In article ,
raden writes:
Yeah one small piece folded in the top of a massive box with everything
rattling around ... on several occasions

Yes, we've had a number of broken/missing items due to bad packing,
things either bashing against themselves or packaging falling to bits
completely en route. One imfamous incident at work was an order
which contained a number of those fragile filament striplamps,
and a bulk purchase of D-type cells. The powdered glass was running
out of the corners of the box as it was delivered...

One other gripe I have is that I pay my account by BACS, but they
don't credit your account until you phone or email (sometimes) to
say you made a BACS payment, and someone goes off to trawl through
their bank statement to find it. That really should be more
automatic, and caused lots of confusion until I realised they
required this extra prod to handle the payment.

But in spite of that, I do order from them, and enjoy looking through
the fliers, even though some of the stuff in them has no or negligable
price reductions.

Seeing as they're now part of Farnell, it would be useful if you
could order Farnell part numbers through them, rather than having
to do a separate order from 2 parts of the same company.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Andy Dingley wrote:

RS stands for "RS". It has never stood for "Radio Spares", or anything
else. Oh no, certainly not. They can get quite vehement about this if
you ask them 8-) I'm surprised they even still keep packaging in the
same colours (although it's more yellow than the old cream and brown).

;-) Better not show them the 50th aniversary radiospares catalogue I
have on the shelf then!

I don't know what their excuse for the pervese rswww.com was. And the
foot-long Broadvision URLs were another terrible idea.

They must lose a certain amount of business simply because it is
impossible to deep link to their site...

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article , Adrian C
wrote:

Was years ago, I don't think the effects are a permanent problem. Me
other head doesn't do much in the way of thinking anyway, and I've got
used to tripping up over the extra leg.

You too? That's why they call me tripod :-)

--
AJL Electronics (G6FGO) Ltd : Satellite and TV aerial systems
http://www.classicmicrocars.co.uk : http://www.ajlelectronics.co.uk

Mary Fisher wrote:

CPC do a lot more than electronics. Looking through the catalogue can
become "I didn't know I wanted ones of those" experiences...

Well worth getting the dead tree version of the catalogue as well (and
when you try picking up its two and a half thousand pages you will
appreciate that is an appropriate name!), since the web site is very
poor in comparison. They also have a parts finder service where you can
phone or email them details of the part you are looking for and they
will try to track it down.

In that case I'll resist looking.

Mary
well perhaps a tiny peek won't harm ...

Slippery slope... that was how I got hooked ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Mary Fisher wrote:

I'll think about it. Didn't someone say something about a website?

http://www.cpc.co.uk

Such as it is. Still worth having a catalogue though.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 09:31:35 +0100, Mary Fisher wrote:

Want a catalogue? Cost of postage it's about 3kg...

That's =A37.20 ... (up to 4Kg parcel service)

I'll think about it. Didn't someone say something about a website?

www.cpc.co.uk websites are never as nice to browse as a paper
catalogue though.

I lied about the other copy, it was put for recycling but hadn't gone.
The green box collection was this morning and the catalogue wasn't in
it... So if anyone feels the need.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 17:19:13 GMT, raden wrote:

Even more so once the councils can work out a way of charging each
household directly by weight.

Surely volume is much more important and easier to measure

No volume can be easily frigged, a use for all those air bags? or
expanded poly... The councils are charged by weight for Landfill Tax,
it is that cost that they want to recover.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

wrote:

The firm was definitely called Radiospares (it might have been Radio Spares)
originally. They supplied (you've guessed) radio spares.

I think you may have missed the tongue firmly in Andy's cheek! ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 13:10:44 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

They must lose a certain amount of business simply because it is
impossible to deep link to their site...

What ? RS have a website ? 8-)

It must be one of the few websites of such age, size and budget where
it's still easier to search the paper catalogue.

I remember back in '98 / '99 working on a large (famously large) ecomm
site and using RS as an exemplar of what _not_ to do, In particular it
stopped me ever using BroadVision. 6-7 years later, and they still
haven't fixed most of the obvious brokenness.

