hey guys,
long time since i posted here but i'm back. I'm asking this here as i'm really not too sure where else i can ask this question :D
anyways, so recently i acquired some nice USAF stamped 2n404's from Ebay. i noticed however one transistor was very dirty and also in a different style package when i was testing the hFE. either way, i still tested it. i think it measured 470 hFE :o (yes, i know it's not true hFE but still much higher than the 404's i tested). that's when i noticed that there were more of the same transistor. i found one that was fairly clean. its made by RCA and says 'CIA' (or C1A) with what looks like '3621A'. yes, i know, CIA isn't Central Intelligence Agency but just some identification tag probably. my question is - what is this? are there any similar transistors? i ask because i can't find any info on it. maybe i didn't look hard enough which is why i'm asking here for someone to point me in the right direction.
~Aran
This looks cool, give it a search
https://archive.org/stream/DATABookOfDiscontinuedTransistors19695thEdition/DATA%20Book%20of%20Discontinued%20Transistors%201969%205th%20Edition_djvu.txt
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This might not help but i figure it might be good to have ;)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bycv0SjnxaR5b3Y1ampRT3kyUE0/view?usp=sharing (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bycv0SjnxaR5b3Y1ampRT3kyUE0/view?usp=sharing)
thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated.
i searched in the discontinued transistors and i found a '2N3621' but it seems its not the same
as for the small signal transistors pdf, yeah, its actually nice to have as i never thought to search for it before.
i'm sure we will figure it out :D
I actually have an ass load of Germs to go through if i find any in my stash ill let you know.
ASS LOAD
(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/WYCMignY0IY4SDhZpusbUj0QOjrDYwYOgodr19vGsAH7Vxv-3kFiv_-Y9xMmkMduSY53_g=s400)
that pic reminds me of an old teacher i had. he came from Canada to the UK for a year to teach electronics. he had this cabinet in his classroom so he decided to show me inside when he found out i love electronics. it was filled with this HUGE collection of germaniums :D
bump
still no info at all
This ham operator has a 1957 and a 1960 RCA product sheet for discretes:
http://n4trb.com/AmateurRadio/SemiconductorHistory/SemiconductorDocuments.htm (http://n4trb.com/AmateurRadio/SemiconductorHistory/SemiconductorDocuments.htm)
I didn't look carefully but I didn't see anything with 3-6-2-1-A or partially in that sequence. It looks like all their transistor products start with "2N"
It's not germanium. There are plenty of silicon in the TO-5 package.
Anything with 4 numbers after the 2N is going to be silicon, and you can be reasonably sure that anything in a TO-5 package is intended for medium voltage applications (think 50-100V).
It's probably a 7, not a 1.
http://alltransistors.com/transistor.php?transistor=3412
thanks for the replies,
i'l have to look at that site and see if i can see anything myself.
also Midwayfair, i never actually thought of it like that. i took a look at the datasheet and it makes sense. i suppose it would make sense that it is a 7 too. i would test it to see if it's npn but for some reason the transistor socket on my DMM is blocked up.
i also got in touch with the semiconductor museum and this is what they had to say: "The other unit, type "3621A" is similar to many other RCA "in-house" numbers made for a specific customer, often a computer manufacturer. I haven't seen the CIA text before, so this type might be actually a special order for the CIA."
i suppose the only real way to know would be to contact RCA but considering they shut down in the 80s makes it impossible. another thought i had was asking the original seller where he got them from buy he said he bought them from someone years ago.
i would still love to know what the CIA means. i think its just RCA's markings as most of my RCAs have random letters on them.