[time-nuts] Synchronisation of crystal oscillators

[John Moran, Scawby Design]

Since the answer to my original question of possible synchronisation was a reasonably resounding no, I started doing some design work and then got an off-post message from TVB suggesting the use of his neat PicDiv chips to divide all my crystals down to 1PPS.

On ordering a batch he came up with an even better idea - instead of using separate oscillators and dividers, how about trying to use the oscillator circuitry built into micros to drive the crystal and then program the micro to divide it down to 1PPS (and also output a buffered crystal signal on another pin). So, I will be looking at using MSP430 micros to perform this trick and keep you informed of progress.

Obviously, this isn't a hyper-precision TimeNut type 1PPS but it should all look interesting and may show whether synchronisation can happen or not at these low frequencies.

Plus, some of these crystals were classed as Master crystals in their old Telecom days so when I finally arrange to pick up my HP5370A from gandalf9 I will be able to see how they perform. I will let you know.

John