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:

I'll think about it. Didn't someone say something about a website?

http://www.cpc.co.uk

Such as it is. Still worth having a catalogue though.

Thanks.

When I have time ... it's so lovely today that I'm doing things in the
garden which have been hanging fire for about fifteen years - it's very
satisfying but I KNOW I'm going to ache :-(

Mary

On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 09:28:20 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:

Maplin is local and does most things we need, which isn't much. It all
seems to be entertainment stuff in there ...

They still have some serious stuff, but they are not a patch on how they
were!

Oh good, it's not just us being picky then!

True, and some of their prices are daft, 49p for a small croc clip
won't encourage kids to get into electonics.

Plus the range and quality of tat in their 'sales' is pretty dire.

IMHO Rapid have a better range of components and Greenweld more
interesting tat

Maplins seem to have morphed into a kind of Tandy these days, still at
least they are high street....

cheers,
Pete.

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...

Yup Farnell still trade under their own name as well.

And still supply goods not quite as fast as RS but at a much cheaper price.


Maplin is local and does most things we need,
which isn't much. It all seems to be entertainment stuff in there ...

(I grew up 10 mins walk from their first shop. It was a place of awe and
wonder in those days... not much on display (it was counter service only
in those days) apart for a couple of the rather more serious looking
synths

The 4600 wasn't it ? Very good for it's time - one of the best sounding
VCFs.

There was also a mini version if I recall which tried to be a MiniMoog and
failed.

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 00:52:00 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Sort of like RS

"Radio Spares" - the industry standard supplier of all stuff most
hi-tech firms want:

RS stands for "RS". It has never stood for "Radio Spares", or anything
else. Oh no, certainly not. They can get quite vehement about this if
you ask them 8-) I'm surprised they even still keep packaging in the
same colours (although it's more yellow than the old cream and brown).

I don't know what their excuse for the pervese rswww.com was.

Somebody already had www.rs.com registered and they didn't want to use
www.radiospares.com for the reasons you've described :-)

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.com...

CPC do a lot more than electronics. Looking through the catalogue can
become "I didn't know I wanted ones of those" experiences...

And quite often a "Oh I want one of those so when are you going to have them
in stock ... never ?" frustrating experiences. Still looking for a few
Grand IP cameras if anybody knows a UK supplier with them.

In message om, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 17:19:13 GMT, raden wrote:

Even more so once the councils can work out a way of charging each
household directly by weight.

Surely volume is much more important and easier to measure

No volume can be easily frigged, a use for all those air bags? or
expanded poly...

Not quite sure where you're trying to go with that. Who's trying to fill
volume with air bags ?

The councils are charged by weight for Landfill Tax,
it is that cost that they want to recover.

Well, we now have bins - they have a finite volume, no mention of weight

When Skip companies take a skip to the tip, they are charged by the
volume of the skip, not the weight

When you have a big **** off hole to fill with rubbish, it's the volume
of the rubbish which fills it up not the weight.

--
geoff

In message , Bob Eager
writes
On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 10:23:32 UTC, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 00:52:00 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Sort of like RS

"Radio Spares" - the industry standard supplier of all stuff most
hi-tech firms want:

RS stands for "RS". It has never stood for "Radio Spares", or anything
else.

Surely the previous name of the company was RadioSpares? Or at least,
they used to market stuff with that name on the packaging.

I think you missed the gist of what he wrote ...

--
geoff

In message , writes
On 7 Jun,
Andy Dingley wrote:

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 00:52:00 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Sort of like RS

"Radio Spares" - the industry standard supplier of all stuff most
hi-tech firms want:

RS stands for "RS". It has never stood for "Radio Spares", or anything
else. Oh no, certainly not. They can get quite vehement about this if
you ask them 8-)

The firm was definitely called Radiospares (it might have been Radio Spares)
originally. They supplied (you've guessed) radio spares.

At some time after they had diversified in the late 60s/early 70s they
changed the name to IIRC RS components, and thus RS.

Those that have dealt with them since the early days still refer to them as
radiospares, whether their corporate ego geeks approve or not.

And their "Do great things" mission statement really gets on my tits

Who thinks these things up, and do they really think it inspires people
?

