Crystal Spotter

Kitted and Offered For Sale By
The Four State QRP Group

Designed by Jim Giammanco, N5IB

Designed by Jim Giammanco, N5IB, the Crystal Spotter uses a classic Pierce oscillator circuit to produce a signal at the series resonant frequency of a quartz crystal.  The signal can be heard in a nearby receiver without any electrical connection to the receiver.  It is useful for locating a crystal's operating frequency in uncalibrated receivers, or for checking whether a crystal is active.

This low cost kit sacrifices nothing in the way of quality.  It features a high quality printed circuit board, with clear silkscreened labelling to aid the builder.  There are only 14 components, all of which are conventional through-hole parts.

The construction is "Pittsburg Style" in which the components are soldered onto pads on the top side of the circuit board.  This method permits the bottom side to be a continuous, unbroken ground plane, with no protruding wire leads.  The board can rest on a metal work surface or reside in a metal enclosure without risk of shorting anything out.

First time builders please note:  This kit is easy to build, there are NO tiny surface mount parts, and there is lots of room on the board.  The only tools needed are a low wattage soldering iron, and some small long nosed pliers and wire cutters.  The builder need only provide a 9 volt battery.