Tin whiskers were really only a thing with lead-free solder that was mandated in a stupid fashion by the EU (I won't go into specifics, but it really didn't mak

Tin whiskers were really only a thing with lead-free solder that was mandated in a stupid fashion by the EU (I won't go into specifics, but it really didn't make any sense once you started to look into why it was done, and the exemptions, etc). That solder used more tin in the alloy than lead-based solders did, and grew "whiskers" like crazy. Various methods and means were attempted to slow it down (the best way was complete conformal coating - but that made rework very difficult), but it took a while for manufacturers to understand what and how it was happening. I think since then, lead-free solder has a different formulation to make it not as bad, but it still happens. Technically, it can happen in virtually any tin-based alloy, but for some reason lead-based alloys with tin didn't grow them anywhere near as much or as fast. So - a 1974 radio is probably not going to be an issue. The computers, though, are a different thing. It will depend on when they were manufactured vs when the EU directive came around, and when the manufacturer switched over, etc. A lot of small variables come into play. Likely, though, there won't be any problems. I still have computers and electronics from the early 1990s and before that all work fine. The issues with capacitors should be looked at, but it was only a problem for a certain time period (late 1990s IIRC); prior to that you'd only have to worry about "reforming" capacitors if they were very, very old (like power supply caps from a computer of the early 1970s or such). If you had - say - an Altair from the 1970s - yeah, you wouldn't want to try just plugging it in, that could lead to a fire even if the caps looked ok.