Build a computer controlled radio transmitter

Step 2 Which Oscillator?

To determine what kind of oscillator you want you will need to know what kind of radio you have.

Regular AM/FM radio - We will be using only the AM part. The numbers on the dial are frequencies in KHz. Most oscillators are marked in MHz. You will probally want something in the .3MHz(300KHz)-1.5MHz(1500KHz) range.

Shortwave radio - Go with whatever frequency your SW radio can play. My radio has 3 bands. One is a KC (KHz or AM) band and the others are MC (MHz). I use a 20MHz oscillator.

Comments

[Athlon]

I can't find this oscillators with 4 pins, only with 2 :S Help pls!

[kroq-gar78]

buy them at digikey.com click on oscillators, not crystals

[conrad2468]

EBAY!

[bmlbytes]

Look in old computers and desolder them. They will be found on cards that control things like serial ports, ethernet jacks, modems, etc.

[junits15]

ya but those are usually around 40 mhz

[locofocos]

They sell em in the catalog section of www.scitoys.com

[smitkenneth]

can the two pin oscillator work?anyone?

[FJSchrank]

Hi guys! The "2 pin oscillator" is actually just called a "crystal". It's just a chunk of quartz with attached wires. You must provide the external circuitry to make it oscillate. The "4 pin oscillator" used in this demonstration is referred to a "crystal oscillator" because it has both a built in crystal and a oscillator. A crystal oscillator is a crystal and oscillator circuitry in one convenient package. You simply apply power. So for this project, unless you modify it you cannot just drop-in a "2 pin crystal" without the added circuitry. Hope this helps! When I first learned about this stuff I too was confused. They should come up with more distinct names I suppose. -Fred Schrank

[pcfan]

I think http://www.peterevers.nl/Fotos/kristaloscillator.gif may work.
I'm gonna try it now.