Good day to all. We are currently trying to help out a customer who has brought us a=20 product designed by someone else. Its based on an Atmel ATmega 328P=20 processor and uses a 32KHz crystal for timekeeping. And - the 32KHz oscillator is not working. I've messed around with=20 it for a couple of days but I can get only 4 out of 7 units=20 oscillating by playing around with the crystal caps. 3 units simply=20 refuse to oscillate. I've tried several different crystals, both with 6pF & 12pF=20 ratings. I was able to get 4 of the units working by soldering in=20 variable capacitors and fussing with the actual capacitance on both=20 sides of the crystal but I am NOT comfortable about the long term=20 reliability of the 4 units that are currently working. A quick Google search reveals that the low-power oscillator mode of=20 the 328P is NOT reliable. Atmel does not have a solution. So: my thought is to simply glob on an external 32KHz oscillator=20 package. The card runs from 2- "D" cells in series for a operating=20 voltage of 1.8V through 3.4Vdc. This limits my options. My first grab was for a tried and true part: the Dallas / Maxim=20 DS32KHz packaged oscillator. I've used this part successfully=20 several times in the past with great results. The relatively high=20 cost is not much concern right now - I only need to get these 7 units=20 working. Alas, though, the DS32KHz is rated to run down to only=20 2.7V. That's simply not good enough. Another thought is to take a small PIC (12f675 comes to mind) and=20 glom on the bypass and crystal caps plus the crystal. It would be=20 ugly but would probably work. Before I go there, though, I thought that see if my fellow PIClisters=20 might have a favorite packaged 32KHz module that works over the=20 supply range of 1.8V - 3.4Vdc. Many thanks! dwayne --=20 Dwayne Reid Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd Edmonton, AB, CANADA (780) 489-3199 voice (780) 487-6397 fax www.trinity-electronics.com Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .