Re: LF: EARTH

[Chris Trayner <C.Trayner@leeds.ac.uk>]

Mal and others,


On 2010 Apr 20, at 18:40, mal hamilton wrote:
> I have not investigated gold v silver but high quality low loss plugs/socket
> pins are gold plated, if what you say is correct why not silver?

Silver does tarnish with time and it's not just cosmetic.
We have a couple of LCR meters at work with sliding contacts to take the leads 
of the components. After some years (probably more than ten) these contacts 
became erratic. Opening the units up, I found the sliders slid on silver-plated 
strips which had become tarnished. Cleaning them restored reliable operation.

Wedding rings, of course, are intended to maintain good connections between man 
and wife for the expected lifetime of the units ...

73,
Chris G4OKW

-----------------------
Dr Chris Trayner
School of Electronic & Electrical Engineering,
The University of Leeds,
Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 113 34 32053
Fax: +44 113 34 32032