> I'm just curious.  Am I the only one who has never used capacitors with
> the crystal, and never had one fail to start?  Or is this one of those "it
> will work for more repetitions than you can test for one-offs and
> prototypes but don't trust it for production" things?

Yes.  The capacitors are not there to help startup.  They reduce the loop
gain for harmonics and cause the crystal to be driven with more of a
sinusoid.  Without caps, the crystal could end up oscillating at a harmonics
of its value, and its accuracy may be a bit off if it gets banged with hard
edges.  Some crystals can even be damaged by this.


********************************************************************
Olin Lathrop, embedded systems consultant in Littleton Massachusetts
(978) 742-9014, olin@embedinc.com, http://www.embedinc.com

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