[time-nuts] Bye-Bye Crystals

Magnus Danielson magnus at rubidium.dyndns.org
Tue Mar 14 08:39:02 EDT 2017


Hi,

Some claims that MEMS will kill crystals. It will surely eat a good 
market share, but I think there is applications where MEMS is not mature 
enough compared to crystals.

Another aspect is that various forms of synthesis technologies now 
exists, so that a high frequency CMOS oscillator is locked and divided 
down. Works sufficiently well for a whole bunch of applications.

Again, your milage may vary and there is applications where you need the 
real deal or the right stuff.

Cheers,
Magnus


On 03/14/2017 01:06 PM, Bob Camp wrote:
> Hi
>
>> On Mar 14, 2017, at 3:19 AM, Chris Albertson <albertson.chris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I think what he means is that the typical device sold today has four
>> terminals not two.  It looks like a crystal because it is inside a
>> little silver can but has four lead wires Power, ground and "output"
>> and the fourth lead might not be used.  It is an "XO" not an "X".
>>
>> But I argue that every one of these device has a crystal inside.  So
>> they still make crystals, just you don't see them
>
> These days, they may well have a MEMS resonator in them. No quartz and
> no crystal. Good luck on the close in noise if that’s what they are doing ….
>
> Bob
>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 13, 2017 at 12:07 AM, Bryan _ <bpl521 at outlook.com> wrote:
>>> sorry, what do you mean by "complete oscillator" have outnumbered loose crystals?
>>>
>>>
>>> -=Bryan=-
>>>
>>>
>>> ________________________________
>>> From: time-nuts <time-nuts-bounces at febo.com> on behalf of Richard (Rick) Karlquist <richard at karlquist.com>
>>> Sent: March 12, 2017 4:38 PM
>>> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
>>> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Bye-Bye Crystals
>>>
>>> I got a job in 1975 to design Konel's first synthesized radio, which
>>> was to obsolete their crystal controlled radios.  That's over 40 years
>>> ago.  The other trend (not mentioned) is that since 20 years ago or
>>> so, complete oscillator sales have vastly outnumbered sales of loose
>>> crystals.
>>>
>>> Rick N6RK
>>>
>>> On 3/11/2017 8:51 PM, Bob Camp wrote:
>>>> Hi
>>>>
>>>> International’s main business  was re-channeling non-synthesized radios and replacing
>>>> broken crystals in various pieces of com gear. It’s been a *lot* of years since the last of the
>>>> non-synthesized radios came out. The business probably has been dropping off pretty steadily
>>>> for many years …
>>>>
>>>> Bob
>>>>
>>>>> On Mar 11, 2017, at 10:39 PM, jimlux <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> On 3/11/17 4:30 PM, Scott McGrath wrote:
>>>>>> From the tone of the letter it sounds like the bank cancelled line of credit,
>>>>>
>>>>> Or, he wants to retire and nobody wants to carry it on.  His dad started it in 1950, the son picked it up in 1970.  It's 47 years later.
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Which is stupid given that much of their line is military which is getting a huge boost in spending
>>>>>
>>>>> Plenty of other crystal and oscillator manufacturers around.
>>>>>
>>>>> There's also a change in what kinds of crystals are needed.   I suspect most things being built and designed today use the crystal as a "master oscillator" that is used to drive some sort of synthesis chain. The need for "I have to have a 12.345,324 Hz crystal" is going away.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Mar 11, 2017, at 4:56 PM, Bryan _ <bpl521 at outlook.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Disappearing or manufacturing just moving overseas?. Video at the bottom is interesting, classic.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://hackaday.com/2017/03/11/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-crystals/
>>> [https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVF.LElrlkkbByR3K%2f6qfaeHjg&pid=Api]<http://hackaday.com/2017/03/11/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-crystals/>
>>>
>>> So Long, and Thanks for all the Crystals<http://hackaday.com/2017/03/11/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-crystals/>
>>> hackaday.com
>>> There was a time when anyone involved with radio transmitting -- ham operators, CB'ers, scanner enthusiasts, or remote control model fans -- had a collection of ...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -=Bryan=-
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>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Chris Albertson
>> Redondo Beach, California
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