The Crystal Oscillator and Frequency Division

In this video, Paul explains how to make a simple crystal oscillator, buffer and frequency division chain. This can be used for many different applications, IE: frequency standards, clocks, frequency counters and more. This is the second video in a series on how to build a Nixie tube frequency counter. See below for the first video in this series.
First video in the series:
• The NIXIE Tube, and Ho...

[@brunofonseca9686]

Thanks for the knowledge. Your teaching approach is out of this world. PLEASE DO THE HIGH VOLTAGE POWER SUPPLY VIDEOS!

[@harindugamlath]

Totally agree! Please Please Please!!!

[@GrandsonofKong]

Double DITTO to the above!

[@scottjacko87]

I'd be keen for the HV supply stuff

[@marco56702]

Totally agree!

[@tchristell]

Another vote for HV!

[@alpagutsencer]

hi paul, honestly your videos becomes a some kind of curative medicine these days. Thanks man for your labor.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Glad your enjoying! Thanks for your comment.

[@absurdengineering]

I agree. The content is a de-stresser extraordinaire. Magic. I never thought EE content could be so relaxing and yet powerfully informative. I probably sound like a broken record by now, but you’re doing an absurdly good job with these videos, Mr. C. It’s a good decade above lots of other good YT stuff on the scale.

[@sarahhoward9081]

Strange days indeed! Said John Lennon;)

[@toddanonymous5295]

Mr Carlson, I must confess that I always hit thumbs up on your videos at the beginning. You have never let me down. Your videos are priceless

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Todd!

[@wsender]

Absolute 100% on the HV supply. I'm really curious to learn more about those. Keep up the great content!

[@papaluvspi]

You break this stuff down so well I actually begin to believe I can grasp it at times. Very encouraging! Yes please to HV supply series. Yes please to oven circuits. Thank you.

[@optimus_lion]

The sound is always spot on my crappy audio setup never clips no matter how loud I go... most impressive Mr Carlson! Thanks!

[@seemeknowme]

The "Digital Dial" is definitely my next project! For a long time, I was not convinced that it was within my skill level being discrete logic, but the way you explain it all makes it very easy to understand! Excellent work as always!

[@davecompton8414]

Hi Mr. Carlson! This is the first time I've written but I've been watching your videos for a while now. I always give thumbs up. Would love a series on high voltage. Thanks a million for what you do!

[@rciancia]

Great video Paul.. Good to see you posting again - as always love your informative videos and truly appreciate the time you put into them. Its not easy so thank you .. Ron

[@jamesharris9352]

WOW!!! 😯👍 Finally! Someone Who Not Only Builds Electronic Circuits. Yet,... Whom Also Teaches Others, How To Build The Same Exact Circuit In Great Detail!... SO! VERY! AWESOME! 😉👍 Blessings New Subscriber: James Harris... Thank You Paul! 🤗

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks for your kind comment James, and welcome aboard!

[@ianbutler1983]

Paul, You are a gifted teacher. You seem to anticipate my every question and answer it. I understand almost everything you teach. Thank you.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Ian, glad your enjoying!

[@gandalf87264]

How about a 32.768k crystal driving a 74HC04 which clocks a CD4020 to divide the frequency down to 1hZ. Then clock a CD4040 with that to drive a CD 4515. That's just another way you can do it. It was constantly rubbed into us at university how critical decoupling/bypass capacitors are and to have them as close to the chip as possible. I will never forget it. The professor was a great teacher. It's probably the only reason I graduated.

[@mryoureauser6723]

Just add another div/100 on the 4Mhz chain. Would that be worse to have 4 then?

[@allanseward7293]

Anxious to see your videos on high voltage PS and the oven circuit. Really enjoy your videos!

[@W1RMD]

Since I had to do quite a bit of research and I am grateful to Mr. Carlson for giving us this project, here is to clear up any confusion about the 74HC390 counter ic. Divide by 2: Input pin 1 Output pin 3 Ground pins 2,4,8,12,14,15 Divide by 4: Input pin 1 Output pin 13 Connect together 12&14, 3&15 Ground pins 2,4,8,12,14 Divide by 5: Input pin 4 Output pin 7 Ground pins 1,2,8,12,14,15 Divide by 10: Input pin 1 Output pin 7 Connect pins 3&4 Ground pins 2,8,12,14,15 Divide by 20: Input pin 1 Output pin 13 Connect pins 3&4, 7&15 Ground pins 2,8,12,14 Divide by 25: Input pin 4 Output pin 9 Connect pins 7&12 Ground pins 1,2,8,14,15 Divide by 50: Input pin 12 Output pin 7 Connect pins 1&9, 3&4 Ground pins 2,8,14,15 Divide by 100 Input pin 12 Output pin 3 Connect 9&15, 1&7, 4&13 Ground pins 2,8,14 Also note that pin 8 is always ground and pin 16 is Vcc (+5 Vdc)

[@TheTsunamijuan]

yes please, More videos. I have been looking forward to more content from you.

