...The radios we'll always remember

Programmable Oscillators - the modern day "rock"


Resources 0 Comments 12/343/2018  

What about the guy who needs a crystal to bring an old radio to life, or for a homebrew project?   The modern solulution is the programmable oscillator, which is an integrated crystal and PLL that is one-time programmed to your particular frequency from 1 to 125 MHz.  Frequency stability is +/- 50ppm from -20 to +70 degrees C and these are not just crystals, they're complete oscillators-on-a-chip.   All that's needed to obtain a 5 volt peak-to-peak output signal is power (+5 or 3.3VDC) at 45 mA and ground.   And enable pin makes it easy to turn these devices on off (i.e. keying).    They're available in several packages but the 8 pin DIP is a good choice for most ham projects as it can fit into a space no larger than an old style FT-243 crystal.