# Platinum button



## Todor (Nov 30, 2015)

Hi to all here. This my first platinum button from old russian military relay. We have used only nitric acid and then melting, because the contacts of the relays are pure platinum. Sorry for the bad quality of the image.


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## rucito (Nov 30, 2015)

Hello, most Russian relays are platinum iridium alloy 90/10.


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## Todor (Feb 24, 2016)

My latest gold button - 38 grams(97% pure). This is from russian relays, very easy to get.


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## turieon (Feb 26, 2016)

Hello! Contacts from Soviet relays have purity 999,9. Why do you reduce it ? :lol:


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## Lou (Feb 26, 2016)

Where do I get Russian relays, outside of Russia?


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## patnor1011 (Feb 26, 2016)

Former eastern bloc. They can be found in Slovakia, Czech, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and even eastern parts of Germany. I do have friend who entertained idea of going after old dumpsites used by Soviet military stationed in these countries. Also landfills used by old soviet era electronic companies like former Tesla group in Czechoslovakia - they are being considered as urban silver mine. Dump sites close to soviet military bases are probably contaminated by all kind of hazardous waste.


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## jason_recliner (Feb 26, 2016)

Your friend should entertain the idea of first acquiring a Geiger counter.


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## rucito (Feb 28, 2016)

turieon said:


> Hello! Contacts from Soviet relays have purity 999,9. Why do you reduce it ? :lol:



not all - some have 5% nickel


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## patnor1011 (Feb 28, 2016)

jason_recliner said:


> Your friend should entertain the idea of first acquiring a Geiger counter.



Not really necessary. There were a lot of soviet army detachments over there only tiny minority housed nuclear material. They which does are known and still not accessible anyway, rest is where money are buried.


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## teclu (Feb 28, 2016)

rucito said:


> turieon said:
> 
> 
> > Hello! Contacts from Soviet relays have purity 999,9. Why do you reduce it ? :lol:
> ...




For ex: Res 22! 

teclu


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## teclu (Feb 28, 2016)

Todor said:


> Hi to all here. This my first platinum button from old russian military relay. We have used only nitric acid and then melting, because the contacts of the relays are pure platinum. Sorry for the bad quality of the image.



Negative, @Todor! (is)Not pure Pt!!!

teclu


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## teclu (Feb 28, 2016)

rucito said:


> Hello, most Russian relays are platinum iridium alloy 90/10.



Yes, @ rucito, and PtRh10!!!

teclu


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## teclu (Feb 28, 2016)

Lou said:


> Where do I get Russian relays, outside of Russia?



From me, Lou!  (from Romania!) What do you want? (russian/soviet/ussr) Pt alloy relays, Au alloy, pure Au or pure Ag? For collection, or...?!

teclu


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## teclu (Feb 28, 2016)

patnor1011 said:


> Former eastern bloc. They can be found in Slovakia, Czech, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and even eastern parts of Germany. I do have friend who entertained idea of going after old dumpsites used by Soviet military stationed in these countries. Also landfills used by old soviet era electronic companies like former Tesla group in Czechoslovakia - they are being considered as urban silver mine. Dump sites close to soviet military bases are probably contaminated by all kind of hazardous waste.



Hello, patnor1011!(glad to see you again! )

„Probably”! Just „probably”!!!!!!!... you have right!!! 

Of course, sometimes, the math can be particularly nasty! 

teclu


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## hfywc (Mar 9, 2016)

hi todor.

do you have pictures of the relays you are processing?


thanks,
alan


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## rucito (Mar 9, 2016)

This is just one of many species.
There are 3 variants - silver, gold and platinum.


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## vgecas (Mar 10, 2016)

hi,

none of these contain pure Pt. either silver, gold or 90Pt10Ir alloy .

https://www.google.lt/search?q=%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82+%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5+%D1%80%D1%8D%D1%81+9&biw=1366&bih=655&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUjJyH6bbLAhVEJ5oKHUmQBJ0Q_AUIBigB&dpr=1#imgrc=Yq0QtWYSYPB1-M%3A


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## Lou (Mar 10, 2016)

teclu said:


> Lou said:
> 
> 
> > Where do I get Russian relays, outside of Russia?
> ...




