#123

[@kamurashev]

Almost exactly how I did it back in the days. I used a 8-12mm drill bit sharpened as a trident so that the central pin was a very bit longer than the side ones. It allowed the bit to center itself when operating. I used a simple hand operated drill to cut stuff. Later I switched to a piece of hacksaw blade sharply broken so that I could cut the rectangulars. I was 14-16 when I did the most of my experiments. Before the things went so messed up. And now I don't even have time for it which makes me feel really bad. I'm just working and working for my family to have a roof above their heads. After we had to storm out when that hell in Ukraine started. Thanks for the videos again - it's like a fresh air breath.

[@SuburbanDon]

Whenever I'm feeling down I watch a W2AEW video and the world doesn't seem so bad anymore. Thanks for all of these great video's you've made.

[@w2aew]

W2AEW video therapy - love it!

[@marcosbarros8069]

I've worked most of my life with crystal oscillators, but never came across such a handy construction style: Manhattan! Great, and thank you!

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

Really useful video thank-you. Rarely can you see a video which takes you through all the stages from schematic to function. Great!

[@NewbergUSA]

Thanks for the excellent video example and explanation. Caused me to watch some of your other videos. Built the ckt and it works well with xtals in the 2.5-13mhz range. I wanted a 1mhz crystal calibrator and found I needed to change some values to get it to oscillate at 1mhz. Changed the 10k base to gnd to 6.8k. Changed 470pf B-E cap to .005uf. Changed 470pf Base to gnd to 820pf (a .001uf would probably work too). Works great. Now installed in a DX-160.

[@delron44]

superb vid, was looking for a 6 mhz colpitts, worked first time, thank you for posting.

[@mheermance]

This was extremely helpful. I have been thinking about building some RF circuits and heard that Manhattan style construction was a good choice. So this was a good overview of the technique.

[@cymeriandesigns]

This was great. I've been looking for a video that went thru the whole process of a Manhattan style circuit construction. Thanks so much for making it.

[@dancross2089]

FYI, something I've found helps with the "grabbing" problem: take a slightly damp paper towel, put it on the drill press's table and then set the circuit board material on top of it. The moisture in the paper towel makes the entire apparatus much steadier which helps with drilling the islands; It also makes cleanup a snap.

[@w2aew]

Nice tip - I like it!

[@dancross2089]

Thanks! I love your videos and always come away from watching them feeling like I've learned a tremendous amount. 73 de AC2OI

[@urugulu1656]

thats actually similar to what professional Chefs do to avoid their cutting boards slip all over the place

[@sidewinderam9m]

I used to painstakingly cut tracks in a circuit board with about a 3mm diameter diamond wheel bit but this looks way easier. Diamond holesaws can be purchased pretty cheap on eBay. Thanks for the video.

[@LEDbulbumr5571]

I think this is the one of the best KZbin video channel for radio amateurs best 73s AP2GA

[@Tom-q9h7l]

Rather the worst...

[@alijabari8715]

what an interesting methode! every time I come here I learn new things from you thank you for sharing these things :)

[@matthehat]

That nixie tube frequency counter is gorgeous!

[@w2aew]

Thanks - that's one of favorite pieces of equipment!

[@chemicalvamp]

I have never seen anybody assemble a circuit board like this. Very cool, And for how old this video is, you must have had a serious camera.

[@andymouse]

Never seen this style in action, great video !....cheers.

[@robertcalkjr.8325]

Thanks Alan! I am tired of Chinese companies locking MC's so that I can't save the data to program a new MC if for some reason the one in the device gets knocked out. So I built one of these Colpitts oscillator's to test crystals with! I have a whole bunch of 2N2222A's, so I used them. According to the datasheet, the 2222A has 50MHz higher transition frequency and 5pF less input capacitance than the 2222. It is working great!

[@ve6kk]

Just saw this Alan; I wish I had it for tech students doing RF projects - excellent, exactly as it should be done. Another method - I got a metal punch to make and glue PCB islands to the board but it is not as easy or nice looking. Always a pleasure to watch. We use your videos now for our ham classes. One habit though that I encourage is to connect ground clips first - to prevent ESD and also surprises when measuring HV. Cheers

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

I have only just started having a go at building RF circuits using islands or pads. So far, I have found some pros and cons with each method. The pads have lots of advantages as they are easy and quick to glue onto the copper clad board. They can also be moved or removed if required. Additionally, they help to raise the components off the surface slightly (reduces risk of shorting to ground) and helps to keep lead lengths really short (reduces unwanted capacitance and inductance). You can also use very small pads that take up less space than islands. The disadvantages are that you have to make or buy the pads. Also, if you pull, twist or bend leads of components already soldered to a pad, it can become unstuck. So, obviously, big advantage of the islands is that they are permanent (though this may be a disadvantage during development) and, once you have a cutter you can drill as many as you like (at least until the cutter wears out). Use the method you are happy with or best suits the task I suppose. Just some thoughts on what I had found so far and certainly welcome any thoughts on pads vs islands.