[@BigTone0777]

Very informative video as always. My appetite for learning electronics keeps growing with each of your videos that I watch! I would love to see a series on high voltage supplys too. Looking forward to the next instalment 👍

[@Vinceguy000]

Mr. Carlson you are the man!

[@cassvirgillo3395]

Hi Paul, Excellent video and explanation. Always a pleasure to watch and learn. Take care, C.

[@5Perf65mm]

The high voltage design/construction series would be great! I really enjoy learning from your excellent videos.

[@CT1JRZ]

Impossible not to see your videos! Thanks Paul, for sharing so many knowledge. All the best Victor

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Victor!

[@litefoot900]

By far the best educator on youtube, the time you take to produce these gems is very much appreciated. Please keep them coming. kind regards from Scotland.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Glad your enjoying! Thanks!

[@Max9507]

Awesome idea Mr Carlson, step up transformer theory for old car radios is a fascinating subject. Really enjoyed the repair video on that Ford radio, old car radios are built like tanks and have very sensitive receivers. Thanks and keep up the great work, you are a fine engineer & educator.

The timer IC 555, originally developed from the Swiss Hans Camenzind. Simply but effectively demonstrates, thank you so much!

[@nando_br]

Nice explanation. You show us a huge knowledge in simple words!

[@owenaero]

I love the way your videos are broken down and well explained as well interested in the mechanical rectifier

[@lmaoroflcopter]

definitely interested in HV supply! love watching your videos, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@skycarl]

Wow Paul, this is great. And I am sure I am not alone when I say It would be great to learn how you build a high voltage supply. Thanks as always. Carl

[@TheCrawlingBananas]

Hi Paul! Thanks for the wonderful presentation as always! I'd be 'highly' interested in a high voltage power supply series! Cheers!

[@valordk]

Really nice multi-tutorial. Thanks for having us at the lab today.

[@harveyellis6758]

Another excellent video! Thanks for all the work you do prepare and share.

[@llsdigitek]

Paul, Another Mighty fine video... Looking forward to the HV switcher video... Ya make my day with these videos for an old retired engineer. So much so ya have sparked me up to refurb my lab with HP test equipment and get super active! Many Thanks !!! Lloyd-DigiTek-WA9NLA

[@jose_simon]

Great video, as expected. Love the frequency standards subject!!

[@andrec9186]

Hello, you really have a way to explained so we can understand easilly. I really like all your videos and I play them all the time to show my friends how good you are. Keep doing some more interresting videos.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Andre!

[@DanafoxyVixen]

Definitely keen on a video dealing with HV power supply's and Vibrator supply's. Keep up the great videos!

[@VeryMuchBlessed]

Excellent instructional video. Just what I needed to design my custom oscillator. Thanks much.

[@mirkomueller3412]

Another excellent video - looking forward to the next one !!!

[@SquantoTerror]

Another great video! Great instruction style. I always get excited when there's a new video out from Mr. C's Lab! Thanks so much for sharing. And yes, I would love to see some HV power supply vids...

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Glad your enjoying!

[@sean999ification]

Very high quality content as usual. I need a hv power supply because I've bought a load of nixie tubes now! Thanks for all your stuff.

[@konradkubit6525]

Hi Paul, Very nice video as always from you I like your clear way of explaining things. THanksaT

[@hydrolisk1792]

I want to see more Paul! This is an awesome series and I'm starting to learn a lot more than I already knew about frequency counters!! May try and make my own version following your series since I have a ton of 74 series logic chips laying around!

[@PelDaddy]

Thanks for sharing. Nice tip about centering the trimmer cap for future drift.

[@kosimov1]

As you mentioned in this video, I am writing to say that I would really enjoy video(S) about old car radios. Especially, I am intrigued about "mechanical rectifiers, which you mentioned in this video. I think I can imagine how it would work, but your way of explaining things would probably be better than I could figure out! I am a fan of you, so do a good job! (I just threw that in to get jollies. I am handicapped so I don't get out much). (Before I'm done with KZbin, I'll probably read EVERY WORTHWHILE VIDEO here! Maybe I ought to download them!)

[@1604max1979]

A video series on high voltage power supply's would be an interesting topic to follow. You are doing great!!

[@williamna5800]

I love this channel. Great work and thanks!

