The world beyond Jameco, Digi-Key and Mouser

[John Larkin]

Do you have some favorite traders on there you trust or do you guys just
go for it?

I just look for somebody who has a good history, lots of transactions
for a few years, and good feedback. I've only been really shafted a
couple of times, and neither was for a serious amount of money.

I assume that "untested" or "as-is" means broken.

No regular trader wants negative feedback, and the threat of same is
very effective.

John

 

[John Larkin]

Le Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:30:42 -0700, John Larkin a écrit:


A dozen? When I decide I need a 1180x scope, I'll email you so that we
don't bid against each other

I have so many I've forced myself to stop bidding, although I'll
occasionally nab another head if it's a good deal.

But I know a trick: email me.

John

 

[Joerg]

Most major metropolitan/industrial areas still have a shop or two that
cater towards electronic repair tradespeople and have a real parts
counter as well as a small showroom filled with tools and test
equipment. The numbers have dwindled over the past twenty years but
they're there.

Not in Sacramento anymore and I have heard the only surplus shop left is
also going to close :-(

I don't know if this is what Conrad is in Europe.

They have stores in large cities but their mainstay is mail order.
Crummy web site IMHO but their equipment and tool specials were always
great. You just had to be patient, wait until something goes on sale.
Like right now a neat 100MSPS 2-ch USB scope for 200 Euros. Just poifect
for the road. Can't post a link because they use those dreaded frames.

 

[Andy Peters]

Large place, no. But lots of small places... besides Jameco, there's All
Electronics (http://www.allelectronics.com/) and Marlin P. Jones
(http://www.mpja.com/) for lots of "general purpose" electronics (these folks
have both been around for decades).

Marlin P. Jones is the Archie McPhee of surplus electronics

-a

 

[krw]

Still better than the UPS guy who dropped off a $1600 DSO at our
doorstep, sans signature. Didn't even ring the bell. If it wasn't for
our dogs I wouldn't have found it until late in the evening.

They've been known to dump PCs over a rear fence in the winter. At
least it wasn't stolen. :-/

I have a signature on file with UPS and FedEx to leave stuff on my
porch. They do it all the time, even stuff that "requires" a
signature. If it's such a problem, companies like The UPS Store will
receive packages for a few bucks a month. I have a box at one now,
since I'm contracting away from home and don't trust the
neighborhood.

 

[Peter S. May]

Yes, the F54 and F57 are pretty much I/O only. And demand something
external for an oscillator. And don't include nanoPower. And no BOR.
And... Well, it is cheap if what you need is bit banging I/O.

See, that's the truly tricky part...the program is _already_ going to do
bit banging. It's going to be a serial-to-shift-register bridge
(74HC595). I wanted to avoid the double penalty, and the USART (and
onboard RC clock, for that matter) are well worth the, uh...less than $1
extra. SPI would have been a possibility, but on my current device SPI
and USART share pins--no go.

More to the point, I'm currently developing the application on the
16F88, which is overkill with a price to match. (This thing definitely
won't be needing an ADC!) Hence the search.

Thanks
PSM

 

[dalai lamah]

Un bel giorno Joerg digitò:

[Digikey in Europe]

Folks in Europe tell me that the
handling charges are quite prohibitive for hobbyists.

I don't know the situation in the other EU countries, but in Italy the
shipping costs are generally high, for any kind of catalog/online vendor.
The cheapest electronics suppliers (RS components, Distrelec) charge 8
euros for orders less than X euros, while Digikey Italy charges 18 euros.
It's still a lot more, but I wouldn't say that one is prohibitive and the
other is great.

There are a myriad of smaller online shops that use the national mail
service for shipments instead of private couriers (thus reducing the costs
of perhaps 3-4 euros) but they are not much more than a next-door
electronics shop, inadequate for most hobbyists.

 

[Jan Panteltje]

Un bel giorno Joerg digitò:

[Digikey in Europe]

Folks in Europe tell me that the
handling charges are quite prohibitive for hobbyists.

I don't know the situation in the other EU countries, but in Italy the
shipping costs are generally high, for any kind of catalog/online vendor.
The cheapest electronics suppliers (RS components, Distrelec) charge 8
euros for orders less than X euros, while Digikey Italy charges 18 euros.
It's still a lot more, but I wouldn't say that one is prohibitive and the
other is great.

There are a myriad of smaller online shops that use the national mail
service for shipments instead of private couriers (thus reducing the costs
of perhaps 3-4 euros) but they are not much more than a next-door
electronics shop, inadequate for most hobbyists.

www.conrad.nl in the Netherlands now has had free shipping in this country for
about a year.
They have a mimimum order, but not much.
Yes conrad is sometimes more expensive but the shipping compensates with small orders.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Won't Digikey sell to hobbyists? RS and Farnell officially only sell to
businesses, but you can simply place an order, pay your bill, and never get
asked a question.