--
geoff

In message om, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Mon, 6 Jun 2005 23:28:18 +0100, Mary Fisher wrote:

Oh, I seem to remember a takeover but I still see the Farnell vans.

Thats 'cos Farnell are in Leeds. CPC are in Preston...

I'm not an electronics type. Maplin is local and does most things we
need, which isn't much. It all seems to be entertainment stuff in
there ...

CPC do a lot more than electronics. Looking through the catalogue can
become "I didn't know I wanted ones of those" experiences...

And then you discover that you could have bought it cheaper in Argos or
somewhere

--
geoff

In message om, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Mon, 6 Jun 2005 18:34:46 +0100, Mary Fisher wrote:

CPC?

Want a catalogue? Cost of postage it's about 3kg...

They have recently sent me two 2005 ones for no apparent reason and I
already had one... On the basis of "they know best" the orginal went
for recycling last week. But I still have one spare.

I remembering asking for a second catalogue a couple of years ago. The
girl had to go and check that I did enough business with them before
coming back and saying I could have one.

Compare with RS who will send out as many of their far more expensive
(library of) catalogues as you want

--
geoff

Andy Dingley wrote:

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 00:52:00 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Sort of like RS

"Radio Spares" - the industry standard supplier of all stuff most
hi-tech firms want:

RS stands for "RS". It has never stood for "Radio Spares", or anything
else. Oh no, certainly not. They can get quite vehement about this if
you ask them 8-) I'm surprised they even still keep packaging in the
same colours (although it's more yellow than the old cream and brown).

I don't know what their excuse for the pervese rswww.com was. And the
foot-long Broadvision URLs were another terrible idea.

So when they celebrated their 50th anniversary back in 1987 and the RS
reps gave away copies of the first ever Radiospares catalogue (a
single sheet A4 ish triple folded) it was just a total aberration
then?

There is another url that works besides rswww.com if you prefer to
type some more - rs-components.com


--

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 20:08:38 GMT, raden wrote:

CPC do a lot more than electronics. Looking through the catalogue
can become "I didn't know I wanted ones of those" experiences...

And then you discover that you could have bought it cheaper in Argos
or somewhere

Na, I check the normal places as well...

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 17:02:26 +0100, Pete C wrote:

Greenweld more interesting tat

Greenweld haven't had anything intereresting in years.

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 17:02:26 +0100, Pete C wrote:

Greenweld more interesting tat

Greenweld haven't had anything intereresting in years.

There's a name from the (distant) past. Didn't realise they were still
going !

In message , Mike
writes

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...

Yup Farnell still trade under their own name as well.

And still supply goods not quite as fast as RS but at a much cheaper price.


Maplin is local and does most things we need,
which isn't much. It all seems to be entertainment stuff in there ...

(I grew up 10 mins walk from their first shop. It was a place of awe and
wonder in those days... not much on display (it was counter service only
in those days) apart for a couple of the rather more serious looking
synths

The 4600 wasn't it ? Very good for it's time - one of the best sounding
VCFs.

Ooh, I've got most of one of those upstairs in the attic (well, a front
panel, the manual and a couple of boards). I never got around to
building it. It originally appeared in Elektor if I'm not mistaken and
was designed by some australian


There was also a mini version if I recall which tried to be a MiniMoog and
failed.



--
geoff

In message om, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 20:08:38 GMT, raden wrote:

CPC do a lot more than electronics. Looking through the catalogue
can become "I didn't know I wanted ones of those" experiences...

And then you discover that you could have bought it cheaper in Argos
or somewhere

Na, I check the normal places as well...

I remember them having the microsoft microscope "on offer" for more than
the RRP

--
geoff

"raden" wrote in message
...

(I grew up 10 mins walk from their first shop. It was a place of awe
and
wonder in those days... not much on display (it was counter service
only
in those days) apart for a couple of the rather more serious looking
synths

The 4600 wasn't it ? Very good for it's time - one of the best sounding
VCFs.

