AM Radio built around LM555 Circuit AM radio built around 555 timer chip. The only active device (silicon, germanium, or otherwise) is the LM555. The tuning is accomplished with an inductor and a capacitor, and the LM555 acts as an AM demodulator and class-D power amplifier to drive the speaker. You may be wondering how all this is accomplished with a 555. Here’s how the circuit works: The AM radio signal is tuned by inductor L, which is 300 turns of wire on a 1/2 inch diameter cardboard tube made out of a paper roll, along with the 100pF variable capacitor. One end of the parallel configuration of L and C connects to an antenna (surprisingly long!) and the other end connects to a ground wire which is tied to the AC outlet ground (old books tell you to ground it to a water pipe). So far this is exactly like an AM crystal radio. The 555 timer is configured as a pulse width modulator in a non-traditional configuration. If I used the standard approach and connected t...