ETCO germanium transistors

[mozz]

Usually i do good, when searching for parts at flea markets, yard sales, hamfest, etc. Went to a antique radio show in Kutztown PA this weekend, been going there twice a year for 20 years. So, not one to pass up "any" germanium transistors in qty, i spotted this old computer pcb/gizmo panel $15. I figured there were about 100 pieces 2N1378. Made by ETCO, not my favorite manu. Had some ETCO 2n270 for a FZ-1 and they just would not work. Turns out they are very low gain, consistent as they may be. They measure (DCA55) about 20-25hfe/leakage 100ua, very few hit 35/175. They were used to switch a indicator lamp on so i guess anything would have worked. I guess my only try is Q1 Q2 in tonebender MK3 in the darlington config. I shall see. Tried them in a regular fuzz face on my proto board and while i can get them to bias up with trimmers, there was not much fuzz at all. Day was not a total loss as i scored some old 12ax7 and 6v6 for $1 ea.

[sinthmart]

I read in the reference book, they claim a very good gain factor hfe = 85...330..

But on the board they have very short legs? It is necessary to unsolder and solder with all strict heat-dissipating precautions. Otherwise, it is damage to the transistor. In reality, which many amateurs do not believe.

[mozz]

The data book i have, shows max gain, no low limit. ETCO was a lot smaller manufacturer than RCA, GE, TUNG SOL, MOTOROLA. They are also listed as a 12v transistor and .400 Mhz freq. I think the board is about 1960, could be earlier so they seem par for the course. I'll find a use for them.

[sinthmart]

They didn't skimp on gold for these transistors, logically this means high-quality manufacturing.
Surely the task was to make high-quality, reliable ones, in strict technical specifications. But such a short-legged installation is strange and illogical.

[mozz]

They were soldered onto pcb boards, leg length is normal for used parts. A lot of early transistors had gold plated legs, this pcb might have been military so gold was the norm.

[Rob Strand]

I shall see. Tried them in a regular fuzz face on my proto board and while i can get them to bias up with trimmers, there was not much fuzz at all.

The germanium transistors formed secret groups, conspired to be fuzz pedals then laid waiting for decades.

Maybe they will work as Darlingtons?

[PRR]

The price of Gold rose quite suddenly in the 1980s. We saw PCBs that were very new, turning up in surplus with their golden-fingers edge connectors sawed off to salvage the Gold.The amount of Gold on 1970s semiconductors (and coax connectors) looks obscene today. Even ordinary 2N2222s were Gold-rich.



Also the number of connections in a missile/etc keeps rising, and bad connections became a major problem. Gold has no tarnish. Another micron of Gold is far cheaper than signal-tracing a mainframe computer.

[sinthmart]

The price of Gold rose quite suddenly in the 1980s.

In the Soviet Union (USSR) they stopped producing gold-plated parts in 1985. Abruptly, in one year. Apparently some government decision was made for all electronic production. And before that, the use of gold was sometimes even incomprehensibly excessive. Even the microcircuit cases were gold-plated. As if they were even trying to protect the cases from corrosion with gold. But as you can see in the photo, half of the case (the lower part, where the terminals are) is not gold-plated!)) And I don't understand the logic of this gilding.
Sorry for this digression, but I wanted to show old Soviet microcircuits (in such gold + silver + palladium):

[sinthmart]

The price of Gold rose quite suddenly in the 1980s.

In the Soviet Union (USSR) they stopped producing gold-plated parts in 1985. Abruptly, in one year. Apparently some government decision was made for all electronic production. And before that, the use of gold was sometimes even incomprehensibly excessive. Even the microcircuit cases were gold-plated. As if they were even trying to protect the cases from corrosion with gold. But as you can see in the photo, half of the case (the lower part, where the terminals are) is not gold-plated!)) And I don't understand the logic of this gilding.
Sorry for this digression, but I wanted to show old Soviet microcircuits (in such gold + silver + palladium):


http://www.155la3.ru/images2/k217lb2a_1.jpg

http://www.155la3.ru/images2/k217lb2a_2.jpg

[amptramp]

Gold-plated leads were the bane of our existence on the Hermes satellite.  The gold was plated over kovar leads and the kovar rusted under the gold.  Kovar itself does not solder well, so some plating was needed but gold is porous and with the two metals together, the kovar acted as a sacrificial anode and fizzled away to protect the gold.  We had batches of 2N2222A's that were unsolderable because of this.  We would have been much better off with tin plating.

[Frank_NH]

Interesting post!  I remember when they decommissioned our church's old solid state organ and were getting rid of board after board filled with discrete components that were salvageable.  I'm often tempted to get a few old junk radios on eBay to salvage some germanium parts but it's hard to know what you're getting.  Flea markets and local sellers on Facebook Marketplace are probably a better bet.

[duck_arse]

Sorry for this digression, but I wanted to show old Soviet microcircuits (in such gold + silver + palladium):

Code Select Expand

[img]http://www.155la3.ru/images/2tk171a_1small.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.155la3.ru/images2/k217lb2a_2.jpg[/img]

many of us here won't even know you have an image URL'ed in this post, as our browsers bork anything on "http" these days. if, however, they were reposted on an "https" site, tikkety boo. personally, I like to use the "Click or drag files here to attach them." option when it appears, and if files are small enough, as it keeps them here, rather than 'somewhere'.

and we do love looking at digressions.

[PRR]

> Soviet Union (USSR) they stopped producing gold-plated parts in 1985.

Yeah. A little after the rise on the US market. The USSR economy was somewhat apart from the West (Russia has a lot of Gold, and the Soviets accumulated), and its leaders would sometimes invest in important products. But someone noticed how many tractors (or bottles) that Gold would buy, and changed the policy. (Might have to work into a Five Year Plan. Also oil prices whip-sawed in 1985 forcing economic re-balancing.)

[Transistor-Transistor]

I don't know where some of you find the NOS soviet parts. I want some and I can't find any 

[sinthmart]

It's a pity that I don't understand the meaning of the letters NOS in such a topic))
(I am writing and reading through an online translator)

[Rob Strand]

It's a pity that I don't understand the meaning of the letters NOS in such a topic))
(I am writing and reading through an online translator)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_old_stock