How best to order/buy obscure semi's in small quantities?

[[email protected]]

Howdy all. What is the best way to get small quantities of semi's to
fix the random stuff that i get to fix? I've trawled the web and there
seem to be alot of places set up to deal with big stuff, and usually
involve the same system of emailing off quotes to resellers etc.
Ideally id just want to find a place where i can buy what i want and
in what quanity (usually 10 or less) without the extra annoyance. I
have ben luck and found what i want on ebay once.

At the momemt i am after the infamous MP1410ES which is step down dc
converter. I have ound some alternate parts, namely ACT4060 and ZA3020
but i haven't had any more luck with either of them.

Any info would be appreciated!
Richard

 

[hxsemic]

Hello Richard,
Had the same problem once upon a time. Then, a friend went to China to work for ST Microelectronics. Ask him to buy for me and send to Malaysia, where I am from.

Some things to watch out for; Delivery time, takes a week with cheap postage. Order is minimum 10 pcs as that's how the retail shops will sell. Fake semiconductors, this one is a real problem, we cannot tell difference, so only try to buy from regular well known shops. So far, no fakes among my stuff, thank goodness, almost USD700 now.

Starting to sound like sales talk.....

Anyway, I repair Point of Sales stuff from Epson and other brands. Outsourced to me by a hotel service company. Before that, worked for Texas Instruments for 20 years. At first, like you, try to source online. No can do, their minimum, for example, like Intersil ISL83387 was 1K reel. Farnell, a supply company tried to dump the 600pcs reel they had, at USD2.75 a piece.

The ISL part was about USD7 a piece for 10 pieces including mail cost. Not too bad. A new serial interface board costs something like USD135, it has only one chip, the ISL83387, is a serial chip, expensive and rare.

If you like, could help ask for the MP1410ES. Can you confirm the package is SOIC8?

 

[[email protected]]

Howdy all. What is the best way to get small quantities of semi's to
fix the random stuff that i get to fix? I've trawled the web and there
seem to be alot of places set up to deal with big stuff, and usually
involve the same system of emailing off quotes to resellers etc.
Ideally id just want to find a place where i can buy what i want and
in what quanity (usually 10 or less) without the extra annoyance. I
have ben luck and found what i want on ebay once.

At the momemt i am after the infamous MP1410ES which is step down dc
converter. I have ound some alternate parts, namely ACT4060 and ZA3020
but i haven't had any more luck with either of them.

Any info would be appreciated!
Richard

www.allelectronics.com
www.goldmine-elec.com/

These two are pretty good, goldmine seems to have more semiconductors
than all electronics, and I think there is only a $10 minimum. Mouser
is pretty good about small quantities but they don't carry obsolete
parts.

 

[Ken Layton]

There's also Clear Perceptions who specialize in obsolete and hard-to-
find components:

http://www.clrperceptions.com/

 

[N_Cook]

Howdy all. What is the best way to get small quantities of semi's to
fix the random stuff that i get to fix? I've trawled the web and there
seem to be alot of places set up to deal with big stuff, and usually
involve the same system of emailing off quotes to resellers etc.
Ideally id just want to find a place where i can buy what i want and
in what quanity (usually 10 or less) without the extra annoyance. I
have ben luck and found what i want on ebay once.

At the momemt i am after the infamous MP1410ES which is step down dc
converter. I have ound some alternate parts, namely ACT4060 and ZA3020
but i haven't had any more luck with either of them.

Any info would be appreciated!
Richard

In long term, ebay alerts for appearance of same kit (non-worker) or kit
known to have the same component within . Otherwise datasheet and a
work-around with off the shelf ICs etc