Great new seller of Soviet Germs.

[Beaker]

Hi all, just a heads up to let you know that I have found a great seller of Soviet military components in Bulgaria.

I ordered 50 MP38 transistors from him at about 1am on the 29th April, and they arrived today (2 May) to the UK by registered post.

Well packed in ESD proof bags, he also threw in a "lucky bag" of 14 mystery transistors and about 3 metres of perfect fit tubing to use as leg sleeving!

I've tested a bunch of the MP38s and they average 72 HFE, so they look ideal for NPN Fuzz Faces.

Absolutely no affiliation to this guy whatsoever, just a highly impressed customer.


http://www.ebay.com/sch/balkan_sales/m.html?item=111324132144&ssPageName=ADME%3AL%3AOC%3AGB%3A3160&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

[IvIark]

That's great, thanks for the heads up, just ordered another 50.  I would have been put off if I'd just seen it on eBay because of the gain mentioned so I'm glad you posted your measurements with them.

[Beaker]

Only too glad to give something back!

[dbat69]

Thanks Beaker, I was looking for some more MP38s - managed to get some.

[rocket88]

I haven't gotten any MP38's, but have a lot of MP38A's. how are the gain spreads and leakage? I haven't had any luck with the Russians that don't have a letter after the model, like the MP41A's i got were awesome (low leakage, great gain spread), but the MP41's were all low gain, and ok on leakage.

[dbat69]

Sorry Rocket - my brain wet quicker than my fingers (beer delay) and I missed the 'A' - I got MP38A  

[Beaker]

I've just tested all 50, and they vary from 68 - 137 HFE.

The first half dozen I tested earlier were all at the bottom of the range.

[rocket88]

Nice. That's pretty good. I have to see how mine are when I get home for comparison. I think my last 100 were about the same, but now I have 200 more to sort.

Dbat, I hear you on that one. I'm having some beers now, and glad Im on my iPhone now with autocorrect. If you're still drinking, "CHEERS!"

[negativefx]

Just ordered a buttload of stuff from this guy last week.  If you message him, he'll give you cuts on shipping and also throw in free swag.  Got 50 BAT85s for free.

[iggy]

The ones you mentioned are the MP38's he has listed. Not MP38A's? I been wanting try some MP38's but the gain always seemed so low. And i have enough low gain and leaky trannys already. Really grown to hate anything stamped Tungsram.

[tjdracz]

Why is that? Got bunch of different Tungsrams and they are all good!

[iggy]

just an observation between Russian , american and Tungsram trannys. The Tungsram seem to be very inconsistant, and very leaky. Maybe just the ones I have. I find the Russian and American to be so much better in regards to leakage.

[IvIark]

I think I've only got one batch of Tungsram in quantity, the AC125K Z1 and I think they're great.  Perfect gain range and very low leakage.
Received my MP38s today as well but haven't had chance to test them yet.  Hopefully I will tomorrow and will post the results

[tjdracz]

Problem with Tungsram is that quite often you get them from batches that have already been.cherry picked so you're left with crap. I've got my suppliers that get them from sealed bags at random and they are really good most of the time, good gains and reasonable leakage. AC125, 128, 188 and so on

[Travis]

I wanted to buy some MP38A from this guy but he's out so I got a box of 100 MP20A, some AC125s, and some cool looking trimmersI'll post my results when I get them in the mail

[IvIark]

Yeah I've ordered some of those trimmers too.  The normal size trimmers are a bit of a pain because you're very limited where you can fit them, so I love the ones with long legs where you can just put them anywhere you want to replace a resistor with no fuss.

[iggy]

Were those MP38 or MP38A"s. I'd be interested in the gains you find  on them.

Have you tried any of the P416B's. I got a small batch, really nice range 95-120 and sound nice to my ears. Think I'm going to grab some more. Bought them from a different source though.

[piltdownman]

Other than Fuzz Faces, would a large purchase of these be warranted?  Say for tone benders, germ boosts, DAM stuff and the like?  It's a great price.

[IvIark]

I'd say at that price it's worth getting a pack simply because as far as I know germanium transistors aren't manufactured any more by anyone, and if anyone does still make them they are not widely available at reasonable prices.  Once batches like this are no longer available you'll be paying silly prices per transistor on eBay.  At least if you have a batch like this you know you'll be pretty much set for your life of diying (as long as you're only building for yourself of course).

That's exactly the reason that I've stocked up on things like this, and a lot of other through hole components that I think will get expensive like JFETs.

[piltdownman]

Well, that's good enough for me.  I just ordered up some.  Guess I'll start lining up projects.  Thanks