By Mark Stansberry — Updated March 24, 2022

While a 60‑Hz quartz crystal doesn’t exist, you can generate that frequency using a high‑frequency crystal and a frequency divider. The simplest DIY approach employs a 3.58 MHz crystal and the ELM 440 3.58‑MHz‑to‑60‑Hz converter.

Step 1

Place the ELM 440 chip on your breadboard. Connect pin 1 (VCC) to the board’s +5 V rail, and pins 5 and 8 (GND) to the ground rail.

Step 2

Mount the 3.58 MHz crystal. Wire one terminal to pin 2 and the other to pin 3 of the ELM 440.

Step 3

Solder a 27 pF capacitor between pin 2 and the ground rail.

Step 4

Solder a second 27 pF capacitor between pin 3 and ground.

Step 5

Attach a 1 µF capacitor from pin 1 to the +5 V rail.

Step 6

Connect the positive terminal of your regulated 5‑V supply to the +5 V rail and the negative terminal to ground.

Step 7

Turn on the supply and set the output to 5 V using the regulator’s adjustment screw.

Things Needed

• Electronic breadboard
• ELM 440 60‑Hz generator
• Two 27 pF capacitors
• 3.58 MHz quartz crystal
• 1 µF capacitor
• 5‑V regulated power supply

TL;DR

To confirm the oscillator works, feed the ELM 440 output into a 1:60 frequency divider and drive an LED (with a series resistor). The LED should flash 60 times per second.

Warning

Working with electronic components can pose serious safety risks. Always operate under the guidance of a qualified technician and ensure you have the proper safety certification before handling power supplies or high‑frequency circuits.