Opinions on Book about Crystal Oscillators???

[Tara]

Hi there,

I work for a publishing company and an editor is proposing a book about
crystal oscillators. I thought going to a user group forum would be a
good way to get feedback on market desire for such a book.

The book is organized so that it can be read cover to
cover or used as a quick reference on specific crystal oscillator
types.

If asking for this feedback is against the rules, I apologize in
advance. I am purposely excluding the name of my publishing company to
prevent to the appearance of any spamming effort.

Any feedback you would be so generous to provide would be appreciated.
For example, would you like a book like this? Where do you go now to
find detailed information on the topic? What would you love to see the
book cover?

Thanks so much.

Tara

You can e-mail me directly if you wish at
[email protected].

 

[Winfield Hill]

Tara wrote...

I work for a publishing company and an editor is proposing a book
about crystal oscillators. I thought going to a user group forum
would be a good way to get feedback on market desire for such a book.

The book is organized so that it can be read cover to cover or used
as a quick reference on specific crystal oscillator types. ...

Does this proposed book already exist? I think Benjamin Parzen's
book, "Design of Crystal and Other Harmonic Oscillators" is pretty
good, too bad it can't be updated a bit and placed back in print.

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Tara wrote...

Does this proposed book already exist? I think Benjamin Parzen's
book, "Design of Crystal and Other Harmonic Oscillators" is pretty
good, too bad it can't be updated a bit and placed back in print.

It seems to be available online, with a(n) (IEEE?) membership password
required.

http://www.ieee-uffc.org/archive/uffc/books/bk10toc.htm


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Jim Thompson]

Tara wrote...

Does this proposed book already exist? I think Benjamin Parzen's
book, "Design of Crystal and Other Harmonic Oscillators" is pretty
good, too bad it can't be updated a bit and placed back in print.

Looks like it available as "print on demand" as well as several "good"
level originals.

Win, Do you recommend it?

...Jim Thompson

 

[Jim Thompson]

It seems to be available online, with a(n) (IEEE?) membership password
required.

http://www.ieee-uffc.org/archive/uffc/books/bk10toc.htm


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

I noted that. Does anyone have a membership in UFFC? I only
subscribe to JSSC and COMSOC.

...Jim Thompson

 

[Winfield Hill]

Jim Thompson wrote...

Looks like it available as "print on demand" as well as several "good"
level originals. Win, Do you recommend it?

Yes. It's copyright 1983. I bought my copy new many years ago,
and paid $44. I've not been very happy with the "print on demand"
books I've gotten, VERY expensive, with poor quality printing and
binding, and a poor cover.

 

[Jim Thompson]

Jim Thompson wrote...

Yes. It's copyright 1983. I bought my copy new many years ago,
and paid $44. I've not been very happy with the "print on demand"
books I've gotten, VERY expensive, with poor quality printing and
binding, and a poor cover.

Maybe I'll track down one of the "good" grade originals. Looks like
~$150 is the going price.

...Jim Thompson

 

[Stephan Goldstein]

Hi there,

I work for a publishing company and an editor is proposing a book about
crystal oscillators. I thought going to a user group forum would be a
good way to get feedback on market desire for such a book.

The book is organized so that it can be read cover to
cover or used as a quick reference on specific crystal oscillator
types.

If asking for this feedback is against the rules, I apologize in
advance. I am purposely excluding the name of my publishing company to
prevent to the appearance of any spamming effort.

Any feedback you would be so generous to provide would be appreciated.
For example, would you like a book like this? Where do you go now to
find detailed information on the topic? What would you love to see the
book cover?

Thanks so much.

Tara

You can e-mail me directly if you wish at
[email protected].

A book that sounds very much like what you're proposing is "Crystal
Oscillator Circuits" by Robert J. Matthys, published by Wiley in 1983.
Another is "Crystal Oscillator Design and Temperature Compensation"
by Marvin E. Frerking, Van Nostrand Reinhold 1978. My personal
preference leans to Matthys as he's a trifle more practically-oriented and
presents a wider range of circuits, but I own both volumes. I'm not familiar
with Parzen's book but am curious now and will try to track down a copy.
Both Matthys and Frerking are mainly about building oscillators out of
parts as opposed to designing transistor-level on-chip circuits.

