A radio crystal, or physical proof of solar system exploration before 1970?

[uzn]

As a little kid i recieved a strange gift from someone high in the intelligence community who was also close to my Family. All he said was: Here that´s for you. I was 6 years old at the time, that was about 1976/1977. For some reason I kept it all the time without wondering. That Person died a strange and fast way several years later, my Family and I were in shock at the time and it was hard for all persons related to him. Nobody did expect him to die so quickly. I will not disclose his Name because it is still hard for all that were close to him including me.
It´s a Stone in a test tube. The Label sais: Jupiter Crystal. And it´s a little Piece of Jupiter. The Font is German and Fonts like this became popular in Germany since the 1920. I know that Jupiter is regarded as a Gasgiant, but of course that´s just the outer Layer, at the core it´s solid. As a kid i broke the bottom of the test tube, as you can see.
Who brought it here and from which program the test tube is from I don´t know. I still have it. Take a look:
I uploaded the Images here on Avalon, click them to enlarge them.
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[Bill Ryan]

.
Well, that's fascinating. I looked for "Jupiter Crystal" on the net (eliminating the Oakley glasses, the cartoon character, etc etc) -- no results that matched. And also searched for this ('ΣB'), which I've never heard of, but which must mean something to somebody -- also to no avail.

http://projectavalon.net/Jupiter_Crystal_screenshot.jpg

[uzn]

Could also be MB with the M turned 90 degrees. If somebody wants closeups of some Details just say it.

[GaelVictor]

Could it be that the MB stands for; Milton Bradley.
''The Milton Bradley Company is an American game company established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the largest game manufacturer in the United States and in 1987 it purchased Selchow and Righter, makers of Parcheesi and Scrabble. Milton Bradley was taken over by Hasbro, Inc., in 1984.''

Although somewhat german styled, the tekst is in English, and the style is common in the western world in 1900-1950.

Maybe it is a requisite of a board game.

[Eram]

Have you ever had the rock/crystal analysed by some sort of expert?


sync: Just minutes before I opened your OP, my kids had a quarrel about a tiny box (which I had never seen before) that is composed of two lids that match almost exactly the metal lid of you tube.

[uzn]

I dont think it´s a Boardgame Piece. It was sealed with the sticker when I got it. I did not get it analysed, mostly because I did not want to give it out of my Hands. Most Labs want you to send it via the Postoffice and I dont trust them at all. Sensitive stuff has a tendency to disappear in the mail.

[BMJ]

Maybe:

Σ sigma

Β beta

[uzn]

@Hatemachine:
Here is the first logo of Milton Bradley
http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/logopedia/images/f/fd/Mb42.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20130227200916
this is their second logo:
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/logopedia/images/2/2e/Mb143-64.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20130225041006
then they used the logo we know of them (red and blue). Has nothing to do with the Test Tube.

@Eram: Take a photo of your tiny Box, lets have a look.

[Builder]

Could it be a meteorite that fell from the sky and someone just had the phantasy to call it a Jupiter Crystal? Or used that name as "brand" to sell such meteorites? There are a lot of collectors who are buying those.

[uzn]

If it were just a collector of Meteorites he would not make a professional printed and engraved Label. Maybe somebody has seen similar Things or samples or has heard of this ΣB (Sigma B). Unfortunatly I cannot ask the guy who gave it to me nearly 40 years age since he is dead now. I don´t have to get it analysed to know there is a secret behind it. The guy who gave it to me had seen more countries then most People have seen busstops in their life. He was working under Vladimir Putin when he was Chief of the east german secret service. Maybe he got it from the american space program since Crystal is an english word. But that´s only speculation.

[Eram]

@Eram: Take a photo of your tiny Box, lets have a look.

I don't think it is of much relevance for the thread. Just one of those weird synchronicities that pop up every now and then.

Any way, here's a pic of it. I put a dice next to it to get a scope of the size.
While taking the pic, I've been told that it is an old kodak photography film box.

