# Late 1970s early 1980s equipment identification



## Astrofarmer (Jul 16, 2022)

Hey guys, thanks to this forum I have took the time to collect some stuff and wanted to get some input on what I have here this is generally what I have collected from various old stuff 1970s 1980s no clue what it was used for


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## eaglekeeper (Jul 17, 2022)

Nice stuff...... the pins on that pin board and the gold fingers yield pretty good. The IC chips *might* be decent as well.


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## Ohiogoldfever (Jul 17, 2022)

Looks like a fair bit of recoverable materials. The wire wrapped pins are nice but a pain to clean the wire from. You also have a good number of top hat transistors, also the black top hats are just shields / heat sinks. Pop those off to find more of the silver capped transistors.


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## Astrofarmer (Jul 18, 2022)

Yes it is a fair bit too much really, I have a total of 200 pounds of just pcbs plus a bunch of those boxes with pins (the pins by the way appear to be one solid color any idea why that is?) It all seems too high grade to sell I don’t feel I would get what it’s worth selling it as boards . I do have something I am willing too sell too someone who knows what it is and appreciates i think it deserves too be saved let me know what you guys think.


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## Astrofarmer (Jul 18, 2022)

Astrofarmer said:


> Yes it is a fair bit too much really, I have a total of 200 pounds of just pcbs plus a bunch of those boxes with pins (the pins by the way appear to be one solid color any idea why that is?) It all seems too high grade to sell I don’t feel I would get what it’s worth selling it as boards . I do have something I am willing too sell too someone who knows what it is and appreciates i think it deserves too be saved let me know what you guys think.


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## Astrofarmer (Jul 18, 2022)

I just think the fact it’s in a wooden box is awesome and worth keeping


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## GoIdman (Jul 18, 2022)

Veri nice stuff, i also found some vire strapped pins, it is time consuming to clean but, the pins are gorgeos, my pins are the same color inside and on surface, i presume they are alloy pins and not plated ones. I did'nt refine them yet though.
Heres a picture of my cleaned pins.


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## kurtak (Jul 18, 2022)

Astrofarmer said:


> wanted to get some input on what I have here



Pic #1 - if all the boards in the unit look like the two on top - other then the gold plated fingers - they are low grade - cut the fingers off (for processing & throw the rest of the board in you low grade scrap & sell as low grade scrap

pic #2 - the pins on that board "should be" heavy plated - should run "about 2.5 - 3.5 grams per pound

pic #3 - that board is also low grade (to many ceramic chips - which have aluminum bond wires not gold bond wires) - the board to the right of that board is high grade as it is loaded with epoxy chips which have gold bond wires

pic #4 - same as pic #3

pic #5 - also low grade (maybe mid grade - has some tantalum/silver caps & the ceramic disc caps which may (*or not*) be Ag/Pd ceramic caps

pic #6 - low grade - pull the gold plated pins throw the rest of the board in your low grade scrap

pic #7 - gold plated pins again should be heavy plated (2.5 - 3.5 grams/pound) - its a pain in the butt getting the pins out of the plastic housing

For what it's worth - IMO - fingers are worth cutting off to process - pins are worth pulling to process (though time consuming - epoxy chips are somewhat worth pulling if set up to incinerate/mill/concentrate/leach or smelt --- keep in mind those are prom chips so only run 1/4 (or less) gram per pound --- don't bother with ceramic (prom) chips --- the rest goes in your low/mid grade scrap 

Are there other values - yes (like top hats & maybe ceramic disc caps) but certainly *not* worth chasing when you figure time/chem & waste created *cost *to chase 

Kurt


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## snoman701 (Jul 18, 2022)

Sorry, but I disagree wholeheartedly. Every board pictured is mid grade telecom or higher except #6, and if sold with the others, would still go low telecom. Tophats add a lot of weight to a board, but at a refined value similar to BGA's on a much smaller footprint.


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## wozalesidudla (Jul 20, 2022)

kurtak said:


> Pic #1 - if all the boards in the unit look like the two on top - other then the gold plated fingers - they are low grade - cut the fingers off (for processing & throw the rest of the board in you low grade scrap & sell as low grade scrap
> 
> pic #2 - the pins on that board "should be" heavy plated - should run "about 2.5 - 3.5 grams per pound
> 
> ...





kurtak said:


> Pic #1 - if all the boards in the unit look like the two on top - other then the gold plated fingers - they are low grade - cut the fingers off (for processing & throw the rest of the board in you low grade scrap & sell as low grade scrap
> 
> pic #2 - the pins on that board "should be" heavy plated - should run "about 2.5 - 3.5 grams per pound
> 
> ...


All those are very very good boards Pic#5 those brown capacitors are very rich in silver palladium the yield is around 58g per kg


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## Astrofarmer (Jul 21, 2022)

wozalesidudla said:


> All those are very very good boards Pic#5 those brown capacitors are very rich in silver palladium the yield is around 58g per kg


58 grams of silver and palladium mixed?


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## Astrofarmer (Jul 21, 2022)

kurtak said:


> Pic #1 - if all the boards in the unit look like the two on top - other then the gold plated fingers - they are low grade - cut the fingers off (for processing & throw the rest of the board in you low grade scrap & sell as low grade scrap
> 
> pic #2 - the pins on that board "should be" heavy plated - should run "about 2.5 - 3.5 grams per pound
> 
> ...


Thank you for your time this response was awesome and I appreciate it


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## Astrofarmer (Jul 21, 2022)

GoIdman said:


> Veri nice stuff, i also found some vire strapped pins, it is time consuming to clean but, the pins are gorgeos, my pins are the same color inside and on surface, i presume they are alloy pins and not plated ones. I did'nt refine them yet though.
> Heres a picture of my cleaned pins.


Awesome man when you refine those drop by and let me know what process you decide to use for them


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## GoIdman (Jul 21, 2022)

Astrofarmer said:


> Awesome man when you refine those drop by and let me know what process you decide to use for them


I will deffinitely post here since i am also curious of the results....i will probably layer it down to see the composition of the pins...my guess is brass with a thick plate of gold....but can also be 10kt alloy..(the pins in the picture have a total of 187grams, way too much for the overall volume) who knows...we'll see.


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## Astrofarmer (Jul 21, 2022)

GoIdman said:


> I will deffinitely post here since i am also curious of the results....i will probably layer it down to see the composition of the pins...my guess is brass with a thick plate of gold....but can also be 10kt alloy..(the pins in the picture have a total of 187grams, way too much for the overall volume) who knows...we'll see.


10kt alloy is that a thing? I found a weird connector piece that is testing 10k with the acid test but it weighs 40 grams and there was two of them on one unit I thought for sure it couldn’t be here you are getting my hopes up


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## eaglekeeper (Jul 21, 2022)

Astrofarmer said:


> 10kt alloy is that a thing? I found a weird connector piece that is testing 10k with the acid test but it weighs 40 grams and there was two of them on one unit I thought for sure it couldn’t be here you are getting my hopes up


I assume you are talking about the plate with all the holes in it. 

Take a file and file deep into that connector piece... I think you'll find that it's gold plated copper/brass.


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## GoIdman (Jul 23, 2022)

Astrofarmer said:


> 10kt alloy is that a thing? I found a weird connector piece that is testing 10k with the acid test but it weighs 40 grams and there was two of them on one unit I thought for sure it couldn’t be here you are getting my hopes up


I don't say it is 10kt alloy, but the source was a connector built by an American company in the 70's, and was used in an analog high precision industrial PLC.(rack with lots of analog boards, the connecting wires were silver plated)


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