> Thanks for all of the help.  I guess my first step is to go get another
 crystal
> that is definitely designed for parallel resonance.  How do you tell if a
> crystal is designed as such?  I looked in my Digi-Key catalog and they don't
> have anything called a parallel crystal.  Can you assume that if the load
> capacitance is given, that it is parallel?

Yes, this is it exactly.  That load capacitance figure is how you
determine the value of the C's in the xtal ckt.  These C's are there
for the xtal, not the pic, so use the xtal specs - not the PIC data
book.

> For the price of some of these
> crystals, I can get a TTL clock oscillator.

Crystals are typically about $1 in low qty - more for lower
frequencies (~<3MHz)

In the PIC data book, they show
> a buffer on the output of the oscillator, is this required if I am only
> running one device (the PIC) from the clock?

Generally no.  Reconsider if the oscillator is located far from the
pic(?).

Good Luck

-mike
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Mike Fahrion                mfahrion@bb-elec.com      http://www.bb-elec.com/
B&B Electronics Mfg Co      ph.(815) 433-5100 ext.215    fax (815) 434-7094
707 Dayton Road                 PO Box 1040                  Ottawa IL 61350
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