Hello Olin,

>It won't be a problem of startup, but the frequency may be outside the
>crystal specification, and the crystal may be overdriven and being driven
>with strong harmonics.
>
    the waveform looks very similar with and without the caps. I've
noticed that with the caps the peak-to-peak is of about 2V. With the
caps this swing is a bit higher, close to 2.4V but not sufficient to
overdrive.

    I've seen voltage swings of close to 5V some time ago when using a
4MHz crystal with HS oscillator.

    If this was a one off I wouldn't mind, but I need to install about a
dozen of this gadget and I'm wanting to simplify the things. Anyway, I
think I'll play it safe and put the caps in all of then.

    Thank you very much,

    Brusque

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