Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) : Discussion and Group Therapy Thread

[EC8010]

I've just salvaged eighteen 75 ohm insulated BNCs from a video distribution amplifier back. It was worth doing because insulated BNCs are either unobtainium or don't specify their characteristic impedance (implying that it's undefined). As people will know, if you plug a 75 ohm BNC into a 50 ohm socket, you can expect intermittent contact and mistermination at high frequencies. Most of my stuff is <1MHz, so I use BNCs as a means of shielding sensitive measurements. I'd have used MUSAs if I'd thought to acquire a stash when I was surrounded by them at work...

[Zenith]

I don't know how the gold is removed; maybe dissolved in mercury, then separated somehow. EDIT: sometimes just melted and it is the buyer's problem to separate out the gold https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/236732130634

I think when I flog the 184 I will auction it in two sections: test equipment and "computer equipment and parts", and see which section wins

As I recall they use potassium cyanide to dissolve gold. Things like ICs are crushed to dust first. I don't know about tantalum etc. There'll be well worked out processes for recovering valuable metals.

I meant "a ton" in the sense of £100. Since there are 31 grammes per Troy ounce and an ounce of gold is worth something over £3,000, a £100 per gramme is good rough estimate.

Not much, but some people are mesmerised by the high price of scrap. When scrap steel peaked in price to over £200 a ton a few years back, because of the demand for steel created by the building boom in Dubhai, scrap collecting became an obsessive activity for some, reaching the level of pinching garden gates.

I don't know whether people really do understand how much can be recovered. I'm unconvinced the lot I mentioned ( https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/168433140661 ) was a sensible price, but what do I know.

Maybe people are channelling the Bunker-Hunt brothers when they tried to corner the silver markets, and people were selling heirloom teapots to street traders with dodgy spring balances!

Around 1978/79? There was also a gold bubble where people were selling all sorts of beautiful gold items for scrap value. It may have been related.

It's a good thing that precious and industrial metals are recovered rather than ending up in landfill. Also I'd guess that many of the items which had been taken to rallies a few times and didn't sell were taken to the dump. I imagine the dump operators send off items for gold recovery, although I read a lot of computer waste was sent to West Africa and just dumped in the open. That classed as recycling and allowed boxes to be ticked.

I suppose buying up TE at swapmeets for gold value is just the market in operation, but it seems seedy and sad.

[Zenith]

Ebay prices are unrealistic. People think they can get more out of it than the think. It's called gold fever.

Yes, it's not completely rational. As I said, it reminds me of the scrap steel fad about ten years back. The way people were carrying on, you'd have thought they were going to make tens of thousands out of collecting scrap, rather than just a few quid.

[Zenith]

hoochie mama!

I like it!

but I wouldn't pay more than 25 bucks for one.

in fact yesterday I gave a 1741 to a neighborhood college kid who just finished his first year and picked engineering science as his major. (was afraid he was gonna' pick physics).

also gave him a 2A 40V regulated bench ps, a fluke 8020, a fluke 8010, an hp54601, an hp5300a counter with 5302a 50Mhz and 5303b 525Mhz plugin, a 10 Mhz ocxo, and an old 15-2700Mhz rf explorer SA.

the kid may be ruined for life now........but the stacks of junk in the fortress of solitude do not appear to be noticeably smaller. (although swmbo stood and cheered as we loaded the kids car)


ps for the love of god ........if med buys that 1725 and paints it blue........don't anyone tell me.

They want $200 for that hp scope which is ridiculous so it's safe from painting it blue.

Maybe $30.

[MED6753]

Oh dear... just a week away. Is anybelly coming to meet for lunch this time?

Cheers,

mnem
yes, you may touch it.

I would love to go but Blondie is having the remaining kidney stones removed on Friday.