CD4060 — 14-Stage Binary Counter with On-Chip Oscillator

Overview

The CD4060 (CD4060B / HEF4060B / 74HC4060) is a 14-stage binary ripple counter with an integrated on-chip oscillator driver circuit manufactured by Texas Instruments, ON Semiconductor, and Renesas. It combines an oscillator stage (supporting an external RC network or a 32.768 kHz / MHz quartz crystal) with a 14-stage frequency divider inside a single 16-pin package.

Operating from 3.0V to 18.0V DC, the CD4060 divides the oscillator frequency by up to 16,384 ( $2^{14}$ ). Ten outputs are available externally ( $Q_4 \dots Q_{10}$ and $Q_{12} \dots Q_{14}$ ), enabling long-duration electronic timers (seconds to hours), LED flashers, tone generators, and crystal clock sources with no external microcontrollers.

Quick reference


Supply Voltage (`VDD - VSS`)	3.0 V to 18.0 V DC (CD4000B) / 2.0V to 6.0V DC (74HC4060)
Oscillator Capability	Integrated Inverter Driver for RC Networks OR Quartz Crystal Oscillators
Divider Stages	14 Binary Stages ( $2^1 \dots 2^{14} = 16,384$ )
Exposed Outputs	10 Stage Outputs ( $Q_4, Q_5, Q_6, Q_7, Q_8, Q_9, Q_{10}, Q_{12}, Q_{13}, Q_{14}$ )
Missing Outputs	$Q_1, Q_2, Q_3$ , and $Q_{11}$ are NOT exposed externally
Reset Input	Asynchronous Active-HIGH Master Reset ( $RESET$ )
Max Clock Frequency	$12\text{ MHz}$ at $VDD = 15\text{V}$ ( $3.5\text{ MHz}$ at $5\text{V}$ )
Package	16-pin DIP / SOIC-16

Pinout (DIP-16 Package)

text

             ┌───┴───┐
         Q12 1│ 1   16│ VDD (+3V to +18V)
         Q13 2│       │15 Q10
         Q14 3│ CD4060│14 Q8
          Q6 4│       │13 Q9
          Q5 5│       │12 RESET (Master Reset)
          Q7 6│       │11 RS (Oscillator In / Clock In)
          Q4 7│       │10 RTC (R_EXT)
   VSS(GND) 8│       │9  CTC (C_EXT)
             └───────┘

Pin	Name	Type	Description
1	`Q12`	Output	Stage 12 Output ( $\div 4,096$ )
2	`Q13`	Output	Stage 13 Output ( $\div 8,192$ )
3	`Q14`	Output	Stage 14 Output ( $\div 16,384$ )
4	`Q6`	Output	Stage 6 Output ( $\div 64$ )
5	`Q5`	Output	Stage 5 Output ( $\div 32$ )
6	`Q7`	Output	Stage 7 Output ( $\div 128$ )
7	`Q4`	Output	Stage 4 Output ( $\div 16$ )
8	`VSS`	Power	Digital Ground (0 V)
9	`CTC`	Oscillator	Capacitor Connection Pin for RC Oscillator ( $C_X$ )
10	`RTC`	Oscillator	Resistor Connection Pin for RC Oscillator ( $R_X$ )
11	`RS`	Oscillator	Oscillator Input Pin / External Clock Input
12	`RESET`	Input	Master Reset (Active HIGH: High = Reset all outputs to LOW & stop counter)
13	`Q9`	Output	Stage 9 Output ( $\div 512$ )
14	`Q8`	Output	Stage 8 Output ( $\div 256$ )
15	`Q10`	Output	Stage 10 Output ( $\div 1,024$ )
16	`VDD`	Power	Positive Power Supply (+3.0V to +18.0V DC)

Standard RC Oscillator Circuit Configuration

$f_{OSC} = \frac{1}{2.3 \times R_X \times C_X}$

Where $R_{S2} \approx 2 \dots 10 \times R_X$ isolates the timing network:

text

  Pin 9 (CTC) ───[ C_X ]───┬───[ R_X ]─── Pin 10 (RTC) ───[ R_S2 (2*R_X) ]─── Pin 11 (RS)
                           │
                           └─── Timing Node

32.768 kHz Quartz Crystal Oscillator Application (2 Hz Output)

Connecting a standard $32.768\text{ kHz}$ watch crystal across Pins 10 and 11 produces an ultra-accurate $2.0\text{ Hz}$ square wave on Output $Q_{14}$ (Pin 3):

$f_{Q14} = \frac{32,768\text{ Hz}}{2^{14}} = \frac{32,768}{16,384} = 2.0\text{ Hz (0.5 second period)}$

Common mistakes

Expecting $Q_1, Q_2, Q_3$ , or $Q_{11}$ outputs: These four internal stages are NOT connected to external pins on the CD4060.
Leaving RESET (Pin 12) ungrounded: Tie RESET to GND for continuous oscillation and counting.

Notes

CD4060 vs CD4020 vs NE555: CD4060 has an integrated oscillator + 14-stage divider for long multi-hour timing; NE555 is limited to shorter timing intervals due to capacitor leakage.