radio shack score

[petey twofinger]

So my older brother , has a job cleaning out this pack rat couples home . her husband recently passed so she is selling .

anyway he gifted me two LARGE boxs , jammed full of old radio shack components , all in the packaging . it is quite a large ammount of stuff and additionally there is non radio shack / archer stuff including what looks to me much older larger resistors , and then a metal slide case with two drawers of low value , sprague ceramic caps .

i did read a comment recently , someone mentioned subbing antique ceramics in the mxr d+ circuit to great effect , although i admit i am not convinced . i was hoping someone had some thoughts on this .

my main querry is the 100 pack of assorted transistors .

believe it or not , non of these transistors have ANY marking on them , what soever .

the packaging states that this assortment includes si and ge as well .

i was curious if anyone had any suggestions about how i would go about determining which of these would be ge vs si , and perhaps why ithis is a bad idea , waste of time , i should throw them all in the trash etc .

i looked online and it seems to me this was around 67 or so . they offered the 100 pack for only a few years and they do not give any refrence to part numbers , but . the text does change and they eliminated the germanium later on is what i have come to figure out , but i may be wrong . i should state i am not scheming on hitting pay dirt , opening up a boutique ge pedal empire , not at all , i realize the odds i will actually be able to find anything good is slim but , i may very well also be wrong , but i also hate to let them just sit here .

non of these transistors look like any of the ge transistor packaging i have ever seen .

i m not a huge ge tone freak either but ... that very well be could be my fault / not getting a good one yet , but ...

like i said , these transistors , there is maybe a dozen or less different types to my eye , but NO markings , nothing . there was a sound effects ic chip that radio shack used to sell , but there is not one of those . there is a micronita transistor checker unit though and a few plastic chassis but ... my main curiosity thing is that assortment . i am planning to sort them into piles and then start attempting to test them , i do have a little wooden test jig rig , rg keens leakage tester circuit , with a built in meter so , i suppose i can start with that . and then there is just plugging them into a fuzz face . i was hoping perhaps someone could shed light on how i could test these properly , but ... i am not sure there is a method , to quickly and easily determine if it is a ge or an si transistor ... seeing there is 100 , but sorting them , should help from the get go . there is also the option toi purchase one of those ebay china tester things that are like under 20 . that may be a smart move with some xmas money . does anyone have a recomendation , or is there a model i should avoid ?

[karbomusic]

radio shack score

What, did they give you a refund?

Just kidding, nice score

[petey twofinger]

yeah i should build a time machine ,  counterfeit a receipt and bring it all back , go forward ion time , and purchase a smart phone .

[PRR]

I would assume all the 100-pack transistors were "reject" at the time. They may have transistor action, but not enough to be sold under any market part-number.

With 100, yes you should get a Peak, or at least one of the low-price testers. You can't figure out E B C by looking. I can figure it out with a half-dozen measurements, but that's not practical with a 100-pack.

I doubt they are worth much. Even if the Peak/clone shows interesting Beta, they may have silly-low breakdown voltage or stupid-high hiss. So you have to build something, measure, listen. As they were 2 4 cents each for a reason, they could all be piss-poor parts.

[Tony Forestiere]

Are there any designations on the transistors? They may be RS house numbers.

[petey twofinger]

initially i was thinking there are single transistor  circuits like treble boosters or something that works well with a very leaky ge , maybe some of these could work well in something like that but .

originally this was 3.98 cents for the 100 pack , so that should say something right there . then you have the fact they arent marked so yeah .

i figured maybe they test them before they get marked and these ones didnt make the mark , kind of like nte or whatever those are ...

i do plan to go thru them and monkey a bit but , my hopes are not very high .

[Tony Forestiere]

Bummer. We know how you love bargains. As Paul suggested, and with all the pokin' around you do, a Peak could be a good "Seasonal" gift to yourself. Good luck and Merry Christmas. 

[idy]

Sort by checking them with a meter's diode tester function. PNP negative to B, positive to E or C. Reverse this with NPN. Ge reads around .3v, Si 6. More or less.

[amptramp]

You can always use unidentifiable transistors as diodes.  We have all kinds of combinations and permutations of diodes in series or diodes antiparallel to each other in fuzz circuitry, so you have a few more to try.  For better diode action, connect base to collector.