[@bobstevens8388]

Great job. Thanks. Yes to all possible diversions. I learn from every video.

[@moesella3542]

Excellent way of teaching with passion, Thank you very much for your time and efforts.....

[@esnam6557]

Thank you very much for delivering the steps very clear. HV Power supply video will be as interesting and useful as this one for sure.

[@therealtime-o]

So nice to hear that you wanna make a series in high voltage power supplies. I'm interested in nixie tubes in combination with arduino / raspi. Its so hard to find a (simple and easy) stepup from 5V or even 3V to (more than) 190 V. Thumbs up to your Videos and sharing your knowledge with us!

[@FlyingShotsman]

Great stuff Paul; you're a wonderful teacher. Many thanks. Please add my vote for the HV PSU and OCXO videos.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks!

[@intotheblue50]

Really enjoyed this video, thanks. More please.

[@larryk4mu240]

Hi Paul, Excellent series. Very enjoyable, I’ve started collecting parts for the project. 73

[@TheRadioShop]

Paul that was fun to watch. You really sparked my interest on this one. I have lots of those chips sitting around here, Off for four days so may just go ahead and build the circuit up. Will be fun the play with. Got to get on line and find me some nixies. Thanks for sharing and always interested in what ever series in the future you come up with. Buddy

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Buddy!

[@evanrenberg2682]

Yes, please do a series on HV power supplies Mr. Carlson! 👍🏻

[@priestblood]

Great video Paul very useful circuit looking forward to the next part

[@materialsguy2002]

Great video, Paul. I am on board for this project. Thanks!

[@BrokebackBob]

Paul you are the Gold Standard 😁

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Bob!

[@roymercer9065]

Sir you have a natural aptitude for teaching! I very much enjoy your videos. I would love to see something from you on OCXO's. A bonus would be how to control it with a GPS to make a 10 MHz GPSDO to use as a test equipment reference.

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Roy!

[@pneumatic00]

Always enjoy your videos, Paul! Last weekend I got two kewl Hewlett Packard pieces really cheap because they weren't working. A hp 711A which is a 500 volt 100 ma bench supply that I have wanted for a long time because it is small and will fit under the "monitor bridge" on my bench. (I also have a Fluke 407 which is an excellent p/s 550v @ 300 mils but a brute! I used to have a Lambda 71 like yours, also a brute, but it got grossly damaged in shipping and it had a lot of hard to source parts in it so I junked it.) The hp 711A was a great big $5. While I was at the seller's place he brought out a hp 521 which is a 4-place decade counter with the 4 x 12AU7 (5963) tube plug in decades. Always wanted one of those, for no good reason, but for $10 I didn't have to think about it very hard. So I get them home and gradually variac them up...and after a few hours of ramping up the line volts, they sort of worked, sort of didn't. Power supply only went up to 270, counter was frozen. So I opened them up. I remembered in another video you pointed out bumble-bee tubular caps as "always suspect". Each item had (only) 2-3-4 of those and after lifting one end, half of them in fact measured leaky. I shotgun replaced them all and both pieces began working fine, needing only minor adjustment. Power supply now makes 530, counter self-tests good. I will cook them for a while before pronouncing them fixed, but the before/after difference was quite obvious just from those caps. So that was great advice on those bumblebees and I thank you!

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Glad you got that equipment working. You have some nice older stuff there!

[@nickzambrano]

Yes a video series on oven controlled oscillator design would be awesome!

[@emilalmberg1096]

I will gladly follow your build of an frequency counter!

[@hassanburrows8535]

Yes please Paul for the HT supplies, especially if you can pull up something on the old automotive units that would be fantastic. My declared interest here is generating ringing current for old polarised bells in telephone instruments, and some small exchanges did deploy vibrating reeds feeding into a step up transformer. Excellent videos as usual. Many thanks for your continued efforts. Saludos.

[@Cordiaturbo]

Loving the videos, Big thumbs up.

[@pkplexing]

Another champion video, I would be keen on seeing your oven controlled oscillator gizmo, and pretty much any other video in which you describe your designs or how things work. Keep up the deluxe work :)

[@GazChamber]

I most certainly would appreciate a video on designing high voltage supply for this project per your comment in the video. I would also be interested to see you discuss constant current sources (sources, sinks, etc.). Thanks!

[@AHLAudio]

great!looking forward next video, awesome work

[@dennisgouveadeazevedo6238]

Hi there Mr Carlson, Long time first time... I actually enjoy your videos a lot, even though I'm a vacuum tube guy. I for one would be very interested in those high voltage power supplies. Thanks for sharing the good stuff, Dennis G.

[@old64goat]

Great video Paul!

