RE: Crystals?
Compatibility for PPM type signals is denoted by the "shift". Futaba and (much of) Hitec uses negative shift. JR and I believe Airtronics use positive shift. Some companies make positive or negative versions of their receivers. There is also something called PCM, but these are more expensive, I suspect if you had those, you would know it. So, what brand and model do you have for transmitter and receiver?