[time-nuts] HP 5370B low frequency modulation, gold

[Tom Van Baak]

This is an interesting discussion about gold. Thanks to all
those who have posted. My question is -- I've noticed that
almost all my old HP instruments, from the 60's and some
decades thereafter, use a large amount of gold on all the
PCB traces and many component leads. It gave them a
premium look, even artistic beauty in some cases. I always
assumed it was for performance, reliability, and longevity.

So when was it discovered that using gold was a bad idea?
Is this only for mil-spec stuff or for regular laboratory test
equipment too?

/tvb