[@billmoran3812]

Hi Paul, I've been scratching my head for a while on this whole issue of frequency division. Although I've watched many of your videos, I must have missed this one. It's exactly what I was looking for! I want to use the 1 Hz signal from a GPS receiver to keep a 10 MHz frequency standard from drifting over time. Commercially produced GPSDO's are very expensive. I'm trying to develop one that is accurate, but not too costly. Off to order some IC's !

[@rollerbald]

Very interesting video Paul - thanks for posting. I always learn something from you. Will be looking forward to the next one. 73, Bill

[@sextus]

Lots of great knowledge here.Thanks!

[@richardabrey]

i am loving your videos, keep up the great work

[@thomasboos2470]

Enjoyed again a great video from you and I hope to see soon a diy OCX :)

[@TRXLab]

excellent tutorial Paul! Thanks for sharing . Take care 73

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Peter!

[@Cesarsound1]

Very good explanation, thank you.

[@x_ph1l]

Awesome video! It would be very interesting to see the ovenized oscillator built. Thanks a lot!

[@donaldfilbert4832]

Great video Paul! I would be interested in seeing the HV supplies.

[@ishimwehonore7436]

Mr Carlson I appreciate you are good teacher thank u god bless u

[@spbnick]

I too would be interested in the HV supply video. The heated oscillator video would be interesting too, but I'd rather see the project reach functionality first, and then have additional videos on improvements.

[@TimothyK4TEP]

I look forward to your next video Enjoyed watching your videos

[@jimadams2473]

Another GREAT video. Thanks

[@LeapFrog_Radio]

High Voltage Supplies, Yes Please!! Thank You Paul, another great video as always. 73 -"LeapFrog"

[@christopheralbano3570]

I would love to see a series on HV power supplies. It would be especially nice to see more concrete examples of effective methods for decoupling your HV systems from your LV control systems, and go into the theory a bit.

[@ianide2480]

I've been looking forward to this video, make more of them faster!! heh. Having made a few counters for % displays for PWM controllers, I have to say that using an Attiny for pulses to control the driver chip is my preferred method... Anyhow.. great video, I am looking forward to seeing more on this series.

[@hankbizzo5]

Thank you for the great educational videos..

[@kas1nova1]

Your work is awesome, thank you!

[@dave858man2]

yes I would be interested in seeing the high voltage supply and the oven please love your channel

[@markspc1]

Nice video. Impressive lab !

[@JBFLY89]

Definitely interested in a series on high voltage power supplies!

[@harindugamlath]

I cannot thank you enough! Please do the oven controlled oscillator part too.

[@DMckee-pb7jr]

Another good video! Please do the other videos as you suggest. I'm interested in temperature controlled oscillators for a local/UTC clock for the ham shack. Thanks and keep up the good work.

[@Hogkat]

Great vid Paul. I am following it and also am going to build it to as you go along. I changed the 555 with the clock that you have with the 4017 and waiting for the next vid so I can learn some more and burn my fingers :) Great video as always 73 untile next vid

[@Hogkat]

Paul I got it wrong lol sorry for the confusion the 4017 is to drive the nixie and the 74HC04 is for the clock with the 74HC390's my failt

[@martymcgill1312]

Seek, and you shall find .. great info Paul. Thanks

[@berndreiner7159]

i love your videos... just great and amazing how you explain electronics and your how to and repair videos... thumbs up 👍👍 keep doing this greets

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Bernd!

[@MrArfisher]

Thanks,Paul, high voltage power supplies for the old farm radios,as well, would be great to know more about.

[@berniken6511]

ovenised? yes please Paul. Thank you for this frequency counter series, brilliant. .................Berni

[@NivagSwerdna]

@4:32 Definitely nice to see a nixie power supply design. There seem to be many variants of designs on the internet so some ideas around why a particular design works would be very interesting

[@TheRangerDale]

Yes paul enjoy the flick very clear to understand. Yes Paul I would like to Follow along with you on the Temp control Heater Idea.like always thank you for your Efforts of understanding and knowledge .73's paul

[@MrCarlsonsLab]

Thanks Dale!

[@morlanius]

I wish I could have given you 2 thumbs up mate, thanks!

[@Sockkerbagarn]

Hi! Another good video! I would like to se a video on both oven controlled oscillators and high voltage supplies. The interesting mechanical rectifiers you said something about would also be interesting. All vintage, and mostly forgotten technology is interesting!

[@RagnarEE]

Temperature stable oscillators is also interesting. Thums up for that :) I actualy dont think you have to ask anyone about making a video if you know you have a good idea. Just make it :D. Its WERY easy to understand your videos. Thanks for that :))))