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Im asking this question to everyone but in particular to my friend here mister @marconi .
I am a professional artist but I am not an electronist like you guys here. That doesnt mean I dont know anything. I know something but I can't raise to some of your standards and knowledge. I'm happy (sometimes fun) to learn something new here and there.
- Recently, it was suggested to me to buy a frequency counter, because I got into some crystal oscillators I have in my stock and they have no markings anymore and the reason is a bit too long story. I already buy a cheap one from ebay, exactly this yellow version (not the red one)
Make a very simple test for me 1652601113433 - EletriciansForums.net
but it is on the road. I have about 2-3 months (usually) to wait, until it arrives.
I also have a dinky DSO138 osciloscope that is trembling of Parkinson all the time. So you can imagine, I can't put my 100% trust in it all the time.

So, my first circuit for testing a crystal oscillator I find is this:
"Oscillator Circuit of The First Quartz Wrist Watch"
Make a very simple test for me 1652601331786 - EletriciansForums.net

I had high hopes for this circuit. I used 10k for both Rc(c=collector) and 1k for both Re(e=emitor). And I used BC548 for both Tr.I used a known value of a Quartz of 20MHz. And I used 2V (VB=Voltage Battery). But the oscilloscope just showed me some very weird and random readings that I can not even put head to tail. I build this circuit on my breadboard, and that may had influence the results.

---So this circuit didn't work for me---. But I bet my as it must be a good one and I blame my DSO138 for being crappy.
And also not having (yet) a frequency counter.
- In short, this is more a curiosity for me. I hope it is for you as well.
- My request for you is to help me with the following:
- Because you are a better electronist, you must have better tools than I have. So, using your normal oscilloscope and your normal frequency counter, (I say normal, comparative to my ebay measuring tools), please make this very quick and simple circuit and measure it for me. And confirm to me with some images or a short video, that everything is working as I imagine and hope. It must be. The idea is to measure 20MHz on the "out" pin in respect to the ground (if you used the same values as I used). That's it. Also, feel free to change the resistors or the transistors. It must be GPT (general purpose transistors), but the resistors I used I just guessed their values. I didnt had the values from the page with the circuit. So I had to invent something. And those values are my best guess.
Thank you and hope to hear good news from you.
 
I think the problem is because you are using silicon transistors which have a higher base emitter conduction voltage (circa 0.7V) than germanium ones (circa 0.2V). The small difference matters when Vcc is only 2V. In the early days germanium was more common than silicon. With a low VB voltage of 2V the transistor BC548 may not be in the required operating zone.

Just to see if the circuit does oscillate replace the 2V battery with say 5V- 6V and tell me what happens and you see on your scope. Also check you have connected the power supply to the circuit correctly so that VB is positive and the ground rail is negative since the transistor is npn type.
 
Well that oscillator would be for series resonance between the two low-impedance emitter points of the two transistors. However, my immediate reaction to looking at the circuit is there is no attempt to stop DC positive feedback, so it could end up resting with one transistor saturated and the other cut-off. You might need to make the emitter resistors Re larger than the collector resistors Rc to stop that (i.e. so each transistor's DC gain is less than 1) and then rely on the crystal's series impedance being low enough that you have greater than unity AC gain for the oscillations to start.

A typical 20 MHz crystal would have a series resistance of something like 100R or that sort of order, so trying a swap with Rc = 1k and Re = 10k might be happy.

You also need to consider the loading of the scope, etc, on the collector of Tr2 as that will reduce the gain (if AC coupled) and possible impact on DC bias (if DC coupled). You might want to put a capacitor of some 1nF or whatever and a resistor of over 1k in series as a means of tapping off the signal without too much load. Or use a 3rd transistor as an emitter follower buffer (Tr3 collector to supply, Tr3 base to Tr2 collector, Tr3 emitter with 1k to 0V, output from Tr3 emitter via 56R and 1nF in series).
 
Incidentally you would not believe the number of different crystal oscillator circuits that have been developed over the years!

They span all sorts of different use-cases and part of that comes from the technology for amplification (thermionic valve where one is as much as you want, discrete transistors where over 2 is becoming a crowd, and IC with complexity as cheap), the frequency range needed (so low frequency has high Z crystal so high Z oscillator needed, but very high frequency means forcing resonance on an overtone via frequency-selective amplifier, etc) and the desired purity/stability of the output (typically meaning operating the crystal with a well-defined sine wave drive level and optimising the in-circuit Q factor).

Whole books have been written on the subject, for example:
 
That simple transistor multivibrator was probably running at a much lower frequency and might not be capable of operation at 20MHz due to lack of loop gain. Quartz watch crystals standardised on 32.768kHz very early on, I don't know what the 'first' one would have been but probably no higher in order to minimise dynamic power consumption.

As above there are many different circuits; I would not choose this one. Something like a pair of logic inverters would seem to offer more predictable results.

