Is the electronics hobby dying?

[[email protected]]

Is it just me or does it seem like the electronic hobby is dying. I
live in a fairly large city and it is very difficult to find electronic
components now. All the electronic suppliers are gone except for radio
shack and they suck. Am I wrong about this?

 

[larry]

A few are around in the city, but most have moved online. Helps with
the overhead.

Larry

 

[Bjarni Juliusson]

Is it just me or does it seem like the electronic hobby is dying. I
live in a fairly large city and it is very difficult to find electronic
components now. All the electronic suppliers are gone except for radio
shack and they suck. Am I wrong about this?

Same thing here, but I have several friends at the university with a
healthy interest in electronics. You could try Farnell, they exist
online. I live conveniently next to the university electronics supply.
You could try your local university, they might have their own shop for
people who need to build bizarre lab equipment.


Bjarni

 

[[email protected]]

I live conveniently next to the university electronics supply.
You could try your local university, they might have their own shop for

people who need to build bizarre lab equipment.

Hmm! I never thought about that. I liver near a University also. I
think I'll give em a try. Thanks.

 

[Mike Blake]

Same thing here, but I have several friends at the university with a
healthy interest in electronics. You could try Farnell, they exist online.
I live conveniently next to the university electronics supply. You could
try your local university, they might have their own shop for people who
need to build bizarre lab equipment.


Bjarni

Plenty of stuff online here in "Oz", with the difference in currency you
should be able to ship it in and cover the mail costs. Have a look at
http://www1.jaycar.com.au/ for example.

 

[Gareth Magennis]

Is it just me or does it seem like the electronic hobby is dying. I
live in a fairly large city and it is very difficult to find electronic
components now. All the electronic suppliers are gone except for radio
shack and they suck. Am I wrong about this?

Have you not heard of online shopping? There are plenty of electronic parts
suppliers there and that is where the majority of parts are sold.




Gareth.

 

[Coyoteboy]

I think the main problem is the increase in technological level -
electronics you can buy now for £10 is far more complicated than a hobbyist
could build easily for the same price. Maybe a decade ago the hobbyist could
use their knowledge to make something cheaply or for a fun project. Our
definitions of fun and cheap have altered.

J

 

[Andreas Rutz]

I don't think it is dying, you just have to go with the technology. Today
you can build electronics at home that haven't been possible for a hobbyist
some years ago. You just have to learn some new things like microprocessor
programming, SMD soldering, high-resolution PCB manufacturing....

Challenge is fun!

 

[Henry]

I think it is. Decades ago when I was young there were several several
electronics supply stores, some like small grocery stores with isles and
isles of parts. Now the only brick&mortar place is Radio Shack where there
is just part of one wall.

I have been getting back into dabbling with some old TTL SN74xxx series
chips I had. I have an od mix. Anyway trying to tinker together some
projects but usually find myself short by one component that is no longer
easy to obtain. And it is not worth the $25 (or more) minimum ordering, S&H,
etc, to buy a $0.99 part. (Like a couple SN7414 that I lack in my box of IC
chips.)

Yes, there is some exciting new things, but we are loosing alot of the
inbetween stuff. But that inbetween stuff is still usable, it still works,
and is still sometimes the best solution for small specialized projects like
what I am doing.

Henry

 

[Terra News]

I believe it is as well. I was surprised several years ago when I moved to
Northern Virginia and only found one electronics store. I moved back to
Binghamton, NY and feel very lucky. We have two electronic stores here and
both are doing well.

Unicorn Electronics http://www.unicornelex.com/
Brigar Electronics https://www.brigarelectronics.com/


I have been out of the electronic hobby mode for a while, but am starting to
get back into it again. Thankfully for the internet it is easier to get
some odd parts that you want.

Now all I need to do is to figure out how to use some SMD components. If
anyone has any advice on this in particular I just bought an LCD Screen from
Electronics Goldmine and the connector for the LCD is a SMD connector.

URL for the LCD Screen:
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G13752&variation=&aitem=2&mitem=6
URL for the connector:
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G14703&variation=&aitem=1&mitem=1

Three of my favorite places to buy electronic components from besides the
two local shops are:
All Electronics http://www.allelectronics.com/
Electronic Goldmine http://www.goldmine-elec.com/
Jameco Electronics http://www.jameco.com/.

I just wish there were more internet sites for circuits, schematics, etc.

Rich