Fundamental Crystals 62.4MHz

[X-Rated]

Ho hum. It's just crystal talk, but I just received in my hands some fundamental oscillation mode crystals at 62.4MHz. About 20 years ago, I remember my boss saying that fundamental crystals would never be higher than 25 to 30 MHz. Then, we sold 48MHz crystals about 6 years ago. Now these are up to 62.4MHz.

I hooked a crystal up to the network analyzer without a load and got this result...

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m165/n9xr/62mhzxtal.jpg

I hooked a crystal up to the network analyzer with a load and got this result...

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m165/n9xr/62mhzxtalloaded.jpg

Pretty farm out. I don't know how long it will be before we have fundamental 2M crystals.

These crystals are in the 3.2 x 2.5mm package, but industrious hams can solder to these surface mount parts and make them leaded for that strange project.

I will have fun today checking these parts out. Over 6 femto farads, so it will pull out a ways. Many of my crystals today have a motional capacitance of 1.5 femto farads. Just can't pull those.

[WØTKX]

Teeny Weeny. Making crystals by manipulating individual atoms may be next, eh?

[N2CHX]

That's pretty cool.

[PA5COR]

A far cry from grinding my own old xtals to the frequency needed... long long ago...

[N2CHX]

A far cry from grinding my own old xtals to the frequency needed... long long ago...

I used to do that. My first transmitter was a Viking Challenger. I ground a few crystals up out of the lower portion of the band and into the Novice band where I could operate on 40 meters. Ruined some too, as I recall. :-?

[K7SGJ]

I used to do that. My first transmitter was a Viking Challenger. I ground a few crystals up out of the lower portion of the band and into the Novice band where I could operate on 40 meters. Ruined some too, as I recall. :-?


I don't know about you, but is seemed like for every successful grind, two hit the shit can. Boy, I had enough empty FT243 holders to choke a horse.

[N2CHX]

I don't know about you, but is seemed like for every successful grind, two hit the shit can. Boy, I had enough empty FT243 holders to choke a horse.

That's probably about right. I had a ton of those FT-243's as well but most of them were useless to me my first year, either above or below the novice band. You could try to bend them lower with pencil lead too, but I think I maybe got that to work once and only by a kHz or so. I seem to remember the novice band starting higher up back then too. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, this was actually kind of significant for me because the frustration with a lack of operating frequencies and trying to morph FT-243's was what made me upgrade. I never did bother to go past General though. I probably never will, just because too many Extra class operators were/are just so damn snobby about it. I kind of like the fact that it bothers some people that I've been licensed since 1984 and am still "only" a General. Kinda like SBE certification.

"I'm a CSRE! Look at meeeeeeeeee!"

Yeah? You're still an asshole and you still can't fix a transmitter to save your life, so what?

[X-Rated]

I don't know about you, but is seemed like for every successful grind, two hit the shit can. Boy, I had enough empty FT243 holders to choke a horse.

I was fortunate, I guess. When I got my big Johnson (Viking Ranger), it came with some Novice Crystals. But I had to tear them down to see what was inside. Springs and crap. Pretty cool. Little did I know that someday...

[N2CHX]

I was fortunate, I guess. When I got my big Johnson (Viking Ranger), it came with some Novice Crystals. But I had to tear them down to see what was inside. Springs and crap. Pretty cool. Little did I know that someday...

Heh, more than once, I sent metal plates, springs and pieces of quartz flying around my bedroom. Not on purpose, mind you.

[K7SGJ]

Did you ever build one of those vari-xtal by putting threading the FT243 case with a 4-40 thread, running a screw through the case, putting a knob on the screw shaft, (heh heh heh, I said knob, screw, and shaft) and shifting frequency a bit by varying the pressure on the spring plate? Never worked worth a shit, but it was fun to experiment. Hell, you could get into most anything back then by removing a few screws. Now everything is so GD small, you need a 100x microscope just to see it. Bastids

[NQ6U]

Kelli, what do the red traces on those network analyzer plots represent?

[N2CHX]

Did you ever build one of those vari-xtal by putting threading the FT243 case with a 4-40 thread, running a screw through the case, putting a knob on the screw shaft, (heh heh heh, I said knob, screw, and shaft) and shifting frequency a bit by varying the pressure on the spring plate? Never worked worth a shit, but it was fun to experiment. Hell, you could get into most anything back then by removing a few screws. Now everything is so GD small, you need a 100x microscope just to see it. Bastids

LOL never tried that. I did try variable capacitors and stuff like that though, with not enough success to bother with. Most memorable thing from that Viking Challenger was my wheaten tiger cat who liked to sleep on it. One day he apparently got a bit too warm because he came off the thing with little brown dots all over one side of him where the heat turned his cream colored fur that was sticking through the vent holes, brown. :lol:

[K7SGJ]

I'd have to have renamed him spot.

[N2CHX]

Kelli, what do the red traces on those network analyzer plots represent?

Never used a network analyzer to measure a crystal but I'm going to guess phase angle.

[N2CHX]

I'd have to have renamed him spot.

Egnog was the coolest cat ever. Yes, Egnog. Eggnog minus a g. I never did claim to be a normal child or normal anything for that matter.

[K7SGJ]

Egnog was the coolest cat ever. Yes, Egnog. Eggnog minus a g. I never did claim to be a normal child or normal anything for that matter.

But, you are sure it was a cat, right?

[N2CHX]

But, you are sure it was a cat, right?

As far as I know lol