1920s battery radios....how do they work?

[decojoe67]

I only delved into 1922-26 battery and crystal sets a few years ago and find them very interesting to tinker with. I use an AM transmitter with mine, so that helps a lot. I find the '22-'24 1,2, and 3 tube sets a challenge to get playing just right. Almost every time I go to play them they need readjustments. The biggest problem is low or garbled audio, but after tweaking about every control I'm able to improve it. My two post-1925 5-tube "three-dialer" casket sets play flawlessly with their cone speakers with hardly any readjustments necessary. With the transmitter the crystal sets play perfectly with their galena crystals. The sound is truly "crystal clear"!