HISTORY:
Sustainability is the name of the game! Anything (that has been tested and still functioning properly) should be repurposed creating saving in wasted Ee and reducing the poisoning our environment when items are buried in the earth at the local tip needlessly.
Never heard of Ee? It is a concept that creates a measurement of ALL things (not just electronics) that humans have made and the energy used in obtaining the raw material, processing the materials right through to a finished product and even should include the shipping of the item to the distributors/retailers.
If you would like to know more about Ee values, please take a look HERE
This electronic component is BRAND NEW, old (very old, around 50+ years!) stock.
How long since you've seen some Germanium transistors? These were in common use way back when I was a teenager in the late 1960's, I cut my teeth on devices such as this - this was the beginnings of the "new fan-dangled" semiconductor technology around that period
Up until this time in the 1960's valves were "the" thing, then along came these little beasties!
UNKNOWN MANUFACTURER - Germanium Transistor
This tranny was NOT packed away in a sealed packet and the body & legs were extremely dirty! See below for testing results ...
Circa late 1970's (50+ years old!)
Type: 2N398A
All identification markings are on the side of the can, nothing on the top.
The manufacturers logo cannot be read at all!
PNP
Germanium junction semiconductor
TOP HAT style case (31) with the small side tab (the lead nearest this is the Emitter)
Case is metal
On the underside however it looks very dirty and oh! those legs ... she needed a cleanup before testing!
The legs are all tin plated
WARNING!
If ever the new owner was considering using this device, NEVER bend the leads less than 1.5mm from the body. The packaging used in the early days of transistors was often quite delicate and if you make a bend in the lead which is too close to the body, the lead is likely to snap off!
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Unfortunately this transistor has been sitting in my spare parts drawers WITHOUT protective packaging! This means that oxidisation has taken hold and oh my, the legs were dirty.
To allow me to test this device, I have carefully cleaned up the legs with light touches of a "makeup" nail emery pad - back to nice shiny metal (on the ends at least)
NO physical damage to the device or the legs - these are "full length"
Legs are straight 37mm length each
TESTING:
After cleaning up the legs, my transistor tester finally was able to make some measurements!
Hfe results were 65
According to the datasheet, this is pretty "A Typical" for this transistor, 65 being the average Hfe expected
Confirmed as a Germanium transistor
Now that testing has been completed, I have NOW placed this transistor into a sealed clear plastic packet ready for a new owner to add to their museum or perhaps even use it!