Anything with value that I can smelt. I'm not collecting them. I'm melting them in my furnace in copper and going after the slimes.

Drop me a PM and I'll get you an account set up.

Lou


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## rucito (Mar 10, 2016)

vgecas said:


> hi,
> 
> none of these contain pure Pt. either silver, gold or 90Pt10Ir alloy .
> 
> https://www.google.lt/search?q=%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82+%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5+%D1%80%D1%8D%D1%81+9&biw=1366&bih=655&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUjJyH6bbLAhVEJ5oKHUmQBJ0Q_AUIBigB&dpr=1#imgrc=Yq0QtWYSYPB1-M%3A



And why do you think so?


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## vgecas (Mar 11, 2016)

You can Google up datasheet, that says precious metals content...
Depending on series it's either silver (999.9) or gold (999.9), or platinum Iridium alloy (90%10%)


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## Todor (Jun 8, 2016)

This is my latest palladium button, it is from electronics as the previous ones. Tested with my XRF 99.4% Palladium.


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## justinhcase (Jun 8, 2016)

patnor1011 said:


> jason_recliner said:
> 
> 
> > Your friend should entertain the idea of first acquiring a Geiger counter.
> ...


In actual fact you have to be extremely carful around any thing formerly U.S.S.R. Military.
They loved to try and use plutonium battery's every where.
I have been to a briefing about an old soviet version of G.P.S. used for targeting ,They all had highly radioactive battery's and most where just left to rot by an underpaid and abused staff.
There was even a video of a unit being recovered. It was "Hot" in the radioactive sense and also was burning any thing it touched literally.
You just will never know and if you stumble across some thing embarrassing you will never be seen again.
Radiological clean up crew's are not the only type of Clean up Crew the Russians use ,they are the worlds best wetwork and are legendary for leaving live munitions' scattered about like confetti .


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## Todor (Jun 8, 2016)

Hello Justin, 
Most of this claims are just urban myths in my opinion. Most of the soviet electronics wich contains precious metals is radio and measure equipment. I know guys, doing this for 26 years(professionals) and i never heard for radioative material or something like that.


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## Platdigger (Jun 8, 2016)

Nice button Todor, thanks for sharing.


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## justinhcase (Jun 8, 2016)

Todor said:


> Hello Justin,
> Most of this claims are just urban myths in my opinion. Most of the soviet electronics wich contains precious metals is radio and measure equipment. I know guys, doing this for 26 years(professionals) and i never heard for radioative material or something like that.


You may be right, But I was not aware that they used urban legends to base briefing's on at R.A.F. Holton.
The same precautions should be taken when taking any kit apart you do not have technical details about.
You have found a good source of material it is up to you if you decide to take adequate safety precautions for your self and family as some toxic agents can spread form close contact.
I have a Geiger counter as I some time's take on Surpluses equipment that may have been exposed to Depleted Uranium in conflict.
Never had any thing hot,But I still check as it is a possibility.


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## Lou (Jun 8, 2016)

I don't agree with some/most of Justin's stuff  but he's darn right...

ALWAYS RAD CHECK EVERYTHING, EVERY TIME


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## Smack (Jun 8, 2016)

Being former Military, I would have to agree, knowing how a Military operates and having seen with my own eyes the stuff they pull off. Every aspect of our society involves people, even the Military and knowing people are inherently lazy gives me the knowledge needed to assume bad things have been done by people of poor moral character so I advise on taking safety for one's health over greed. I've seen people bury things that have no business in the ground.


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## jason_recliner (Jun 8, 2016)

patnor1011 said:


> jason_recliner said:
> 
> 
> > Your friend should entertain the idea of first acquiring a Geiger counter.
> ...


