dave wrote:
On 05/01/2014 02:53 PM, Gareth Magennis wrote:


"dave" wrote in message
m...

On 05/01/2014 04:44 AM, Tim Schwartz wrote:
Gareth,

Well, don't move to the US, as things here are much worse. We have
"Radio Shack" as the last retailer of electronics parts, and they sell
very few of those recently..

I was in the UK in 2012, and stopped at the Maplin store in central
Cambridge. The had actual inventory, and the sales staff was pretty
good. I wish we had something close to that in the New York
Metropolitan area where I live. In this area, there is no longer the
choice of running down to a store to buy a part to complete a rush job,
everything must be mail ordered.

Radio Shack used to use the tag line "You've got Questions, We've got
Answers". Someone on this news group changed that to "You've got
questions, We've got high school drop outs in neck ties", which was
unfortunately often close to the truth. Also, Radio Shack no longer
offers a catalog.

Regards,
Tim
Bristol Electronics


On 4/30/2014 1:21 PM, Gareth Magennis wrote:

In the UK we have a chain of shops called Maplin, which sells electronic
goods and components.
I detest having to go there, because it is full of expensive crap, and
worse, the staff have no clue what they are talking about yet pretend
they do.

Here's todays example, which came about because I had forgotten my
glasses and couldn't read the catalogue to find the correct part
numbers:


Hi, can I have 2 5mm white LED's, and 2 standard 5mm green LED's please.

What voltage are you running them from?

Er, I don't care about that, I just need 2 white LEDs and 2 green ones.

Well, we have these high intensity white ones, they run on 4.2 volts.
If you run them higher than that they could pop.

Er, I'll have 2 of those please.

Oh, we seem to be out of stock of those. We have some superbright ones,
they run on 3.6 volts, which is lower. You might have to watch your
voltage.

Er, OK, I'll have 2 of those please.

We have these green ones, and they run at, oh, 2.2 volts, that's much
lower.

Er, OK, I'll have 2 of those as well.

Would you like some resistors with those?

Er, no thanks, just the LED's.


I should have said yes, and found out how he was going to try and
calculate the resistor values required.



Those 4 LED's cost me ?4.60.


That's why I detest Maplin.



Gareth.


Maplin sounds like Fry's as far as LED prices. The GeekMormons at Fry's
at least understand techni-speak, if not English. I use Digikey and
Mouser and Parts Express. You can get bunch of LEDs for a couple bucks
from China on eBay.




Yeahbut, sometimes you need it now, and locally, and Maplin is the only
option here.

Gareth.

Fry's is in Burbank, 20 miles on way. If you phone to inquire about
stock it is so frustrating you figure it's easier to just go there and
take your chances. Gasoline is too precious these days.

Component level troubleshooting is a dying art. We don't support
independent electronic stores like we used to. I'm just grateful Mouser
and Digikey have no minimum orders and the Post Office still delivers
the little parcels fast.

I think it's safe to just call it dead and not dying.

There used to be a handful of component suppliers in Chicago. You'd just
walk in and order at the counter and somebody would shuffle through
thousands of carboard bins on rows and rows of shelves. One in particular
was fairly busy with all the local repair and hobby folks. There were
local catalog houses where pretty much anything could be had next day. I
recall one guy who delivered out of his van, and I think the warehouse was
his garage. You could order parts faster than you can type in a credit
card number these days.

All that stuff must have vanished about 15 years ago.