[@byronwatkins2565]

I haven't seen this prototyping method before. I can see definite advantages since every node except ground is a star.

[@rickvia8435]

Great stuff. Just a tiny bit of crossover on the + side.

[@joshbowman4060]

Thanks for posting that. I had no idea how folks made those prototype circuits. You made it look easy.

[@nunogue]

This case caught my attention because i had a bunch of unmarked chrystals lying arround and i didn´t even knew if they would work or not. So i built the oscillator. I didn't use the island cutter method (used a common prototyping board) but i found the method and your expanations extremely good. Probably i´ll give it a go in the future. Anyway, in the end i found out that a lot of those chrystals i had didn´t work, even some marked ones... It was a lot of fun and useful stuff. All this to say: Thanks.

[@copernicus633]

I love his presentation-so to the point, without a lot of irrelevant chatter.

[@KubuntuYou]

I can honestly say I've never seen this prototyping style before. So easy to soo where everything connects.

[@JohnRaschedian]

This was a nice and interesting video! I have not built anything in about 30 years. I think I'll build something now. Thank you :)

[@JohnRaschedian]

I did actually start to build a power supply that I have been postponing for the last 4 months probably. Although you could get a second-hand professional power supply on Ebay for around $40, building it is a lot of fun. I thank you for the inspiration sir!

[@jonbonne]

excellent video, i really enjoyed it! i've only utilized the toner transfer etching method, but i really like the simplicity/minimalist approach to this prototyping model. i want to try it asap.

[@lynnhancock8641]

I tried this today and it worked great and it was fast! I glued little squares of copper-clad for islands but going to buy a rotary spot welder cutter bit from Harbor Freight tomorrow. Was able to check out several unlabeled crystals.

[@octavmandru9219]

I keep re-watching your tutorials; every time it is a new experience. Thank you, Alan. Can you please continue the series of the Basics? Happy New Year!

[@subhasarkar8823]

Nice method. Will try to follow this neat and clear way of circuit build. I feel this method has significant lower parasitics than breadboard.

[@jlfqam]

Thanks for the schematics. It worked well. Some of the crystals showed nice and other distorted sine waves. I managed to rip off the protective canister using an iron file, sharp wire cutters and a thin flat screw driver, as can openers. Aiming a 5mW red laser pointer beam (with laser class glasses protection) on the bare crystal turned the output signal unstable without changing the basic waveform. Also tested resonators, some of which produce square waves, and managed to open the can on one of the miniature oscillators in HC 49S packages to see how nice and delicate is the crystal.

[@MrBoriswart]

Seems like a quick and easy construction method. Thanks.

[@standishgeezer]

For those (like me) who don't have a drill press , take a piece of wood about 1/4" thick (and long enough to hold) and drill a hole in it about the size of your diamond hole cutter. Press the piece of wood on top of the copper clad board with the hole over the point you want to cut your island. You then have a guide through which you can pass the diamond cutter.

[@au7weeng534]

I use an island cutter with a center pin I made from a flathead bit (just filed two slots into it and sharpened the edges.) The pin goes into holes I pre-drill. It's self-centering and one doesn't need a drill press

[@joepiscapo936]

Thanks dude...you will not be forgotten :o I got 3.57 mhz kind what you had, but 13.57 mgz came out as nice sine wave. on 9volt battery

[@zerovolt24]

It would be interesting to make a qualitative analysis of the performance as an oscillator by observing the shape of the trace on the oscilloscope and a measurement of the output power. I've built one (different capacitor values, 680pF) and crystals up to 9MHz show a distorted sinusoid, like the one you get, more or less, whereas with 12, 16 and 20MHz I get a practically perfect sinus shape.

