Make sure your test equipment is handy, then give this video series about crystal oscillators a spin. [Shahriar] of the Signal Path Blog put together a four-part video blog post totaling about an hour. In the discussion he covers the ins and outs of crystal oscillators and ring oscillators. His focus is on how these parts are used as timekeeping devices for microcontrollers. This isn’t a lecture that skims the surface of the topic, it takes you down the rabbit hole, discussing theory, how the devices are built, how to use them, and the pitfalls of doing so.

Our favorite part is in the fourth segment when [Shahriar] measures the effect that temperature has on crystals by spraying them with an inverted compressed air canister. We always thought we were just screwing around when freezing stuff like that. It didn’t occur to us that we were conducting serious experiments.

We’ve embedded the first segment of the video after the break. Continue reading “Gain Wizardly Knowledge About Crystals” →