> I'm not saying you can't implement an accurate clock with a crystal, I'm = just saying that it frequently doesn't seem to happen. I'm pretty sure I'v= e seen a fair number of crystal-controller micros that have quite noticeabl= e drift when used as clocks (which is, after all, a pretty common hobbyists= application=85) If you "oven" a 32 kHz watch type crystal with an adjacent tightly coupled 38.x degrees C wrist, and then trim it manually for notional zero drift, you can get a good wristwatch accurate to about 1 second per week*, in my experience and AFAIR. That's about 1.5 ppm over 1 week. ie long ago I monitored my wrist watch's drift and at a battery change had the tech adjust the trimmer by the amount I suggested and thereafter it was essentially 'spot on'. I wore it on the inside of my wrist (note to self: ensure non radioactive dial) and never took it off ("100 metre" waterproof essential). I think that was a metal cased Pulsar - which is a Seiko made watch in a case cheap enough that Seiko don't want to let you know that they make it. * I originally wrote "one second per month" but I'm not 100% sure that was correct. (It may have been 30+ years ago). I know it was very accurate indeed once trimmed. The tech was surprised when I told him how much adjustment I wanted. He had a frequency meter calibrated in seconds per xxx error and my claimed drift matched what he measured almost exactly. As you'd expect - but he can't have met many engineers :-). Russell --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .