This passive airband receiver is basically an amplified "crystal radio" designed to receive nearby aircraft transmissions on 121 - 133 MHz frequency. Useful for listening to the pilot transmissions. The input tuned cct 'L' is a 2 turn loop, with 30mm diameter measured at 0.15uH on my LC Meter which intercepts RF directly as opposed to an LC cct fed with external aerial. Tuning capacitor is a 30pF Philips Beehive trimmer, with a short length of plastic tube glued - as a tuning shaft. Capacitance runs from 28 to 7pF; which by formula gives a frequency range of 77 - 155MHz. Detector uses a biased 1N5711 (or similar) schottky diode with lowest forward-biassed voltage drop. The two 10M resistors bias the detector diode and the op-amp input near mid-rail for better detector efficiency. LM358 dual op-amp draws less than 1 ma so the battery drain is minimal. Insertion of earphones plug completes supply circuit and acts as an on/off switch. 9V battery fits neatly inside a 30mm x 130mm long PVC tube.
Build Accurate LC Meter and start making your own coils and inductors. This LC Meter allows to measure incredibly small inductances making it perfect tool for making all types of RF coils. LC Meter can measure inductances starting from 10nH - 1000nH, 1uH - 1000uH, 1mH - 100mH and capacitances from 0.1pF up to 900nF. The circuit includes an auto ranging and reset function to make sure the readings are as accurate as possible ... [more]
