Thanks so much for the in-depth and informative reply!
No problems UR.
If you enter that by 'Location' on your ETO user page it will show in the box at the left of your posts. Not only do some of us like to know where members are from, but it also helps with answers: component access, mains voltage, etc.
I will have to get a meter to measure the current coming from the receiver.
More or less, but we would like to know the voltage rather than current: connect a voltmeter between 0V (probably negative terminal of the radio 1.5V battery) and the output of the radio receiver. If you could let us know:
(1) The output voltage from the radio receiver in the 'off' state.
(2) The output voltage from the radio receiver in the 'on' state.
Is that the last piece of the puzzle or am I just getting my feet wet?
There will be a few more things to sort out, but with your cooperation we can almost certainly evolve a suitable circuit for you. How do you feel about constructing a circuit though?
So the NMOSFET in the data sheet will work as a switch for my application?
Absolutely correct. With zero volts on the NMOSFET gate, the resistance between the drain and source will be very high (like a switch turned off) and with around 6V on the gate the resistance between the drain and source will be zero (essentially), like a switch turned on.
I'm completely new to any of this so I apologize in advance for repetitive or foolish questions (I should probably educate myself on this a tad more before bothering you guys).
Don't worry about that- you would hardly be asking for assistance if you were an electronics guru!
I have knocked-out the outline schematic below (based on assumptions) to illustrate the approach that I have in mind (pretty standard stuff) and I hope between us we can thrash out a detailed circuit to do your job. Most probably other members will also submit circuits/ideas so you may have a choice of approaches.
spec
Issue 02 of 2016_10_22