[uzn]

Thats big Eram, I should have placed a ruler in the Picture for scale. The testtube has a thickness of about 2/3 of a little finger.

[Sunny-side-up]

Maybe:

Σ sigma

Β beta

I thought it was Epsilon ?

But that combination of symbols I'm sure I've seen befor?

[kirolak]

Apparently Sigma stands for Widsom, as in Sophia, & Beta stands for Honour? None the wiser about what the significance is here, though - any Greeks on the board?
PS You are very right not to part with the crystals, I lost a strange, beautiful, pyramid shaped yellow stone years ago - it had red thread running through it, & I have no idea how it ended up outside my front door - when I gave it to a geologist friend to investigate, he said he had handed it to someone else to look at, who apparently lost it, so. . . hang onto yours, whatever it is. :)

[Atlas]

Could the tube be a 'cigar tube' like this "1880-1900 Rare Victorian Cigar Tube"?
http://www.icollect247.com/itempics/444_1417634517D.jpg
http://www.icollect247.com/itempage.php?uniqueid=92050

[uzn]

It´s only about 4 centimeters Long. That would be a really short cigar.

[Atlas]

There is one JUPITER CRYSTAL EXPORTS LTD. in the Alberta Gazette 1999 (http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/gazette/1999/pdf/0415_i.pdf)

[Praxis]

UZN,

On what basis are you claiming that the font is German and became popular in 1920? As far as I am aware, Fraktur was the most popular script/font that was used in Germany around that time and even until the end of WW2.

[uzn]

That was my best guess. I got it in Germany from a german who was working for a german secret Service. But it could be from any Country/Agency. With the Font it was also just a guess since Fonts like these were not used in Germany before round about 1920. Just guessing there. It was in perfect shape when I got it 40 years back.

[Sunny-side-up]

Had a look at 'vintage childrens chemistry sets' might have been part of one.
Those where the good old childrens toys days ha.
Wonder I diden't posion or blow myself up o.0

have a look below, some great images.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=vintage+childrens+chemistry+sets&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJoqCxrrnPAhXJIMAKHZMMBgIQsAQIYQ&biw=1102&bih=680#q=vintage%20childrens%20chemistry%20sets&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg%3ACdsrkciuSYFjIjjnGuqWJWe7EyN4e9SgoI3cZaDgm4HakaEW1LiR0cOFaMjmknLgUFV-Cy-j7lreDfyyFyNr-HxouioSCeca6pYlZ7sTETzCwzMCf-MqKhIJI3h71KCgjdwRAaEOeYlf8dAqEglloOCbgdqRoREAEQOsa8H7LyoSCRbUuJHRw4VoEUdfJKDW_1_1w2KhIJyOaScuBQVX4R iyAgEUPxCgUqEgkLL6PuWt4N_1BFrl09zhU8KjioSCbIXI2v4fGi6EXNyfqg82TQx

[Nick Matkin]

I'm not sure an unidentified piece of something in a tube labelled "Jupiter Crystal" is physical proof of pre-Apollo space exploration...

Could it be a piece of galena? It is a mineral that was used as the crystal detector in early radio receivers. Part of a primitive semiconductor called 'the cat's whisker' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s-whisker_detector) for crystal radios.

This explanation seems the most likely, because in the early days of domestic radio (the 1920s) all sorts of crystals were marketed with exotic names in fancy little boxes and tubes, each brand supposedly more sensitive and reliable than the next. They were sold all over Europe, North America and anywhere else that was just opening up domestic radio broadcasting.

The crystals were usually about the size of a pea and often sold separately for the 'radio expert' to fit into the crystal radio's cat's whisker assembly often using bit of special solder called Woods Metal.

This was a period where the public didn't really understand this new magic radio stuff and were kidded into believing any old mumbo-jumbo (where have we heard that before?), and most brands were just the same mineral, usually galena (lead sulphide). Other minerals had similar properties and were also marketed rather extravagantly.

If you know anyone with some basic radio knowledge, they could easily test it for any semiconductor properties.

