The mention of crystals in the thread about syncronized transmitters reminded me...
I saw this a few days ago:
http://www.arrl.org/news/international-crystal-manufacturing-going-out-of-business
I sure bought a lot of crystals from them back in my early ham days!
TIB
Me too. Especially during my Novice days. Always trying to find the right combination so I could run on other bands. 🙂
Yeah it's disappointing, I'd like to grab a couple 1700s before they completely shut down but right now cant put out the cash. I think I read they'll continue selling whats left available for another month or so.
This article about the publics response mentions that Bomar and Anderson still sells them but for a considerably higher price (4 times the cost for some) http://www.radiomagonline.com/industry/0003/readers-weigh-in-on-icm-closure/38719
Sorry to say....the days of the quartz crystal appear to be numbered.....!!
When 2 meter FM was in its infancy, it seems like ALL the rigs were crystal-controlled..then frequency synthesis came along -- courtesy of the phase-locked loop and similar devices...
IIRC....the "rocks" that were used in early AM transmitters -- and temperature-compensated in ovens (Blily comes to mind....!!) were housed in ceramic cases, like the early FT-243's...
I ordered a crystal for my Belar FMM-2 from ICM about 2 months ago...Glad I didn't wait longer!!