I bought the circuit out of curiosity, but they look like diodes but i think they might be inductor coils 100uh or so ?
They are labled D1, D2, etc. I would guess diodes.
They are diodes with a large capacitance. The long wires are antennas. Place it near a cell phone and talk to a distant cell phone. The radio waves light up the LED if enough power is transferred from the cell phone to these rectifiers.
The diodes are 1SS86 detector diode, these are used at UHF frequencies. The long leads and the diode action detects the radio signal from any UHF source, such as an operating mobile phone, there is enough energy converted to power an LED.
As the pictures on ebay show, the length of the diode leads determines the sensitivity of the detector.
Mobile Phone Signal Flash Light Radiation Power DIY Kit NO Need Power Good
The stupid names they call this stuff, its a Mobile Phone RF detector. Novelty.
Tom.
AmbiLobe:
They are diodes with a large capacitance. The long wires are antennas. Place it near a cell phone and talk to a distant cell phone. The radio waves light up the LED if enough power is transferred from the cell phone to these rectifiers.
And as a side effect it will retransmit harmonics of the RF carrier all over other bands - a bit antisocial.
More pertinantly it will interact with the antenna near-field and may distort the radiation pattern
that you are supposedly detecting - I think its meant to be a sort of dual Yagi configuration but they suggest a max
range of 5cm so its rather close!
Replace the LED with a voltmeter and you could measure the far radiation pattern better.
Aha trick question then. I wondered why the diodes' leads were so long.
