this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2024
136 points (97.2% liked)

What is this thing?

5540 readers
1 users here now

Let us help you identify that mysterious object you’ve found.

Currently in CHALLENGE mode: If you've got something obscure knocking about, post a picture, and let's see how we do. Please prefix such posts with "CHALLENGE:" so we know we've got a fighting chance.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Sorry for the bad quality.

My grandfather had this in his office. He worked as a computer engineer so I initally thought it was a zoomed-in picture of a computer chip or something, but maybe it is something large.

He's not alive anymore so I can't ask him. If somebody can help me out, that would be great.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] mrcleanup@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Not sure why people think this might be huge. You can clearly see solder spots in the lower right and standardized holes in the upper left that are probably small screw sized. I'd guess all those rods are standard computer pins, just really long. I think it looks like some sort of pre-breadboard breadboard project to me.

[–] Gork@lemm.ee 5 points 9 months ago

It looks to be about the size of a briefcase based on those screw holes. It would make sense for the picture to be taken by someone from above.

[–] towerful@programming.dev 4 points 9 months ago

It looks to me like something big ontop of other big things.
Those "screw holes" in the top left look like crane hook points for moving the big things underneath.
There is a picture elsewhere on the post that shows similar divert-holes with a person standing through it.
And it looks like a pile of junk near the top of the photo.

There are odd diverts on the left and right sides.
I bet they are ladder/access points, which would match the scale of a person standing through the hexagonal diverts, and would match the crane hook points.

Regardless of scale, its certainly a heat exchanger and not anything IC or circuit related

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Totally agree about the solder spots on the right and the lower middle. I think this is some sort of IC or crude, early processor. These lines would feed in/out power and data and in the proceeding decades, have been shrunk down to be contained entirely inside the processor with nothing more than pins sticking out the bottom.