[time-nuts] Bye-Bye Crystals

[jimlux]

On 3/14/17 5:04 AM, Bob Camp wrote:
> Hi
>
>> The cost difference between a complete oscillator package and a simple
>> crystal is tiny.  The osc is often cheaper if you include board space or
>> engineering time.
>
> Purchased in volume, the difference it the price of a crystal vs a complete XO
> is enormous. You will see at least a 10:1 cost savings on the crystal and likely
> more than that.  Simply attaching a crystal to the internal oscillator inside a
> chip is nearly zero engineering cost.  If your product is cost sensitive and
> not super tight tolerance … you go with the crystal.
>

And that crystal business (gazillions of inexpensive 16 MHz crystals) is 
very different from making an approximately 12 MHz crystal used in a 
VCXO that will be FMed and multiplied up by 36 to make a 430 MHz 
transmitter, oh, and that matches whatever temperature compensation 
scheme GE used in 1970.