Re: Old, bad, destroyed electronic components

On Wed, 7 Jan 2026, RussellMc wrote:

> Smplx <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I have a small block of platinum available (about 5lb from when Spock
>> tried to build a makeshift communicator to access the Guardian). It's
>> cracked and doesn't work (as per your requirments) so I could let you have
>> it for a modest $171,520 + P&P
>>
>
> That's significantly above market rates.
>

Only if you consider 16oz/1lb as opposed to 14.5t.oz per 1lb. Anyway I did 
say "about" :-)

> Worse, I understand Spock used Pt166 and as 'quite a few' 300 microsecond
> half lives have elapsed since then you would have had very very very close
> to pure Osmium 162, with a 5lbf market value of about $US30,000.

My memory is getting old. Was it really Pt 166?

And anyway, 5lb of Osmium would be far more expensive than 5lb of Platium. 
Are you sure you're not confusing price per gram with price per troy 
ounze?

>
> I said would have had advisedly as it has a half-life of somewhere around
> three or four milliseconds so by now it will have decayed to tungsten.

Come on, by the time he had asked Kirk for the 166 it would have already 
decayed :-)

>
> Tungsten 180, which you have not got,  has a half-life of somewhere over 10^18
> years, so longer than the age of the universe.

How do you know I don't have any W 180 :-)

> That's the good news.
> The bad news is that tungsten is only worth about USD8 per pound as scrap.

And my grandmother was from Alpha Centori

Al is about £8 / Kg as scrap!

> As it's liable to be rather pure you might get up to $50 a pound or about
> $250 all up.
>
> Advice: Any time that you have Pt166 on your hands you really want to move
> it on in a few microseconds before it gets too far along it's inevitable
> decay in value.
>
> PS: You may be able to get some Trekky fan to pay a few million $.

I'm only a low level Trekky so I might be willing to sell it to a real 
trekky at a loss but come on... I'm not that stupid, half price?

Anyway, thanks for the input. I was looking at buying some Osmium a while 
ago but people were quoating REALLY silly prices. Your post has prompted 
me to look again and now I find I can readily swap some gold for some 
Osmium. Hah, that time travel experiment comes ever closer :-)

Hey Russel, your grandfather are belong to us :)

Friendly Regards
The Brain!
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