Heathkit Model CR-1 Crystal Radio

Our Heathkit CR-1 Crystal Receiver from 1958 appears to be complete and ready for testing. As with all crystal radios it requires no direct power supply other than the very small voltage that makes up the incoming radio wave from a local station.

This particular radio is considered a favorite among collectors due to some of its unique features including an internal ferrite antenna and fine adjustment dials that allow better separation of incoming signals. It is so popular that if you are not lucky enough to find a used one at a reasonable price you can purchase some current reproductions that are available for quite a bit more than the original $8.00 cost.

You can see from the image of the front of the CR-1 and the schematic below that this radio has two adjustable capacitors, one for antenna tuning (C1) and one for detector tuning (C2). There is also a switch (S1) that can add 0, 350 or 700 uF of capacitance to adjust the antenna tuning for a high, medium, or low part of the AM band. The detector is a glass encapsulated germanium diode.

Heathkit CR-1 Crystal Radio Schematic
Heathkit CR-1 Crystal Radio Pictorial Diagram

References & Additional Resources:

Blog post by crystal radio enthusiast Steve, VE7SL.
https://www.amateurradio.com/the-enigmatic-heathkit-cr-1-crystal-radio/

Scott’s Crystal Radios describes the duplication of this radio from scratch.
http://oldheadphones.com/crystal/info/heath.htm

Full description found on Radiomuseum.org
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/western_44001_1.html