LED Message: XTAL

[vk5yx]

Question: Can the LED message "XTAL" mean anything other than a bad crystal?
Should the crystal be replaced?
from Hans VK5YX Adelaide, Australia

[W4MMP]

Question: Can the LED message "XTAL" mean anything other than a bad crystal?
Should the crystal be replaced?
from Hans VK5YX Adelaide, Australia

Hello Hans,

Has the rig ever worked? Or is this a new build?

[vk5yx]

Hi Ron, thanks for taking an interest.
Yes it has worked; had a few good QSO-s, but there were a few intermittent problems and I was not satisfied with my workmanship on soldering the PSoC.
I chose to remove and replace it with a new one (from David AE9RB).
I'm confident that I've done the job well; it's nicely aligned and all legs are cleanly soldered.
However, on "power up" it displays XTAL. Perhaps the crystal was marginal in it's operation?
I can't see any other reason for the message, so am inclined to get a new crystal. What do you think?
73, Hans VK5YX

[W4MMP]

Hi Ron, thanks for taking an interest.
Yes it has worked; had a few good QSO-s, but there were a few intermittent problems and I was not satisfied with my workmanship on soldering the PSoC.
I chose to remove and replace it with a new one (from David AE9RB).
I'm confident that I've done the job well; it's nicely aligned and all legs are cleanly soldered.
However, on "power up" it displays XTAL. Perhaps the crystal was marginal in it's operation?
I can't see any other reason for the message, so am inclined to get a new crystal. What do you think?
73, Hans VK5YX

If it is the case that the XTAL message started immediately after replacing the PSoC, I would very closely inspect pins 39 and 40 and re-heat them. I might be wrong, but I don't recall any messages on the forum regarding a defective crystal. As has been mentioned many times on this forum, 99.8% of the problems with the Peaberry are related to soldering issues.

[vk5yx]

Hi again Ron,
The problem turned out to be an open circuit between the crystal and pin 39 in the board.
I installed a thin wire jumper from the land pattern at pin 39 to the crystal and now all is well! (not easy!)
Thanks for your input.
73,
Hans VK5YX

[W4MMP]

Hi again Ron,
The problem turned out to be an open circuit between the crystal and pin 39 in the board.
I installed a thin wire jumper from the land pattern at pin 39 to the crystal and now all is well! (not easy!)
Thanks for your input.
73,
Hans VK5YX

You are most welcome. My guess is the trace perhaps was damaged when the original PSoC was lifted from the PCB.
But, I'm glad you have it working. Maybe we will QSO on JT65/9 on day.