Brilliant LED Projects: 20 Electronic Designs for Artists, Hobbyists, and Experimenters

Introduction

I CAN REMEMBER THAT DAY IN THE 1970S AS THOUGH it was yesterday. I was about seven or eight years old and staying with my grandparents in Liverpool, England, for a few days during the holidays. My late grandfather liked to collect things and always seemed to have some gadget or gizmo that he kept hidden away in his wardrobe. For example, I can remember a glow-in-the-dark pocket compass, a camera, and a red LED display calculator, to name a few. He liked to surprise me whenever I visited, and enjoyed seeing my eyes light up whenever he disappeared upstairs and brought down something new for me to have a look at.

This time he surprised me with a present; it was a crystal radio kit. The kit was fairly basic, composed of a rectangular ...