[Boatanchors] crystal questions

[bonddaleena at aol.com]

Hi. Time for another of "ron's dumb question of the week"........

As my boatanchor (receiver) collection continues to expand, I am finding more and more radios missing crystals or having weak / defective crystals.

Here's an example............ I have a few Lafayette radios that take the exact crystals as my Drake 2B and 2C. 
11, 18, 24.5 MHz, etc HC-6/U type.
I know that there are several companies still making crystals, including one here in Florida.
I also have a WWV receiver that needs 7 oddball HC-6/U rocks. I managed to find ONE of the 7, on-line, as part of a lot of 7 for $5.

Here's my question:

Since Drake FS-4s are made from 'unobtanium', is there a reasonable alternative??
I have spoken with Doug (N3ZI) about his Direct Digital Synthesizer kits. Doug said it 'might' work, but I would have to reconfigure the osc tube into an amp. It must have something to do with it's low output, plus it does not work well above 32 MHz. I just want a FS-4 clone that will work.

I have found a LOT of synthesizer on eBay, but don't want to spend $100 and not have it work.
AF4K has the crystals I need, but at $16 each, it gets expensive quick!

Any ideas???

Thanks!

ron
N4UE