[@1903A3shooter]

Great Fun, it worked the first time, it was easy, I learned a bit more and I did not burn my fingers. Thanks, Dave

[@Inspironator]

I like the island method. It is easy to set up. I already have diamond circle cutters of assorted sizes, which were made for cutting holes in tile. This is an improvement over the dead bug method because it is easier to visualize the schematic with the island connections. It's easy to add features to support testing and troubleshooting. No delays for pcb layout and prototype manufacturing... And it can even be used for RF work. Very, very nice! Thanks w2aew.

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

Some good tips thanks. I like the addition of the little ground loops for clipping on test leads.

[@eugenepohjola258]

Howdy. Nice. No intention to be a wise guy but I think You made a good island chart on the schematic. I would have used that. Personally I like the layout to be like the schematic. For me it facilitates easier fault finding and helps keeping my thinking straight. Regards.

[@w2aew]

Yes, it is always nice when the schematic can also be your layout guide.

[@RicardoPenders]

Another cool little useful circuit, you keep on giving these nice treats to us. Thank you very much for sharing. I probably going to put this circuit together myself on a protoboard because I have a bunch of crystals too that I've taken off some old stuff that people throw away and I have no idea if they are working or what frequency either so having this circuit is pretty handy to have for testing the crystals. If I keep going like this I'll have all these nifty circuits from you for myself and I think I'm saving a lot of money by making these circuits myself from junk parts, some parts are new but very cheap, however with these circuits always handy I can do a lot of different things already and I don't have to go and search and spend tons of money on professional equipment that do pretty much the same thing. Man, I feel lucky to have found your KZbin channel. I wish you have a great day. Ricardo Penders.

[@UpcycleElectronics]

I built this circuit, and it works. I didn't have my yuppy 'Upper East Side Manhattan' hole saw handy. I just cut up a grid of small 5mm square islands from the copper clad and hot glued them 'Haarlem 'n Handy' to the ground plain board. Hope your feeling better Alan and the ankle is healing quickly ;)

[@w2aew]

Glad to hear it worked well for you.

[@shvideo1]

Excellent video and test circuit. Thank you for putting this video together.

[@Frank55]

What a nice clean workbench!

[@Mulazim.]

You could remove the crystal and replace it with Varactor diode, so you can divide the frequency

[@JGunlimited]

Thanks for taking the time to make these videos!

[@sreekumarUSA]

Thanks for the instructional oscillator video. What was more interesting was your “islands” that’s a clever means of making a circuit board. Special thanks for that. The other item that was interesting was your Soldering iron. I’ll appreciate, if you could let me know the make and model of the same. Cheers.

[@w2aew]

The soldering iron is a Metcal MX-500 series.

[@cokabs]

HI, i have the same frequency counter, LDC-821S. Great Japan tube display instrument! Great channel, cheers from Uruguay.

[@DoRC]

Awesome work. It would be really cool to have an island cutter that also drilled a through hole in the center. That way you could just stick the leads through and solder them up trimming afterward. With a double sided board you could even use a combination of drilled and not drilled to make the back side a power plane..... Maybe

[@DoRC]

I'm picturing three bits. One that makes just the island, on that makes island with through hole for connecting multiple things together also to power and one that strips the island away with through hole for single power with no other connections. A double Manhattan! (I have no Idea what I'm talking about btw:)

[@w2aew]

You could probably do this with a traditional brad-point bit. They typically have a pointed lead-in and cut the perimeter shortly after that. Even if the lead-in doesn't go through, you would have a starter hole to run a second small bit through for the lead hole.

[@famossfla]

Another wonderful how too video. You always amaze me. Thanks again..

[@jimviau327]

I like the little holesaw trick for creating islands. Nice .

[@acmefixer1]

Nice clean assembly & test. I noticed the waveform isn't quite symmetrical. Is that because the xtal is overdriving? I would have put a DC blocking cap between the socket and base. This allows testing parallel resonant tank circuits without shorting the base bias to ground.

[@435345dfhgjs]

You always make awesome vids, i learn a lot with your explanations. You're an excelent teacher.

[@rogeronslow1498]

Nowadays I prototype with SMD components. You require a magnifier but with the correct proto board it's really quick and easy.

[@timothyfidler2088]

yes but even with a Protoboard you then need to wire off to something else - lslands or Veroboard in general to pick up leaded components.

[@PapasDino]

Nice tutorial Alan…Happy New Year!

[@MrMac5150]

Man you are fantastic, that is a device you could sell.

