On Thu, 16 Aug 2018 15:18:21 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

At one time I was using some of the wire wrap wire to build things but
soldered it in instead of goig the wire wrap way.

Yep, same here. It makes good "hookup wire" for PCB interconnects. It
can also end up looking like a rats nest.

I looked on ebay and seems to me that wire is still sort of high as I
would think like you said, almost no one would be using it now. Just
about all the new stuff is SMD.

Yeah, I was also surprised at the high prices. I guess the supply of
surplus wire is slowly disappearing. So, buy cut pieces, which I
don't think anyone but hobbyists want:
https://www.bmisurplus.com/products/55042-pre-cut-pre-stripped-kynar-wire-wrapping-wire-mixed-lot-of-157
$50 is quite a bit for a pile of wire, but I think you get everything
in the photo (157 bags) which should last you a lifetime.

With the new software one can draw up the circuit and have a PC board
made for almost nothing now.

Yep, breadboarding is mostly dead. However, I still make quite a few
modifications to existing boards, and a few one of a kind prototypes,
where breadboard style construction is still efficient.

A ham made a modification to the uBITX transceiver and would ship 2 PC
boards that were about an inch square and had 2 or 3 transistors,
resistors and capacitors for only $ 5 . Said that was about his cost.

He's not going to get rich selling at cost.

Sure wish there were some local surplus stores close to me, but none
around.

Yep. Digging through the huge piles of surplus electronic junk in the
Smog Angeles area was a favorite pastime.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558