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Yep.....solid!!
The real answer is the pins are plated, but I don't know about the main body. I have had some similar stuff and was told that it was gold anodized and didn't have any actual gold plated onto the aluminum. Then again, other people told me different, so I'm hoping we get a definitive answer from someone who knows.
The circuit board trace is. The main body....not likely but I have seen gold plated heat sinks. You wont know unless you can test it. File a deep cut into it. A drop of nitric acid will dissolve the base metal leaving behind the gold if it was plated.
What did it come out of?
looks like gold plate to me. what did it come from.
Eric
It came from circa 80's early 90's handheld radios the type used by Gov't institutions Police/Fire etc.....I actually have approx 100 of these and every unit has one of these in it plus some other goodies........I bought them without looking up how old they were on Ebay (DUH) and now I can't sell them as no one seems to want them........So to recoup some of my money I am breaking them down for scrap.......The only reason I set these aside is because the nature of the item
I kinda thought that myselfQuote:
Originally Posted by etack
OMG! Mikeinreco found the legendary ounce of gold that is suppose to be in every PC. Apparently the legend was wrong and they have been hiding in old Gov't radios.
Seriously though, let us know what you find out. It's an interesting looking piece.
Anyone have a suggestion on some testing solutions......I looked on ebay and cheapest I saw was a $15 kit.........Not in my nature to spend $15 to test .50cents worth of scrap....LOL
Quote:
Originally Posted by BRASSCATCHER
Hey BC,
Gold plated heat sink, what or why would they do that. Is it for military application's?
Serious, not doubting it at all. Would love to find something like that. Or maybe already have and didn't know it.
Learn something new everyday.
Sorry to high jack
Bring it to a jeweler and ask them to test it. Or maybe a pawn shop.Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeinreco
Dont want to hijack this thread so i will make it fast, Old mainframes, old telecom boards is where I have seen pictures of them. I have also seen the results after the gold was processed.Quote:
Originally Posted by junkfreak
Feel free to hijack your knowledge is welcome here..................Science/Chemistry etc were always my worst subjects (history buff here).................With scrap so low and all this snow I am just tinkering with items that I have already in my possession.......I would like to test the item somehow and perhaps pass them on to someone who can actually do something with them (remember I have over 100 of them).....Not sure if its worth the time or effort but I would like to get something back out of these radios....LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by BRASSCATCHER
gold plate is common use on burst or high power transmitters. Its all about quality of the signal and because gold acts like shielding. It probably is gold but very thin.
Most plating is 30 microinches i believe. Maybe Etack can correct that or confirm.
Mike, I've taken things to the Cash for Gold type stores for testing. They are pretty good at it and it didn't cost me anything.
Just dont sell them anything. I think i mentioned this in another postQuote:
Originally Posted by Pnutfarmer
Oh, right. Yeah, they didn't have good prices at all and they were going by pennyweight instead of grams so it took a bit for me to decipher the price offered.
There is one thing I have sold to them. Some stores were offering 99 cents per lb for silver plated anything. I got to sell some silver plated steel platters. That worked out pretty good. (I did tell them they were steel too.)
1 pennyweight(dwt)= 1.555 gramsQuote:
Originally Posted by Pnutfarmer
The plating on the heat spreaders for them will be thickish. Think $0.25 sq in. The problem is that the copper part weighs a lot.
Eric
In the 80s, because gold skyrocketed to a high of about $800 USD per ounce, and them plummeted and stayed around $300-$400 USD for the rest of that decade. Because gold, for the majority of the 1980s was so inexpensive, many items that did not require plating received it.Quote:
Originally Posted by junkfreak
However, this is not the case with Aluminum heat sinks. Aluminum oxidizes over time, specially when heated and cooled repeatedly as heat sinks tend to be. Once oxidized, aluminum no longer dispenses heat nearly as well, it can actually start behaving in the reverse and accumulate heat. This is why heat sinks are anodized. However, during the 1980s, it was actually less expensive to gold plate an aluminum heat sink, than anodizing. It actually made things look far more expensive than they actually were, so they would also command a much higher prices in the marketplace. If we were to valuate gold, currently, at today's prices, per sq inch, with today's technology, it would be right around .33 cents per sq inch. Even today it would not be so expensive to gold plate most things, however because heat sinks have so many fins the plating surface is several inches even in regards to small heat sinks. Back in the mid-late 80s it would cost between .10-.12 cents to plate a square inch in gold.
During the mid-late 90s, heat sinks were anodized more commonly than being plated in gold, and done in a gold anodizing process so as to seem gold plated. The difference is that gold plated items in the 80s were using an older plating technology, so look almost dull buttery because of the thickness of the plating, the anodized heat sinks look shiny.
Scott
The internal parts of electronic Military equipment, specially radio equipment, is often plated with gold as RF Shielding. If it is gold, this is most likely why it was plated. Thick gold plating looks dull, almost buttery. This could be, very likely in fact, thick gold RF shielding plating.
Scott
This is why I like SMF and this thread is a perfect example of people working together, sharing knowledge, wisdom and can still have a good time with a little humor. Thanks everyone!
Iam astounded myself Burt.
You guys are awesome!
Something else to keep an eye out for.
This makes me want to take apart the lot of FBCB2 DAGR (military jargon) transceiver boxes I got from govliquidation a while back. I won the whole lot for 40 bucks and never so much as opened the box...
Open one , open one please!!!!
Don't spread that around, I already have too many people with gold fever - thinking that every computer is
full of gold- sheesh
Looks like mikeinreco and armygreywolf both have something they could take apart and post on the breakdown forum. I want to see some pictures.
I have a QSC power amp and a Cisco Catalyst 4500 I was thinking about breaking down and posting on the breakdown forum if I can find time to do it.
hi,if it is gold plated , save it.i save all my gold plated items in a 5 gallon bucket,when it gets full I will call a toll refiner,ed. my .02 worth.
My trusty screw gun and radio (paid approx .67 each for the radios).....Hope I won't lose
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Well that's what's in an old radio now I have to sell this crap.....LOL
I don't think $15 would be a bad investment to have a gold test kit around the place. I don't think the acids go bad and would probably last me a good long time. I'll admit, though, I haven't bought one yet...
these things are tedious but at least I can work them inside considering it snowed 5 inches yesterday.........I will either try to take one up to a jeweler and get tested (if they don't laugh at me) or just take some good pics and throw up on ebay
Mike if you take it to be tested take a file and put a notch somewhere on a corner. That is where you want them to put a few drops of test solution. Depending on if it is gold a drop of nitric or hcl should dissolve the base metal and leave the gold alone.
On AL it is not typically gold plated just as the others are saying. But I have had a few hundred lbs of radios before and got around .35 a lb, so it could be. Looking at the pictures it does look like gold plating though.