19 Jan
2004
19 Jan
'04
8:15 a.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Donzelli" <aw288(a)osfn.org>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Cc: "On-Topic Posts Only" <cctech(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 4:42 PM
Subject: Re: This just makes me really SICK
Keep in mind that there is often much more than meets
the eye. Sure, many
microprocessors have gold - you can see it, plain as day. Many other
chips that appear quite boring also contain gold - probably 1/2 to 1/3 of
the ceramic types do (break a few open - you will see). Even plain old
plastic DIP TTL contains gold in a good percentage of chips. Crystals
also have gold, and there is often a large amount in metal can
transistors.
Most scrappers I know don't realize the old machines are more valuable
intact (by many times, as pointed out). If you want to save the machines,
explain this to them - WITH MONEY IN HAND. Don't try to be a cheapskate -
these guys are pretty damn street smart when it comes to eyeing someone
over for honesty. Screw them, and you have just condemned a few PDP-8s to
death, but treat them, and those PDP-8s will be yours.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org
There really isn't any gold in the chip itself, its all in the
interconnecting wires from the outside pins to the actual small piece of
silicon the chip is made on. the more pins to the socket the more gold there
is. Especially on much older chips where thicker interconnects were used (a
small cost compared to what the equipment was sold for).
Most scrapper probably don't want to use space holding bulky computer
equipment that only a few dozen people in the US would pay above scrap value
for (and he has no way to find or contact them anyway). And once the guy
they can contact gets his pristine example he wont be paying that much for
the next copy coming around (to be used as a spare). A collector would
probably have to buy a decent percentage of the scrap computers coming
through a scrapper for them to even bother calling the collector every time
something "computerlike" comes in. Plus once you do buy something for a
decent amount of cash you know dam well they be actively keeping those items
for ebay (is it better to save a classic from scrapping to put in your
collection cheaply or have it end up on ebay for crazy $$$$ you don't want
to pay).
Circuit boards hold more gold in them per ton then the rich gold mines
corporations operate. Most mines are not profitable until gold is over $400
an ounce, making circuit boards even more valuable. No idea how much copper
is in a board, but probably worth allot in a ton of circuitboards.