<soapbox>It's a pity publishers seem so driven to create new titles when
perfectly usable volumes often exist on the backlist. Too many recently
published books exhibit absolutely horrid editing. One striking example is
a thin volume on voltage references I picked up last February (author, exact
title, and publisher not disclosed so I don't get sued for slander or libel or
whatever). It appears the book was printed as received without no effort to
correct the numerous grammatical and typographical errors. On top of that,
the information turns out to be more superficial than my quick inspection
at a conference booth had led me to believe, and I now thoroughly regret
this waste of nearly $60 of my employer's funds.</soapbox>

Steve

 

[Andrew Holme]

Hi there,

I work for a publishing company and an editor is proposing a book
about crystal oscillators. I thought going to a user group forum
would be a good way to get feedback on market desire for such a book.

The book is organized so that it can be read cover to
cover or used as a quick reference on specific crystal oscillator
types.

If asking for this feedback is against the rules, I apologize in
advance. I am purposely excluding the name of my publishing company
to prevent to the appearance of any spamming effort.

Any feedback you would be so generous to provide would be appreciated.
For example, would you like a book like this? Where do you go now to
find detailed information on the topic? What would you love to see
the book cover?

Possible topics:
1. circuit configuration: Butler, Pierce, Colpitts ...
2. fundamental and overtone modes;
3. low-power oscillators;
4. oscillators using logic gates;
5. precision / temperature control / phase noise / ageing;
6. voltage control / pulling / VCXO;
7. crystal structure / manufacture / mechanical packaging / cuts;
8. electrical model of crystal / equivalent circuit;
9. series & parallel resonance

Hmm. All this stuff is covered elsewhere e.g. RSGB / ARRL Handbooks.

 

[John Larkin]

Possible topics:
1. circuit configuration: Butler, Pierce, Colpitts ...
2. fundamental and overtone modes;
3. low-power oscillators;
4. oscillators using logic gates;
5. precision / temperature control / phase noise / ageing;
6. voltage control / pulling / VCXO;
7. crystal structure / manufacture / mechanical packaging / cuts;
8. electrical model of crystal / equivalent circuit;
9. series & parallel resonance

That all sounds good. "Cuts" should include the new stuff. SCs and the
super-thin things. Drive level issues, too. Vibration/G-force might be
mentioned.

Some serious example circuits would be good, too. Get somebody (an
engineer!) to proof it carefully. I'll do it for a copy or two.


John

 

[Terry Given]

I noted that. Does anyone have a membership in UFFC? I only
subscribe to JSSC and COMSOC.

...Jim Thompson

I have UFFC membership. A while back I bought the last 50 years of UFFC
papers/books for (IIRC) US$100. 20 CD's, and Parzen's book is in the
pile. Actually thats why I subscribed to UFFC.

Cheers
Terry

 

[Jim Thompson]

[snip]

I have UFFC membership. A while back I bought the last 50 years of UFFC
papers/books for (IIRC) US$100. 20 CD's, and Parzen's book is in the
pile. Actually thats why I subscribed to UFFC.

Cheers
Terry

Sounds like a bargain.

...Jim Thompson

 

[Dave VanHorn]

Something that thoroughly covers the Vittoz oscillators that are becoming
popular, would be nice.

 

[Tara]

Hi Steve,

I understand your reluctance to name the book, but you are perfectly
allowed your opinion. People on Amazon do it all the time. I'd love
to know if it was one of ours. This kind of feedback is so valuable to
me. I don't want my publishing company putting out shoddy books.
Perhaps you could e-mail me with the name.
[email protected]. If it was one of ours, I'll see to it
that you get a copy of another book in the price range at no charge.
Regards,

Tara

 

[Winfield Hill]

Jim Thompson wrote...