It may be true but without a check it is all guesswork. Personally that's not something on which I would wish to stake my health. Or since I haven't have kids yet, my genes. :mrgreen:


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## Phishin_ca (Jun 8, 2016)

Smack said:


> Being former Military, I would have to agree, knowing how a Military operates and having seen with my own eyes the stuff they pull off. Every aspect of our society involves people, even the Military and knowing people are inherently lazy gives me the knowledge needed to assume bad things have been done by people of poor moral character so I advise on taking safety for one's health over greed. I've seen people bury things that have no business in the ground.



Army?


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## justinhcase (Jun 9, 2016)

Smack said:


> Being former Military, I would have to agree, knowing how a Military operates and having seen with my own eyes the stuff they pull off. Every aspect of our society involves people, even the Military and knowing people are inherently lazy gives me the knowledge needed to assume bad things have been done by people of poor moral character so I advise on taking safety for one's health over greed. I've seen people bury things that have no business in the ground.


I can remember a case from the 90's.
There was a kind of night sight used for passive observation.
It had a radioactive element in it but it was heavily shielded and perfectly safe.
Until it got dropped, then for some reason the decay would increase and it would get quite hot. Not burning but you would have to wrap them to be able to hold.
One bright spark found that on cold night's ,If he dropped his it made a very good hot water bottle.
So at £60,000 a pop this particular bit of kit became overly popular.
The amount of L.I.A. reports that involved them got to the point that they where withheld from issue to most personnel.
And that is just one example of a very small bit of kit.
My fear would be more insulation's like asbestos, solvents such as hydrozean or benzenes but the one that would give me the willies is unexploded ordinance.
Every military in the past has just buried any thing that they no longer needed ,that is a very long list and a lot was by designee very dangerous to be around.
The reason the U.K. took a particular interest in the subject was that if you want to render some thing inoperable it is necessary to know the probable out come of your actions.
Have you any idea how hard it is to take out a vehicle with a radiological component with out irradiating your own assets? the Russians where very cunning half there kit was safe form air attack because of this and we really had no idea which was which until you got with in about 200m..
Not saying that mining old dumps could not or should not be undertaken.
Just that I would not open up a site with out a bull dozer with a shielded front to take the brunt of any explosions, then a chemical sniffer to check for any thing obviously noxious and said Geiger counter. Once basic safety screening was complete you could proceed with sorting with good protective gear as small mostly inert particles are hard to conclusively rule out.
Even with contamination it can still be processed but the research and investment needed might be quite high.


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## jphayesjr (Aug 23, 2022)

patnor1011 said:


> Not really necessary. There were a lot of soviet army detachments over there only tiny minority housed nuclear material. They which does are known and still not accessible anyway, rest is where money are buried.


Believe what you will, I had friends from Tajikistan and Turkestan who thought the Soviet Military dumpsites rarely contain radioactive isotopes because of things they read in official reports from that era. Notice the past tense?


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## jphayesjr (Aug 24, 2022)

jphayesjr said:


> Believe what you will, I had friends from Tajikistan and Turkestan who thought the Soviet Military dumpsites rarely contain radioactive isotopes because of things they read in official reports from that era. Notice the past tense?


Not to mention other highly toxic materials from cleaning weapons, CBW agents, and more.


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## patnor1011 (Sep 22, 2022)

jphayesjr said:


> Believe what you will, I had friends from Tajikistan and Turkestan who thought the Soviet Military dumpsites rarely contain radioactive isotopes because of things they read in official reports from that era. Notice the past tense?


I was talking about soviet era military dumps located in countries outside soviet union. Like in Czechoslovakia where we had Soviet military bases yet they used to behave a little better compared to what was allowed and whet they did back home. Also our army used Soviet made equipment.


