Cold War Era radar parts NEW PIX

[zamistro]

I came across some old military radar stuff. Please check out the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46118821@N07/


Any ideas?

 

[nickvc]

many years ago i had a customer who stripped down some old radar gear it was really high grade material i know they found rhodium gold and loads of silver but dont have the specifics, so go slow and test everything ! even if it seems 2 good to be true..good hunting.

 

[zamistro]

It's interesting that you say "loads of silver". I see a lot of connection points on these that have a shiny silver color, but shouldn't silver be tarnished after all these years?

 

[nickvc]

It's interesting that you say "loads of silver". I see a lot of connection points on these that have a shiny silver color, but shouldn't silver be tarnished after all these years?

If my memory serves me correctly loads of the silver came from large valves,this wasnt my job only saw the bars.Many silver contacts are fine silver which doesnt tarnish too easily.

 

[tlcarrig]

Yes. Loads of silver there. Some in just about every part. Before tearing up anything though, those parts that have a number on them, do a google search on them. You might find a buyer for a lot more than scrapping for the PMs. I saw a tube number that was listed at $17.95. Another was on e-bay for $25 for three. Lots of copper too. I think the waveguides are Al. Lots of klystron tubes and tunable transmitter tubes. Don't know what's in them though. If you find no reference on a tube number, you will have to find a cross reference for USN tube numbers and JAN numbers. These military numbers may or may not have a commercial number. Remember, sell the individual parts whole. You will get more that way than trying to recover a particular PM from a part. zamistro said he didn't see much tarnish but I saw gobs of it. As a former Air Force radar tech, I recognise lots of this stuff. There will even be silver on those test leads I see in one of the pictures. Those might go good on e-bay though. The probes I saw look the same as what we used in the early 60s on Tektronic scopes and should fit any quality scope. Good luck.

 

[zamistro]

Hey Terry! You are just the kind of guy I was hoping to bump into. I'd like to draw your attention to pictures 100 down through 69. I can't find a mfg plate on that unit. Any idea what it is? And that shiny tube shaped thing, what is it and do you think there might be gold inside? Thanks for your help.

 

[goldsilverpro]

I would think there could be very heavy gold or silver on the inside of the waveguide tubes. That's been my experience, anyhow.

 

[aflacglobal]

I was wondering about the grids in the vacuum tubes ?

 

[tlcarrig]

Aflacglobal, I don't know what the wire of a grid is made of but most grids are carbon coated. Zamistro, I'll look at the pictures closely and see if anything jogs my feeble memory. Remember, that Air Force experience was almost 60 years ago.

 

[tlcarrig]

Zamistro, this stuff looks like ground or ship based equipment. Too large for aircraft. Also older thai I am familar with. You do have a bunch of diferent types of Klystron tubes. One (pic 186) lists for $150 at surplussales.com. The pictures you were referring me to also looks like some kind of Klystron or RF monitoring probe. I have no idea for sure. Looks like brass though instead of gold. I haven't been back completely through your pics. I'm going to though to see if I can find a magnetron. I would like to get a set of magnets off of one. I'll get back to you.

 

[tlcarrig]

How many pounds (kg) do you have of this stuff? Is there anything that you did not take pictures of? You have a museum full of Klystron tubes but I didn't see any magnetrons. I have a stronger feeling that this is ship board stuff now that I have gone through the picturse carefully. There are Navy markings on some of the parts. There is also some test equipment included. There is a huge Exel worksheet at http://192.16.192.126/tech/components/tubes/tubelist.csv
It will tell you what the tube is if it is listed. What is the gizmo in pics 155/160? Pics 47,48 and 49 is a piece of test equipment and pics 27 on down liiks very expensive. It's a klystron too. I sure would like to recover the PMs out of this but I think it would be more valuable to a collector if you could find one. Let your fingers do the walking on Google.

 

[zamistro]

You're right. Much of it has Navy markings. I've more than 200 pounds of it. Pretty much everything is pictured. 155 is an early computer part. I think. I have it and some of this other stuff up on ebay. See #200426453359. I'm torn between ebay and PM recovery on these, but I suppose I should try the collector market first. I've some copper wave guides and some flexible ones. In your experience are these PM lined or was copper enough?

 

[tlcarrig]

Something has happened to the e-mail notification. I have it checked on this thread but not getting them. Ennyhoo, I can't help you on the waveguides. I don't know what they have in them. It has to be electrically conductive which leaves lots of options. Ours (AF) were annodized Al on the outside. Don't know the inside. Sorry.

 

[lazersteve]

I have several of the wave guide tubes in all sorts of lengths. Mine appear to be solid copper with no gold plating inside. They are painted green-gray.

I've had them for years.

I also have a gold plated waveguide cylinder with a horn on the end that has thick gold plating inside and out.

Steve

 

[zamistro]

Woohoo! The Sperry klystron tuner went for $168. The Raytheon went for $87.