[Bill Ryan]

I'm not sure an unidentified piece of something in a tube labelled "Jupiter Crystal" is physical proof of pre-Apollo space exploration...

Could it be a piece of galena? It is a mineral that was used as the crystal detector in early radio receivers. Part of a primitive semiconductor called 'the cat's whisker' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%27s-whisker_detector) for crystal radios.

This explanation seems the most likely, because in the early days of domestic radio (the 1920s) all sorts of crystals were marketed with exotic names in fancy little boxes and tubes, each brand supposedly more sensitive and reliable than the next. They were sold all over Europe, North America and anywhere else that was just opening up domestic radio broadcasting.

Nick, I have to say: that feels like a very good catch. What you suggest all makes very good sense, and would fit perfectly.

This page is fascinating... a huge catalog of old crystal radio components. The guy who runs that would be an obvious person to write to personally and ask. (E-mail: scottswim@aol.com)


http://oldheadphones.com/crystal/phones/tubes.htm

One of the images there caught my attention: 'Arcturus Radio Tubes' (!) -->

http://oldheadphones.com/crystal/phones/a31tubes5y.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

.
I feel sure Nick is right. Here's a long list of other specialist hobbyist antique radio links to write to and ask just what this is:
(all at the foot of this page)
http://oldheadphones.com/crystal/index.htm

(http://oldheadphones.com/crystal/index.html)

Phil's Old Radios (http://antiqueradio.org/) Nice general radio website with a great crystal radio project for broadcast and shortwave reception.



Xtal Set Society (http://www.midnightscience.com) National club with information, links to suppliers, books and items for sale. Join the great crystal radio discussion group there called Rap 'n Tap.



Skywaves (http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/) Al Klase's site that has some useful schematics and crystal radio building projects including a shortwave crystal set.



Greg Farmer's Crystal Radios (http://www.gifarmer.com/radio/crystal.shtml) Great site with a beautiful collection of crystal radios and related early radios.



Dave's Homemade Radios (http://www.makearadio.com/) Dave Schmarder has a great website that shows dozens of his creations of crystal radios and some battery operated tube sets including some shortwave sets. He has nice photos and schematics posted for each set. This is a great site to get ideas for how to build your own nice tube or crystal radio.



Ben Tongue's Crystal Radio Website (http://www.bentongue.com) This website had valuable details on crystal radio reception, impedance matching, and even schematics for building impedance determination equipment for comparing headphones of different impedances.



Pictures of Vintage Sets (http://rolaa.de/sehensw/radio/bilder/detektor/detekt_e.htm) This site has some nice pictures of a fine collection of vintage sets. site has been down recently



Crystal Radio Resources (http://bellsouthpwp2.net/w/u/wuggy/) A great "How To Do It" website for constructing your own sets.This page has an extensive list of crystal radio links and is highly recommended as a resource for serious crystal radio research. A MUST SEE for beginning builders and Science Fair Project builders.
Tell Owen I said hello.



Crystal Radio Supply (http://www.crystalradiosupply.com/) This is one of my favorite supplier for parts such as variable capacitors used to build crystal radios, and great prices too.



Peebles Originals (http://www.peeblesoriginals.com) This is Mike Peebles website with information about Crystal Radio, Tube & amp; Transistor Radio, Parts, Plans, Kits and other Items associated with "Nostalgic Radio Building".



Allens Web Page (http://www.99main.com/%7Eallens) New site by a radio collector and boat builder, many radio items for sale here.



Gollum's Crystal Receiver World (http://www.oldradioworld.de/gollum) The First German crystal receiver website with many photos and hints about crystal radio construction, testing and use.



Lance's Crystal Radio Website (http://www.xtalman.com) Lance Borden's Crystal Radio Webapge with plans and kits for sale.



John's Radio Pages (http://www.fmamradios.com/) A great resource that has details about the early Miller high fidelity tuners.



Stay Tuned (http://www.crystalradio.net) Take this hot link to a related page by a colleague who specialized in sound powered equipment. It has been recently expanded with dozens of crystal radio construction plans.This site is a MUST SEE!