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## orvi (Sep 23, 2022)

patnor1011 said:


> I was talking about soviet era military dumps located in countries outside soviet union. Like in Czechoslovakia where we had Soviet military bases yet they used to behave a little better compared to what was allowed and whet they did back home. Also our army used Soviet made equipment.


Radioactive material is rarely found here (former Soviet country), but it is 100% legit that it exists. Most of the times, material you recieve (boards, components etc.) are well known. If something new appear, looks weird or you just have a bad feeling about it arising from strange construction, absurd use of materials for some "containement" etc... Then you pull the Geiger out  
I have done it several times for my own safety, but I never encountered anything radioactive. Luckily.


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## Ultrax (Sep 27, 2022)

Radioactive power sources in the USSR were mainly powered by Strontium-90 in RITEGs, and were not used in military electronics at all  It's just a horror story. Although there were a few idiots who destroyed military RITEGs in remote Siberia areas and broke the lead protective capsule with strontium-90, they did not have time to sell it


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## Alondro (Sep 27, 2022)

orvi said:


> Radioactive material is rarely found here (former Soviet country), but it is 100% legit that it exists. Most of the times, material you recieve (boards, components etc.) are well known. If something new appear, looks weird or you just have a bad feeling about it arising from strange construction, absurd use of materials for some "containement" etc... Then you pull the Geiger out
> I have done it several times for my own safety, but I never encountered anything radioactive. Luckily.


I have a radioactive rabbit statue... here it is:


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## orvi (Sep 28, 2022)

Alondro said:


> I have a radioactive rabbit statue... here it is:



I have Czech uranium glassware  that´s the thing. I love that fluo-green colour. Sadly, drinking from it for few years and something could eventually show up.


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## jphayesjr (Sep 28, 2022)

orvi said:


> Radioactive material is rarely found here (former Soviet country), but it is 100% legit that it exists. Most of the times, material you recieve (boards, components etc.) are well known. If something new appear, looks weird or you just have a bad feeling about it arising from strange construction, absurd use of materials for some "containement" etc... Then you pull the Geiger out
> I have done it several times for my own safety, but I never encountered anything radioactive. Luckily.


A little time spent on reasonable precautions means a longer time above ground. Batteries and some switches, esp relays were mainly the offending items, and older radium treated dial faces from clocks, meters, etc.. There were also dumped shells with 'expended' Uranium tips. Lengthy exposure to even low levels poses a significant risk, or perhaps I misheard in all the Radiation Biology and physics classes I studied.


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## Alondro (Sep 28, 2022)

jphayesjr said:


> A little time spent on reasonable precautions means a longer time above ground. Batteries and some switches, esp relays were mainly the offending items, and older radium treated dial faces from clocks, meters, etc.. There were also dumped shells with 'expended' Uranium tips. Lengthy exposure to even low levels poses a significant risk, or perhaps I misheard in all the Radiation Biology and physics classes I studied.


Depends on the emission. Alpha can be stopped by a single sheet of paper. It's just a helium nucleus that needs to grab two electrons to become stable helium. In fact, alpha-decay is where ALL the helium on Earth comes from. 

Beta-minus are just free electrons, and also have little penetrating power. As I demonstrated, a thin plastic bag cuts the emissions by 90% roughly than an inch away. But direct frequent contact with the same patch of skin will cause site-specific damage over time.

Beta-plus are positrons, anti-matter. They don't penetrate far, BUT they annihilate with an electron, releasing a gamma-ray... and gamma rays DO penetrate pretty much everything. 

Alpha and beta-minus emitters are really only dangerous if you eat them and thus the particle decay is directly inside living cells, delivering all that ionizing energy to your precious bodily fluids.

Beta-plus and straight gamma emitters will end you if you try to be neighborly with them.


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## Rreyes097 (Oct 1, 2022)

teclu said:


> From me, Lou!  (from Romania!) What do you want? (russian/soviet/ussr) Pt alloy relays, Au alloy, pure Au or pure Ag? For collection, or...?!
> 
> teclu


Your able to get these old Soviet material?


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