Digikey started their business by selling an electronic keyer kit to
the ham radio market. They grew from there to the electronics hobby
market, and on to what they are today.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

The US used to have an immense amount of military surplus gear, for
sale very cheap by mail or from local junk stores. Fair Radio Sales,
still in business in Ohio, was one big outlet. They once sold an
under-wing radar pod for $70, and I used to buy cockpit CRT displays
for, as I recall, about $6, a nice cast enclosure with some tubes and
a square-screen 4FP7 inside; I still have one on my bookshelf, and it
glows nicely for a while after I turn out the lights.

Did you ever visit the Fair Radio store? I used to live in SW Ohio,
and went up there about once a year. Mendelson's, in Dayton, was
another nice surplus place that was about an hour's drive.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[redbelly]

The music by Enio Morricone, for one. Then the theme, the actors, and
the great detail in the scenes. Best Western of all times, IMHO. I think
this winter will be viewing #14 or so.

Wow, that's more times than I've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail,
which is probably around 10 or 12 times.

Don't know what my favorite western is, but my favorite movie is
Princess Bride.

Mark

 

[redbelly]

Large place, no. But lots of small places... besides Jameco, there's All
Electronics (http://www.allelectronics.com/) and Marlin P. Jones
(http://www.mpja.com/) for lots of "general purpose" electronics (these folks
have both been around for decades).

I'd add Hosfelt Electronics to that list.
http://www.hosfelt.com/

Mark

 

[redbelly]

Not in Sacramento anymore and I have heard the only surplus shop left is
also going to close :-(


They have stores in large cities but their mainstay is mail order.
Crummy web site IMHO but their equipment and tool specials were always
great. You just had to be patient, wait until something goes on sale.
Like right now a neat 100MSPS 2-ch USB scope for 200 Euros. Just poifect
for the road. Can't post a link because they use those dreaded frames.

Instead of clicking on the item, try "Open Link in New Window" or
"Open Link in New Tab". That usually solves the frame conundrum; you
should get the item all by itself (no frames) with a link in the
browser's address bar.

Occasionally this won't work, but it usually does.

Mark

 

[John E. Perry]

I just look for somebody who has a good history, lots of transactions
for a few years, and good feedback. I've only been really shafted a
couple of times, and neither was for a serious amount of money.

I assume that "untested" or "as-is" means broken.

No regular trader wants negative feedback, and the threat of same is
very effective.

Yeah, that worked out well for me. I got my Tek 456 from one of these
guys. The only promise he made was "as-is, but it would show a trace on
the screen", which was kind of worrisome. But he included a complete
service manual with it, and it was cheap, so I got it.

When it arrived, not only did it not show a trace, it smoked as soon as
I turned it on. I figured I was screwed, but I sent him an email saying
it was not as he had represented it, and explaining the problem.

He sent me good one a week after I shipped him back the dead one. So
you can win sometimes on eBay .

John Perry

 

[Joerg]

Wow, that's more times than I've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail,
which is probably around 10 or 12 times.

Don't know what my favorite western is, but my favorite movie is
Princess Bride.

Ours is "My big fat Greek Wedding". Especially since friends of ours
said that their story is nearly the same WRT the marriage ceremony and
preparations. And yes, the husband also wasn't Greek Orthodox at first
so he had to go through the same baptismal procedure. He has so far
staunchly refused to show pictures.

[...]

 

[Joerg]

Instead of clicking on the item, try "Open Link in New Window" or
"Open Link in New Tab". That usually solves the frame conundrum; you
should get the item all by itself (no frames) with a link in the
browser's address bar.

Occasionally this won't work, but it usually does.

Well, I guess this was one of those occasions because I'd tried the
right-click thing.

 

[John Larkin]

Ours is "My big fat Greek Wedding". Especially since friends of ours
said that their story is nearly the same WRT the marriage ceremony and
preparations. And yes, the husband also wasn't Greek Orthodox at first
so he had to go through the same baptismal procedure. He has so far
staunchly refused to show pictures.

12th Night, the one with Imogen Suggs and Ben Kingsley.

John

 

[John Larkin]

Well, I guess this was one of those occasions because I'd tried the
right-click thing.

That's a great way to not sell stuff, put the products on web pages
that can't be linked to or bookmarked.

John

 

[Joerg]

That's a great way to not sell stuff, put the products on web pages
that can't be linked to or bookmarked.

Yeah, some marketeers are ... no, I am not going to say it because I
married one. But she did marketing right. She marketed the machine I
helped design at my first job.

NXP is a classic example. As evidenced by a stunning loss. If they can't
succeed in a good market like we have now, how will they fare in a tough
market? If I was Mr.Kravis I'd be concerned.

 

[John Larkin]

Yeah, some marketeers are ... no, I am not going to say it because I
married one. But she did marketing right. She marketed the machine I
helped design at my first job.

NXP is a classic example. As evidenced by a stunning loss. If they can't
succeed in a good market like we have now, how will they fare in a tough
market? If I was Mr.Kravis I'd be concerned.

Yup, their web site is still pretty bad, but it's a little better than
the worst of the Philips days.

John