Sorting out usable hamband xtals

[Hue Miller]

I was sorting out lbs. of misc. odd freq. xtals
the other day. Lots of 'em were from apparently
boat radio service. Some were in the 21.3
neighborhood which is not too practical, since
the stuff that uses xtals seems to be pretty
much lowband and/or cw freqs. I realized that
these were 3rd overtone types.  I dug out a
dipper, fetched a Radio Shack test lead, with
the alligators on each end, clipped it to the crystal,
and folded a couple turns of the lead around the
dipper coil. Sure enuff, there was a huge dip
in the 40m region. I have not actually tried the
xtals in any piece of gear, but no reason they
shouldn't work. So- if you find some ex-ship
ssb xtals in the 21 - 21.450 range, keep them
for your 40m cw use.
BTW, the dip as seen on the dip meter is quite
as you'd expect from a quartz - a very sudden
pitch, as compared to the smooth motion of
the pointer when looking at an LC.
Hue Miller