[@Satchmoeddie]

Hmm? So that is the Manhattan style? Okay then, interesting, and quite effective. Not quite as crude as "dead bug style". I was etching boards with ferrichloride when I was about 10 years old. Any lacquer based marker makes a resist pen for the etching fluid. The "Industrial" Sharpie is one that works really well, and for RF shielding dead copper / large ground planes, just brush on some lacquer paint. My first hand rendered through hole PCB artwork, taken from a schematic, for etching was the Fender fuzz wah/volume & tone pedal for guitar. It had an op amp, or two, and a couple transistors, & all the passive stuff. Not a great choice, but it works, more or less. The combination rocker & twist pedal case proved impossible to locate or build without some difficulty.. My very first PCB was taken off a photocopy, of the PCB traces & pads. It was a bootleg pay television descrambler. I used dry transfers on it. What a tedious pain in the neck, only lower! 73 KI7AQJ

[@EdEditz]

Oh those descrambler circuits. They never worked.

[@jeffryblackmon4846]

Nicely presented! It works beautifully. Thank you. (I liked it twice!)

[@nusyil]

Thanks for this clear and satisfactory video !

[@omskariyazmaraikayer913]

All your videos are interesting sir . Thank you so much.

[@Tom-q9h7l]

You are VERY naive my friend...

[@omskariyazmaraikayer913]

@@Tom-q9h7l naive about what ? And you are an expert in...?

[@michaelisbaldnow6063]

very cool video, I enjoyed it. I wonder if archaeologists in the future will have an eternally open question in their field regarding the discovery of vast quantities of 3.57954MHz crystals. I imagine it would seem random to them

[@cthree87]

Another fantastic video. I learned something new. Thanks!

[@PeterWalkerHP16c]

When I was young I used to use tag-strips salvaged from old valve televisions. Compared to Brattian & Bardeen's first transistor I reckon my efforts were pretty tidy. :-)

[@PesquisadorDoUniverso]

Great video. A hug from Brazil

[@aknewhope]

The island method is new to me. Could be very useful. Thank you.

[@usuthu65]

These videos are outstanding. Excellent conversational teaching style. Question: I noticed that your oscillator waveform has some higher order products in it as you test the two crystals. Do you cover this topic in another one of your videos or was that a characteristic of the crystals you tested?

[@w2aew]

This is very typical of simple oscillators or this type - not so much due to the crystal, just the nature of the simple single-transistor oscillator circuit.

[@usuthu65]

Thanks! Thought it useful to have that in the comments record here in case others noticed it. I'll go read more on oscillator harmonics.

[@stoneslice]

Great tutorial. Thanks, as always. I would like to see an identical circuit built with various construction methods, then check the output of each for differences. i.e breadboard capacitance effects etc. I would like to do this myself, but my test equipment is not up to yours for spec. Thaks again Stoneslice.

[@FrozenHaxor]

Nice video, I think that 6MHz crystal actually had a punched mark on top of it, weird spot for such package.

[@tiffanymiller4820]

Mincraft

[@FrozenHaxor]

Tiffany Miller What?

[@C32-d5j]

yeah maybe they used the same machine that punches the thinner ones

[@meowcula]

nifty construction technique, i might give that a go. Cool nixie frequency counter too :)

[@gfr2023]

13:20 a nixie display frequency counter ??? this is really cool !!!

[@owenvinall9970]

Thanks very useful video. Cant wait to try this.

[@bobkozlarekwa2sqq59]

Ordered the cutter. Tried three different pcb materials. The cutter removes the entire dot. I’m also seeing that the removed copper remains in the cutter. What’s the trick?

[@w2aew]

Try using very easy/light pressure with the drill press - just ease into it, don't bear down. Little touch-and-release moves.

[@tubeDude48]

What's that bit called?

[@kd1s]

That is pretty cool! The only thing that terrified me was the possibility of solder overflowing on a pad and creating a short but it worked. Nice!

[@cwguy8960]

Excellent as always! 👍

[@RyanJensenEE]

Wow. That is a nice looking island cutting tool.

[@jdflyback]

that is an awesome frequency counter.

[@cbmeeks]

Awesome vid. Need to build one of those.

[@DeeegerD]

You can get a diamond hole cutter from Lee Valley that should be perfect for this. Search for "Diamond Hole Saws". Could be used in a drill press or with a Dremel rotary tool as it has a 1/8" shaft. (1/4" hole x 1/8" depth). Under $10 Cdn.

[@DeeegerD]

+Digger D I was also able to find the diamond hole cutters on eBay. Just ordered 2, 8mm diameter ones for under $3 US. This type is more of a tube bit.

