's title. They became very popular in the 20s & 30s.

I remember my Dad telling me the story of building one with his Boy Scout troop. He fondly looked back on nights listening to faraway transmissions. Imagination spurred me into action. With my "life savings", I purchased an old transmitter at an Army/Navy surplus store, ran a wire from my third floor bedroom window across the backyard to the garage roof. The crusty ol'coot who owned the surplus store had fashioned an AC plug out of an extension cord which gave the receiver power.


Looking out the kitchen window, Mom saw me precariously perched on the eave of the garage. Upon completion, she sat me down to await Dad's wrath for my recklessness. He came home, Mom explained the situation and up to my room we went. I expected chastisement until I saw his smile. Nodding his head, he examined the receiver and my rigged antenna. After dinner, we went up to my room, turned on the power and spent the rest of the evening tuning in Radio Free Europe, and other foreign broadcasts. Mom was less than thrilled with the outcome.


During the day, on Philly AM radio, I'd listen to Joe "The Rockin Bird" Niagara, Hi Lit and Jerry "The Geator with the Heater" Blavat. This was the early 60s before FM and AOR formats. In the evenings, I could tune in R&B and Blues stations from Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans. Music's nefarious influence began weaving it's magic spell on me.

The naivete of nostalgia produces rose-colored memories. My rambling recollections have extended this blog's brief intro into a mess of meandering, multi-paragraph musings.

The blurred focus of this missive was to be Internet radio. Webcast, streaming, whatever buzzword you wish to use, is taking the radio format to new frontiers. Wresting the airways from commercial hands, anyone with some digital savvy can now broadcast worldwide.

A good friend and blogbenefactor, Dave Custy, launched Baltimore Internet Radio this week. BIR will be Baltimore's global gateway. The programs will explore business, tourism, history, and shows of local interest including the music scene.  
****Shameless Self Promotion Warning****  My band, Without a Net, is the first interview on the Music Scene segment.

Here's the link:  http://baltimoreinternetradio.com/    Check it out! You wont be disappointed and won't have to climb onto a garage roof to listen. Though that would be cool. As ever - BB

"...my style was too erratic and hard to pigeonhole for the radio..." - Bob Dylan