E2A A little googling suggests that the crystal in the first version of the 35SQ ran at 8.192kHz
 
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I did first @marconi suggestion since it was the simplest to make.
And the same result as before. I test it at 2V, at 5V, at 9V (from my VPSU (Variable power supply unit)) and the same output on all 3 = a flat line. Well, a Parkinson flat line.
Here is the prove:
I did the 2V test anyway, just for the sake of comparison. I do believe your idea with the germanium and silicon diferences. And I know it myself but I didnt think on it. On time. You were faster. Which is good.
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_125523 - EletriciansForums.net
The fall:
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_125539 - EletriciansForums.net
Do you see what I mean by Parkinson "flat" line? And that my DSO138 is dinky as hell?
You don't believe me. But Im telling and showing you.
You have EXCEPTIONAL osciloscopes compared with my dinki one here.
Anyway...
The rise:
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_125621b - EletriciansForums.net

Now at 5V
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_125652 - EletriciansForums.net
the fall and rise : (less than 1V)
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_125709 - EletriciansForums.net

and finally at 9V
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_125732 - EletriciansForums.net
the rise and fall:
notice this is spot on 1V - fix in the middle of the 2V per division square.
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_125755 - EletriciansForums.net

and my original circuit:
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_130953 - EletriciansForums.net
Im showing here how I connected the osc probes. Green link = poz + and yellow link = neg -.
This is still the original circuit.
Sorry for the blured camera but I dont have my other one at the moment.
I will now build and change the other recomandations !
 
As pointed out by @Lucien Nunes the original watch circuit would use a low frequency crystal.

These days they are all 2^15 = 32,768 Hz for ease of dividing to 1 Hz for counting seconds, etc, and are quite cheap and available in many places. The original choice might have been less as Lucian's points out in the days before dedicated IC dividers and each step was done by using separate parts.

Low frequency crystals are troublesome beasts, they can be large unless 'tuning fork' style, have a high series resistance and today you would struggle to find anything that is not a mass-market frequency. In the past we got custom crystals from the likes of McKnight Crystals in Southampton, England but that sort of small company has long gone as standard frequencies were all that most need due to frequency synthesisers and related microcontroller control, etc, became cheap and ubiquitous.

Your circuit, assuming ideal transistors, would present a negative resistance of around 2*Rc between the emitters (basically a delta-I current through the crystal products delta-I*Rc voltage on both emitters) so if you get a 32kHz watch crystal such as this:

The data sheet has its resistance as 35k Ohm max, however, you need a bit more than that to reliably start up so probably you would be looking at 100k for the Rc values.

To preserve DC stability you need Re to be greater than Rc, so you might be looking at 330k or similar, also to keep operating current down to prolong battery life and to avoid over-driving the crystal (no spec on data sheet for drive level unfortunately). With such high impedances you would need to make sure you don't load the collector too much to extract the signal, so either a buffer or a 100k resistor + coupling capacitor, etc.

Lucian also mentions about the transistor frequency response, that is important as it limits the frequency at which you can get useful gain and (less obviously) it is also current-dependent in the transistor. Looking up the BC548 data-sheet the fT is nominally 300MHz at 5V and 10mA, but could well be below 10MHz in this circuit, so a high frequency crystal may not work without pushing down R to get I up for the transistor.

@marconi also raised an important point about biasing, but with 2V and approx 0.7V (a little less at low currents) for the B-E junction you should be seeing around 0.1mA or so per transistor with Rc = 1k and Re = 10k (so fT probably around 20MHz, marginal here with 20MHz crystal). Hence if you want to use it at 20MHz you might be better to accept high current and not lithium cell powered and just set the supply to 5V and maybe drop emitter R to 2.2k
 
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...32,768 Hz ...
Damn. I made a big mistake. For some unexplicable reason I read the "20 000" marking on my OSX (crystal oscillator) as Mega. While it is 20 Kilo. Damn. And I can not EDIT the original post either to correct it... what a shame. Again, Im not working as often as you guys here, with these OSX's. My VERY simple goal here is to measure some Blank OSX's I have scrapped and collected for a long time. Blank = no markings, no letters or numbers on them. Simple. And quite recently I learned that I need a specialized tool for it, the frequency counter. That I am waiting for at the moment to arrive in couple of months. It would be good to be able to measure the fv only with the osciloscope, and I bet it is possible, but I am very sure not with what I have here.
That is a very nice book, by the way !
 
Hmmm, I just checked the other known values and I didnt give this much attention to this detail which is very important. Which are the Kilo and which are the Mega. I ASSUMMED "20 000" marking is Mega:
So this is the OSX I used so far in all my tests and circuits:
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_140541 - EletriciansForums.net
As you can clearly see it does not have a K or M indicator at the end. Thats why I assumed and now I think probably certainly wrongfully.
Because, I remember the Mega on some of my OSX's and I check it and I find one:
I know is not THAT visible but it is good enough. It says 27.000 MHz.
Make a very simple test for me IMG_20220515_140522 - EletriciansForums.net
So a "20 000" without the MHz specified in its end, it might simple be a 20 KiloHz.
Ha.... Right? I am thinking out loud here. Again, I am working with these components almost never. I am not used to them. I am not using them in my circuits that often. All that I used them for was for my PIC MCU external clock signal, and thats this shortcut term I borrowed from as well. Also I didnt used them for PIC's as often as well either. But I thought, to have a bunch of these OSX for some future experiments that never happened.
 