[@chent]

Nice, I like the way you build that circut, I will try to aply tha method to something :)

[@OM0ET]

Good idea to do circuits with "Islands style" fashion! :-) thank you. 73

[@caraquedesafiouopapaco2511]

This ocilator can hold a 32khz cristal?

[@TheLightningStalker]

What do you think about using the bottom as +Vcc on a 2 layer board? It would even add a few pF of filtering to the supply.

[@w2aew]

Yes, you can do that. Often times, VCC are plane layers in a multi-layer board. In this case, you just have to take care not to short VCC to anything (chassis, etc.).

[@CantThinkOfAName534]

Do you have a video or know where I can find info on how engineers know where to place what components when designing? I have formal training in troubleshooting circuits but it’s always baffled me how engineers know where to put everything.

[@alnoorratansi9364]

can you use this circuit to 32khz crystals? what range of crystals can this circuit be used.

[@w2aew]

It should, although you may need to increase the 470pF caps to something like 4.7nF.

[@FullElectronic]

What's the range of frequencies in this case? for example using two 2n2222...

[@MrElectrosock]

Great idea the hole pads. Thanks for idea.

[@jeffryblackmon4846]

Nicely done! Thanks for showing us how you did it.

[@Sixta16]

why do I think this circuits extremely capacitively overloads the crystal? (the two 470p accross the element)

[@andrewferg8737]

Great video and the circuit works well. Very stable. Would love to see an additional video on using this oscillator in a low power transmitter.

[@w2aew]

Check out my video on the Michigan Mighty Mite.

[@andrewferg8737]

@@w2aew Thanks!. The mighty mite video was very informative as always. I finally figured out how to modulate the crystal oscillator to transmit audio, but it took a bit of experimentation. I have made tank circuit transmitters before, but this was my first experience using a crystal. Your colpitts circuit works very well and produces a very strong sine wave. I needed a very strong audio signal to modulate the carrier. Stupid Question: Is there a general rule of thumb or specific ratio for the carrier and audio amplitudes to create proper modulation?

[@vladgladkikh]

Will it also determine the resonant frequency of a piezoelectric diaphragm (buzzer). I tried, it didn't, even though I put larger capacitors because its resonant frequency must be around 10kHz. Maybe I am doing something wrong with the circuit, or is there a fundamental difference between quartz resonators and piezo buzzers? How to modify this circuit for measuring the resonant frequency of a piezo buzzer?

[@bumohamedubualooy7111]

what is the use of the upper 10 nf cap below the 100 ohm resistor? decoupling or ac ground to prevent signal loss in vcc? the 100 ohm to make the path more resistive to high frequency? or just for the biasing scheme?

[@w2aew]

The 100ohm and 10nF cap provide AC isolation from the main power source. It keeps any noise from the power supply from getting into the circuit, and prevents the circuit from injecting too much noise on the power supply.

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

Nice workbench Bob Pease would be so proud!

[@bblod4896]

Built the oscillator on a prototype board, did not have the exact NPN transistors and did not have 470pf caps. I used 330pf caps. Tried a 5 MHz crystal and it worked but the sine wave is not pretty. I ordered some 470pf caps And the recommended transistors. I have a 27.185 MHz CB crystal. I want to build a test oscillator to check the receive of CB transceivers. When I used that crystal, the oscillator had issues. Should I assume the 470pf caps help in cleaning up the sine wave?

[@vishnudas9476]

Can this circuit be biult ordinary perfboard ? Any reason for using copper clad instead of perfboard ?

[@TheRogerx3]

All ways wondered how these curcuits were made.. Now I know.. thank you.

A technique to make islands could be to make a midway through hole and then bend in a circular way the drill that will do the job.

[@leoj.nesuahecner1242]

I don't understand...it looks like you are cutting circles in the copper thus isolating it from the larger area which is ground. I get that but it sure looks like the solder is breaking out of the circles or islands and touching the ground plane. How do you avoid that?

[@carmelpule6954]

Due to surface tension of the molten solder, it does not cross over out from the circle. just leave the tip of the soldering iron on the circle and do not let the tip bridge the gap. It is easy with a little bit of practice.

[@lunarmodule6419]

So clear, interesting and fun. THX 😃

[@colt4667]

Nice video. I've not seen this island method circuit construction before. I'm subscribin.

[@DucatiMTS1200]

So simple but so clever! Brilliant.

[@Beretta96Dan]

Thanks, Alan, it's always a pleasure to watch your vids!