Good Day,
Ok, I realize that this is an old thread, but still an interesting topic

I was hooked up by the simplicity of the 74AC14-based fast rise pulse generator design. So, same as many other members I have built my own earlier this week. Nice!
I have used a simple double-sided copper board from the scrap pile and the results of this simple thing built in "dead-bug style" are pleasing.
I have just added a "proper" power connector, a diode to protect from reverse supply voltages and some stand-offs. Used a 100 nF cap. and a 10k resistor SMDs for the oscillator, as these 0805 size components fit nicely.
The BNC output connected is mounted on an old Tektronix assembly mount, which is a left over from an older oscilloscope repair.
Voilá - the simple thing worked right from the start and creates a nice 960 Hz square wave with an amplitude of about 3.4Vpp into 50 Ohms.
I have measured rise times between 1.8 ns and 2.1 ns (10% to 90%) per the attached screenshots. These were taken with an entry-level
LeCroy Type Wavejet 334 DSO, which is spec'd at 1 ns typ rise time and 350 MHz BW.
The output signal overshoots by around 29%, but that's fine and the distinct peak makes it even useful when one uses it as a poor man's TDR.
And I had much fun when I was following Alan's (W2AEW) excellent video "#88: Cheap and simple TDR using an oscilloscope and 74AC14 Schmitt Trigger Inverter"
I was amazed to find out that this method allowed me some correct cable length measurements of two cables (an Aircell-5 and a plain-vanilla RG-58 made by HP) down to centimeter accuracy. Nice work, as always, Alan... @w2aew !

Cheers,
THDplusN_bad