One (or two) of my attempts to make an oscillator with the fewest number of components.
The frequency of the left one varies with its load. Actually, it varies with the amplitude the resonance reaches, which depends on the load. I added the 2kR load to keep the resonance under control. Without a load, it goes to +30/-10V, the frequency drops to 1.82MHz, and the green trace appears to bounce off +20V.
The right one doesn't produce a good sine wave but can be used with a smaller inductor. The chief difference is the smaller base resistor, which draws off power from the resonator. A load connected to the collector (1kR here) barely affects the frequency.
Both of them resonate at a substantially higher frequency than the resonant components alone. That's 1.59MHz.
