Anyone have a idea of how much i should bid on old test equipment. So far I've only bought Computer scrap by the pound or less than $5 for towers. I'm thinking this stuff will be mostly mid/low grade boards and shred.
Anyone have a idea of how much i should bid on old test equipment. So far I've only bought Computer scrap by the pound or less than $5 for towers. I'm thinking this stuff will be mostly mid/low grade boards and shred.
Military test equipment Usually great stuff inside them. Most of it I have ever gotten was all high grade stuff they usually used more gold in the making.
i would try to estimate the mass and then bid slightly less than shred. If you win, try and sell the items via ebay or locally via Craigslist. Also, this kind of stuff might interest DIY/Maker type people, you might look for that community as well.
some of the boards may have silver solder. do not assume it is all lead! also, some of the very old radio gear I have handled have a radioactive liquid in some of the controls. set off the alarm at the yard and it will not be a boring day! If you know an old ham radio operator, or someone that does, try and get them to give you the low down on it all. vintage military stuff was built well and it should be a good payback if you can get it on-da-cheap. when i get stuff like that in, I study the heck out of it and am not in a hurry to get my cash back. I have been lucky enough to find an old timer that is willing to barter for some of the things I get in. ie, i traded an old SW receiver last week (my cost-0) and he was happy to give me a trunk load of wire and copper and mobo's he had.(my profit-120) we both drove off feeling like we got the better end of the deal ;-)
you can learn a lot from that old stuff. just my 2. BroJer
Certain pieces of miltary equipment might be collectible in its own right. There are collectors of military ephemera and equipment who wouldn't give a hoot about the guts of the machines or the PM content, but might go nuts for a particular item if it is rare or was associated with an important miltary figure or war.
Like others have said, I would go slow and carefully research what you get in the load before ripping anything apart.
Just my 2c.
I would prob go 50 and mabye a 100 just to see that stuff up close and personal....LOL
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I bought a lot a few months ago and came out really good on it. I bought 800lbs of mililtary equipment for .22/lb Nearly all of the cases where aluminum and i was able to make nearly all my money back just scrappin the cases. I didnt take the time to try to sell ne of the equipment but given a chance to do it over i prob would. I ended up makin about 7 times my investment. I found some really awesome boards that im still hangin on to not knowin what to do with them. Im thinkin ebay.
When the older units were made gold was pritty cheap to what it is today plus the company that made that stuff didn't care about how much pm they used because the gov. was paying for it. Some of the older boards made back in the 60's and early 70's have a scrap value more than high grade motherboards. Would like to see a pic of the bottom of those boards. If there are any gold pins look at them close and see if they are real thick, the older boards had big thick pins and some were sold gold not just plated and the back would have alot of solder and should be silver solder.
Last edited by happyscraper; 06-02-2012 at 10:53 PM.
I doubt if their solid gold as that would make them too soft, they have to alloyed with something to give them strength.the older boards had big thick pins and some were sold gold not just plated and the back would have alot of solder and should be silver solder.
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Most gold is alloyed like you said to give it strength, what I meant was that it's not just plated it's gold all the way through.
I lack one class from having an associates degree in Aerospace Technology...and when we soldered in class the solder bars we melted into the tinpot were @30% silver.
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