reference 5mhz oscillator

Hello Mike,

Vectron's CO-714/717/718S Oven-Controlled Crystal Oscillator (OCXO) seems to be the closest match to the product sold by All Electronics: the 718Y2105-1 (data sheet). Most of Vectron's OCXO products seem to offer an optional HCMOS/TTL output, but this feature is, well, optional. A look at the 718's data sheet reveals the Harmonics figure to be -20 dBc. HCMOS/TTL outputs are rife with harmonics, so I'm inferring from this figure that the output is a sine wave.

By the way, you won't find this part number on Vectron's website, although you're certainly free to contact Vectron directly for more information. I suspect that this part was made under a special contract. The advert says something about its being meant for use in 'satellites', and so there you are. The part number is Vectron-ish, certainly, but there is no 718Y series as such. Prolly made under a gov't contract for a now-canceled project. The price is certainly right, especially for a 5 MHZ Vectron OCXO.

If you need a square-wave output, not to worry. You can always "square-up" a sine wave by means of a comparator or a Schmitt trigger, or something else along those lines. There are plenty of circuit designs that do just that sort of thing in the literature and on the Internet.

I am now able to visit CR4 only rarely. You may wish, consequently, to direct your questions to Electroman or to one of the other top-flight mavens here. I'm sure they'd be glad to help.

Cheers!

-e

Do you have a spec.? How accurate do you want it to be?

Reference oscillators are mostly square types as time accuracy and low jitter is the main criteria. Because any sine wave has a worse slope compared to a square wave and all noise and hum added on the magnitude will have less influence on a square waves signal quality.
Regards Uwe