Maybe I'll track down one of the "good" grade originals.
Looks like $150 is the going price.

Ouch! That's what Amazon has done to the used book market.

 

[Ken Smith]

Possible topics:
1. circuit configuration: Butler, Pierce, Colpitts ... 1.1 Limiting vs AGC
2. fundamental and overtone modes; 2.1 Unwanted modes
3. low-power oscillators;
4. oscillators using logic gates;
5. precision / temperature control / phase noise / ageing; 5.1 AVAR
6. voltage control / pulling / VCXO;
7. crystal structure / manufacture / mechanical packaging / cuts;
8. electrical model of crystal / equivalent circuit;
9. series & parallel resonance

That all sounds good. "Cuts" should include the new stuff.
SCs and the
super-thin things.[/QUOTE]

Also hit on "energy trapping" and the effects of nearby modes on the noise
spectra.

Drive level issues, too. Vibration/G-force might be
mentioned.

I think they certainly be mentioned.

A section on specifications, what they mean and likely ranges for them
should also be included. Ruling out imposible, or very unlikely, design
specifications can save a lot of time.

 

[Ken Smith]

Does this proposed book already exist? I think Benjamin Parzen's
book, "Design of Crystal and Other Harmonic Oscillators" is pretty
good, too bad it can't be updated a bit and placed back in print.

I'll second that.

Parzen's book from 1983 is over 20 years old today. When it was
published, the SC cut was fairly new. It also really needs to have more
about noise in it. If an updated work was published, I'd certainly
think about buying it.

There are usually only two reasons to design a crystal oscillator: (A) you
can't find one good enough or (B) you can't find one cheap enough. It
would be nice if the new book had sections on making very good oscillators
and making very cheap oscillators.

 

[Joerg]

Hi Tara,

As many others have said there are good books but generally out of print, or restricted to a small group of society members. Many of us are members at IEEE-UFFC but that doesn't address young engineers who may not (yet) be.

Probably it would be best to 'modernize' one of these books and that may require that another author joins in. Especially if the previous author has come of age and is retired.

Such a new edition should contain down-to-earth information including rather mundane topics. An example would be pitfalls when building crystal oscillators with logic chips. A surprising number of engineers does not know about the differences between buffered and unbuffered logic even though that is rather important. Universities don't teach this stuff.

Also, a modern book should teach about clock distribution as well. A crystal oscillator never lives alone, its output usually has to be transported to a myriad of places and often clear across a circuit board. This topic is barely understood by the majority of engineers and has caused numerous initial design failures.

Modernizing an existing volume via a new edition has advantages. There is heritage if the previous edition had visibility and enjoyed praise. This can greatly ease sales. For example, years ago when I saw that a new Radar Handbook edition had come out I immediately placed my order without even a glimpse at it. Because I had the first edition.

Regards, Joerg

 

[Rene Tschaggelar]

Hi there,

I work for a publishing company and an editor is proposing a book about
crystal oscillators. I thought going to a user group forum would be a
good way to get feedback on market desire for such a book.

The book is organized so that it can be read cover to
cover or used as a quick reference on specific crystal oscillator
types.

I doubt the market needs another one. Most of the times I use
a quartz and these 27pF to GND. Then a lot more seldom when no
oscillator is provided, I take a cristal oscillator in a DIP8
or DIP14 case. Now if an application demanded that I built my
own oscillator, then I'd refer to the application notes of the
various quartz manufacturers.

Rene

 

[Mark Jones]

1.1 Limiting vs AGC

2.1 Unwanted modes

5.1 AVAR

That all sounds good. "Cuts" should include the new stuff.
SCs and the
super-thin things.

Also hit on "energy trapping" and the effects of nearby modes on the noise
spectra.

Drive level issues, too. Vibration/G-force might be
mentioned.

I think they certainly be mentioned.

A section on specifications, what they mean and likely ranges for them
should also be included. Ruling out imposible, or very unlikely, design
specifications can save a lot of time.
[/QUOTE]


...and tell us wether we should ground the can or not!