Tom's Terrific Tuners (http://www.kipgen.com) This is a page by Tom Kipgen that has homebuilt crystal radios made with beautifully machined parts and true vintage looks, plus vintage looking wook knobs for building radio projects. Many high quality items for sale.



The Old Radio Builder (http://www.oldradiobuilder.com) This is a nice webpage showing vintage crystal radio projects, modern projects, and old radio restoration projects.



Jim Frederick's Crystal Radio Page (http://www.hobbytech.com/) This page has plans and kits to buy such as the high tech Hobbydyne crystal radio, tell Jim I sent you.



Play Things of Past (http://www.oldradioparts.com) Great source for all sorts of vintage radio replacement parts including tubes, all types of transformers, knobs, dials, glass, belts, variable capacitors, coils and more. I can't think of anything not available here for an old radio and at great prices.



Radio Museum (http://www.radiomuseum.org) A website dealing with all aspects of antique radios including display photos and schematic diagrams for antique radio enthusiasts, click on the icon above to jump to the Radio Museum.



Ian Sanders' Crystal Radio Webpage (http://www.crystal-sets.com)

[Bill Ryan]

.
Okay, I think we have the answer here (click the link and be amazed!)

--> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Aradiomuseum.org+jupiter

1) Jupiter radios were made by Philips in Germany in the late 1950s and early 60s.

2) There was also a company called Jupiter-Radio, in Paris in the 1920s and 30s:
http://radiomuseum.org/r/jupiter_titan_jupiter_8.html

Here's just one of their models, called the Titan Jupiter:

http://www.radiomuseum.org/images/radio/jupiter_radio/titan_jupiter_1933_1991607.jpg

http://www.radiomuseum.org/images/radio/jupiter_radio/titan_jupiter_1933_1991608.jpg

I do feel totally certain that a crystal from one of these radios is what you have. In http://radiomuseum.org there's a vast array of images and historical information to browse through.

[Nick Matkin]

Goodness, you've been busy Bill!

I tried to find an image of a little box or tube of galena crystal in the form it would have been sold to make a crystal set, but only found this:

http://thumbs1.picclick.com/d/l400/pict/252521861084_/Vintage-Wireless-Crystal-Cat-Whisker-Tin-The.jpg

I must have seen some at a small display at a vintage radio event. And if Jupiter was a radio manufacturer, it makes sense that in the company's very early days - before the valve/tube era - they sold the crystal detectors for crystal sets. Small pieces as presented for sale look just like the piece in the OP.

Galena crystals shouldn't be confused with quarts crystals. Quarts has no semiconducting properties, it has piezoelectric properties. But because quarts crystals are ubiquitous in electronics, they are often associated with imaginary, unmeasurable properties in these devices.

Incidentally, crystal sets had no external power. The sound through the headphones was derived entirely from the tuned signal using a simple resonant circuit. Imagine that - free energy, no battery, no mains. Forgotten or suppressed technology? Er... no. If you make one using much more efficient modern components tuned to any transmitter that is much more powerful than those in the 1920s and 1930s, you'll realise why, even now, they are of limited use!

But these radios were so simple to make that there are plenty of well documented stories of POWs making them out of razor blades and bits of wire to hear what's going on in the outside world.

The magic of radio...!

The bit in the OP about it being "a strange gift from someone high in the intelligence community" does lend it a mysterious quality.

[uzn]

Sunny-side-up: Had a look at all the Pictures, no match. But could have been a part of these Radios, sounds plausible.
After looking into the Radio Thing I found a Picture of another small Crystal, looks like mine:
http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/x1YAAOSwL7VWiMov/s-l225.jpg
http://img.wonderhowto.com/img/73/16/63492521626689/0/complete-guide-build-crystal-radio-plus-they-work.w1456.jpg

Thanks for solving this one, now I feel stupid. Sorry to have wasted your time. Why on Earth did he give me a Piece for a Radio?
Maybe a Admin could Change the Threadname to something more adequate.

