Ghost Box DIY
Fix for Radio Shack 20-125 Shack Hack
A ghost box, spirit box or the more accurate term "frequency sweeper" are radios that have been modified to sweep through a broadcast range AM/FM or short wave without muting or stopping on a particular station. The idea is that ghost/spirits/entities can manipulate the radio waves and communicate directly.
One of the best radios to use in making a ghost box is the Radio Shack 20-125 AM/FM short wave radio.
This "Shack Hack" involves opening up the radio {which of course voids the warranty} then finding and cutting the 7th wire in the ribbon cable labeled MU {MU is short for mute}.
However, I recently discovered that there is a new version of 20-125 and the 7th wire is no longer the one you need to cut 
I might eventually get to writing the full DIY but here is what you need to know if you obtained one of these 20-125's and want to hack it.
First look at the back ... if there are THREE screws holding the case together then you probably have one of the original ones and can use the hack in the video below.
EVP Ghost box- Radio Shack Hack 20-125- DIY less than 5 mins
However, if there are FOUR screws like in the one below ... you most likely need the new hack. The little screw holding the antenna on doesn't count 
Once you take the screws out and open up the case you will see a ribbon cable. The cable is attached to two different boards and on each board in tiny font is the word Mute. This is the wire you want to cut and is wire 6 depending on how you look at the ribbon. Just be sure you can tell which wire says "Mute" and mark it somehow ... I used a black Sharpie.
I then used an exacto knife to cut both sides of the ribbon cable where the black line is, then cut the wire with some clippers.
Once the wire is cut, you can bend the wires back and or cover them so they don't make contact and you can close up and be done.
Alternatively you can solder wire onto the ends and wrap in shrink tube.
I pushed the wires through the opening in the battery compartment. Originally I wasn't sure if the hack would work and I wanted to be able to connect the wires again without having to open up the radio.
Later I'm thinking about drilling a hole under the stand and adding a switch for the wires plus one to disengage the antenna whenever I like. For now though the hack works and you can scan as you need to for a spirit box.
The only issue I noticed is that the scan stops when it goes around a band once BUT it's easy to restart and I believe there was a similar issue with other ghost boxes.