Damn. I made a big mistake. For some unexplicable reason I read the "20 000" marking on my OSX (crystal oscillator) as Mega. While it is 20 Kilo. Damn. And I can not EDIT the original post either to correct it... what a shame. Again, Im
A 20kHz crystal would be very unusual, especially in that sort of a package. I suspect 20MHz as you initially thought.
not working as often as you guys here, with these OSX's. My VERY simple goal here is to measure some Blank OSX's I have scrapped and collected for a long time. Blank = no markings, no letters or numbers on them. Simple. And quite recently I learned that I need a specialized tool for it, the frequency counter. That I am waiting for at the moment to arrive in couple of months. It would be good to be able to measure the fv only with the osciloscope, and I bet it is possible, but I am very sure not with what I have here.
If you can measure the time between successive edges with the scope then freq = 1 / time

However, most scopes are not very accurate at this, even the ones that have built-in capabilities to estimate frequency. You will get 0.1% or so accuracy often (i.e. 1E-3), not the 1ppm or better sort of thing you get from basic frequency counter (i.e. 1E-6) such as:

That is a very nice book, by the way !
It is handy, can't remember when I bought it but I thing a couple of decades ago. This presentation might be of some interest to you:
 
Looking up your DSO138 oscilloscope it appears to have a 200 kHz bandwidth so you simply will not see a 20MHz signal on it.

If you can get a watch crystal of 32,678Hz and try with higher resistance values to match that sort of crystal (suggested above) then you might see it.
 
Looking up your DSO138 oscilloscope it appears to have a 200 kHz bandwidth so you simply will not see a 20MHz signal on it.

If you can get a watch crystal of 32,678Hz and try with higher resistance values to match that sort of crystal (suggested above) then you might see it.
Very good idea and I didnt check it myself or try to learn this little detail about my scope. Very good that you check it for me. Excellent. Yes this make sense. The scope may be very much, very limited. As I anticipated without actually check it like you did. Like I said, very dinky. Haha. Hmmm, that makes a ton of sense. I will TRY to find - if im lucky something under 200kHz in my OSX (OScilator X=value) known values bag.
 
I have an Ingeeneerious idea !
Is there a way to SPLIT the fv of a BIGger OSX into a smaller fv? Just to bring it down under 200 kHz? Just enough to measure it with my dinky osc? Ha?
 
I did what you told me.
If you can get a watch crystal of 32,678Hz and try with higher resistance values to match that sort of crystal (suggested above) then you might see it.
Everything I USUALLY test, especially in low power electronics, signal or logic, I do it @ 5V from my varPSU. So now I test as well. I tested probably more than half of the OSX's I have, known and unknown values, and nothing showed on my DSO138 osc. I even have 4 of those cylindrical you showed me in your link, and nothing. They are (probably) too fast. Make a very simple test for me 1652616261216 - EletriciansForums.net

Edited:
- I still didnt managed to make your suggested circuit yet. I am very happy that I understand the limit of my osc now. Very happy. That 200kHz sais it all. It is dinky !!! And no matter what testing circuit I make, not even your suggested one, the osc will give me a finger either way.
So it was a very good step to do, in purchasing that fv counter I did some days ago. Which cost me 10$ by the way , comparative to 400$ from your link. But I WISH I have that 400$ one. This one will be another dinky 10$ ebay tool. Oh well, I dance with what I have, right?
 
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I have an Ingeeneerious idea !
Is there a way to SPLIT the fv of a BIGger OSX into a smaller fv? Just to bring it down under 200 kHz? Just enough to measure it with my dinky osc? Ha?
Yes, there are at least two ways to do that:
  • Heterodyne the unknown oscillator with a known one and then look for the sum or (more useful here) difference frequency
  • Use a divider chip to get a fraction of the oscillator frequency
In your case the divider option is far cheaper and easier to investigate. Look for the 74HC4060 as it will run 20MHz at 5V, is cheap, has a gate that makes for an easy oscillator circuit (or even as an input buffer/amplifier to take the signal from our transistor set-up) and offers divide ratios of 2^4 to 2^14 (with a one gap). So 20MHz comes out of the final stage as 1220Hz.
 
This data sheet as an example parallel resonance crystal oscillator in Fig 13:

For 20MHz or similar then R2 = 2.2k is reasonable. For 32kHz crystal then make R2 = 100k to 220k. Rbias should be 1M usually, but for 32kHz there is some advantage of using 10M (or 1M + 1M with small 1nF capacitor to ground from junction between them).
 
Look for the 74HC4060 ...

Well, is not practical. Your IC idea is good but is too late.
Because if I will buy this particular chip now, my fv counter will have been arrived until this chip arrives. What I mean, is there a common way, a circuit way, a easy-er way, a quick and dirty way, a rough approximation way? I really dont need the decimals after the dot. Just the big number and its good enough. So, can you find or think on a circuit from basic components or very common chips like 555 or opamps, that will successfully divide a fv ? This is what I mean. Also use that interesting book for this specific task.
 
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