[Nick Matkin]

Thanks for solving this one, now I feel stupid. Sorry to have wasted your time. Why on Earth did he give me a Piece for a Radio?
Maybe a Admin could Change the Threadname to something more adequate.

Please don't feel stupid and you haven't wasted anyone's time - if we weren't interested we wouldn't have bothered researching.

When something like this is posted on a forum where members have many different disciplines, a sensible explanation often shakes out.

But it is a fine example of how apparently mysterious things have an obscure but mundane explanation - it's just that finding that explanation is not always possible.

:highfive:

[Citizen No2]

uzn wrote:


Thanks for solving this one, now I feel stupid.

Intelligence officer gives you a crystal used in radios.......... Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. And a very enjoyable thread.


Regards.

[animovado]

Intelligence officer gives you a crystal used in radios.......... Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. And a very enjoyable thread.

Even if you consider that one of the activities of Vladimir Putin in Germany was training in radio communication according to the german Wikipedia.

[DeDukshyn]

Thanks for solving this one, now I feel stupid. Sorry to have wasted your time. Why on Earth did he give me a Piece for a Radio?
Maybe a Admin could Change the Threadname to something more adequate.

Please don't feel stupid and you haven't wasted anyone's time - if we weren't interested we wouldn't have bothered researching.

When something like this is posted on a form where members have many different disciplines, a sensible explanation often shakes out.

But it is a fine example of how apparently mysterious things have an obscure but mundane explanation - it's just that finding that explanation is not always possible.

:highfive:

Agreed, I love threads like this -- allows for some "mystery hunting", and I love everyone's particpation to find more simple explanations before moving on to more exotic ones. Nice work Nick, my gut was telling me this one had an explanation - I did about ten minutes of research but same with Bill initially, I was looking in the wrong ways to easily get to the conclusions.

Thanks UZN for starting a thread that allows the broad range of knowledge, talents, and skills, on Avalon to once again come to the forefront. :)

[Bill Ryan]

Maybe a Admin could Change the Threadname to something more adequate.

Yep, changed (never a problem!) to A radio crystal, or physical proof of solar system exploration before 1970? (I also moved it to the What Does It Mean? (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/forumdisplay.php?22-What-Does-It-Mean) section.)

I also thoroughly enjoyed doing the research into those radio sets. Fascinating. Not a waste of time, at all. It was a bunch of fun. This is how I learn things... thousands of others who read the forum, too.

And it's now on the net, as a reference... anyone else who wants to know what a 'Jupiter Crystal' is, will be led to this thread pretty quickly. All part of the huge library of information we have here. One always finds things out by asking questions.

And, lastly, if I'd had something like that in my possession since I was 6, I'd want to know what it was, too! So the other thing that happened here was that we all helped a friend. :star:

[Eram]

I can imagine that you feel betrayed uzn, by the secret service friend from the past.
Maybe feel stupid for having believed him.

Well you were only six at the time. Don't forget.

Agreed with all of the above posts.
Intriguing OP and nice collaboration from members to bring clarity.

I hope that this will not hold you back in future postings, since I'm only one of many who enjoys them.

[uzn]

Thank you all, you are great. Great Research, at least now we know what a Radio Crystal is ;)

[animovado]

All he said was: Here that´s for you.

So no reason at all for feeling betrayed.
Thanks for the thread, uzn!

[kanishk]

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These rocks looks much to me like TEKTITE.

Tektites have these little shiny spots and the holes you see on tektites are formed because of the shrinking of the material when falling down from the sky.

http://www.crystalkeeper.net/images/tektite-1.jpg http://product-images.highwire.com/592176/tektites-new-lot.jpg

And the style and design of the sticker on the tube feels more like Russian. And such similar type of symbols I have seen on russian books.

[Sunny-side-up]

Great stuff all :)

[Foxie Loxie]

I must say, I certainly enjoyed reading all the posts! Great family to be a part of!! :sun: