A pair of Bugs from 1980s England

A fun video from Ringway Manchester:

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y_i0RjRBr0

What caught my eye was the simple power switch used in both designs - very clever.  Good switches are expensive, bulky and attract attention.  This method of using copper tape to bridge two contacts is easy to fabricate, inexpensive and not as obvious as a commercial switch.  And it might have been possible to hide the circuitry below some cardboard with matches on top ?

The Radio Shack weather radios are still available (used) on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/158073241107

There are many "bugs" on the internet - most are in the FM broadcast band but could probably be moved up in frequency fairly easily - here's a slightly more modern design:

https://www.electronics-diy.com/electronic_schematic.php?id=989

there weren't any 3 volt lithium coin cells (at least not in common usage) 40 years ago.

This design should fit in a matchbox :)   But it probably won't work any better than those lousy "Mr. Microphone - hey good looking, we'll be back to pick you up later" from TV:

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqIrzkPDtrk

semi-obligatory inflated price:

Ron Popiel had to pay for those commercials somehow :)

Of course I didn't get Mr. Microphone, I got the Radio Shack version:

The actual circuit board would probably fit a matchbox with room for a lithium coin cell, too ?

Here it is in the 1984 catalog:

And the inflated price:

I'll charge up some Nimh cells and retry it later but as I recall it didn't work too well.

Update July 26, 2026:  I did finally try the Radio Shack microphone.  It still works but the one thing you don't hear on those ads is feedback howl :)  BTW, I couldn't use my rechargable AA cells, they just didn't fit, too long, weird !  So I used some really old carbon zinc AA cells that were a little weak so probably not a fair test.

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm