[sdiy] germanium transistors

[Antti Huovilainen]

On Tue, 20 Jan 2009, Derek Holzer wrote:

> I found a handful of AC152 and similar transistors in the drawer of a small 
> cabinet at an antiques store, so I thought I'd play around a bit making some 
> distortions. Two questions:

Make sure to test the gain and leakage before use (see www.geofex.com 
fuzzface article for details). I found almost 90% of them to be 
unacceptable (gain below 20 and/or huge leakage).

> 2) Any tips for soldering them? I've been told anything more than 65 C will 
> degrade the transistor. Alligator clips on the legs as a heat sink? Any other 
> tricks?

That or using sockets. Also being really quick helps.

Antti

"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow"
   -- Lt. Cmdr. Ivanova