Ooh, I've got most of one of those upstairs in the attic (well, a front
panel, the manual and a couple of boards). I never got around to
building it. It originally appeared in Elektor if I'm not mistaken and
was designed by some australian

I don't think it was Elektor but some other magazine like that. Wasn't one
of the "Practical xyz" chain though.

There's actually quite a market for 'classic' synths - not sure if this
qualifies but you could try checking if it's all there and putting it on
eBay.

On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 22:08:07 UTC, "Mike" wrote:


"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 17:02:26 +0100, Pete C wrote:

Greenweld more interesting tat

Greenweld haven't had anything intereresting in years.

There's a name from the (distant) past. Didn't realise they were still
going !

But for REALLY interesting tat:

http://www.bullnet.co.uk/

In message , Mike
writes

"raden" wrote in message
...

(I grew up 10 mins walk from their first shop. It was a place of awe
and
wonder in those days... not much on display (it was counter service
only
in those days) apart for a couple of the rather more serious looking
synths

The 4600 wasn't it ? Very good for it's time - one of the best sounding
VCFs.

Ooh, I've got most of one of those upstairs in the attic (well, a front
panel, the manual and a couple of boards). I never got around to
building it. It originally appeared in Elektor if I'm not mistaken and
was designed by some australian

I don't think it was Elektor but some other magazine like that. Wasn't one
of the "Practical xyz" chain though.

I'll have to dig it out


There's actually quite a market for 'classic' synths - not sure if this
qualifies but you could try checking if it's all there and putting it on
eBay.

That would involve building it

--
geoff

On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 23:08:07 +0100, "Mike" wrote:

[ Greenweld ]

There's a name from the (distant) past. Didn't realise they were still
going !

They're not. They imploded and went poot, fissioned in two, and there's
now a different resurrected "Greenweld" who send me a familiarly badly
printed "catalogue" from time to time. It's all just market-stall tat
(and waterproof speakers) though, nothing interesting.

On Tue, 7 Jun 2005 23:35:17 +0100, "Mike" wrote:

I don't think it was Elektor but some other magazine like that. Wasn't one
of the "Practical xyz" chain though.

ETI - kits by Powertran


(I built myself a Cortex by that route - 16 bit "PC" with floppies and a
Ti99XX processor in it - not bad for 1982)

"Mike" wrote:

I don't think it was Elektor but some other magazine like that. Wasn't one
of the "Practical xyz" chain though.

I think it was in ETI - Electronics Today International


--

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 22:50:28 +0100, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 17:02:26 +0100, Pete C wrote:

Greenweld more interesting tat

Greenweld haven't had anything intereresting in years.

I did say _more_ interesting

Have some nice stuff in he

http://www.greenweld.co.uk/data/spring05.pdf

cheers,
Pete.

On 7 Jun 2005 23:12:30 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

But for REALLY interesting tat:
http://www.bullnet.co.uk/

Why is Basil, the "low cost" Henry, 15 quid more than a Henry ?

On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 09:55:05 UTC, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On 7 Jun 2005 23:12:30 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

But for REALLY interesting tat:
http://www.bullnet.co.uk/

Why is Basil, the "low cost" Henry, 15 quid more than a Henry ?

Dunno, but I'm not at all surprised when it's Bull...!

On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 09:55:05 UTC, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On 7 Jun 2005 23:12:30 GMT, "Bob Eager" wrote:

But for REALLY interesting tat:
http://www.bullnet.co.uk/

Why is Basil, the "low cost" Henry, 15 quid more than a Henry ?

They've got it wrong...Basil is of course the 'commercial' version of
Henry, AFAICS.

Mary Fisher wrote:
wrote in message

Perhaps I used the wrong tense. Back in the eighties a son did his masters
on alternative uses of straw and various forms of the material were used in
packaging, one was certainly a method which used it very finely chopped and
'expanded' by bonding it with some other material - not a man-made plastic.

ah! A bit similar to what I was thinking about the other night. Straw
fibre could reinforce expanded polystyrene, thus enable lower density
of plastic to be used to achieve the same end strength.


But I can't remember what and can't fine the thesis. It might have been in
another part of the world even. I was excited by it because pod waste from
OSR was used in the same way.

So many things which happened then never took off.

Straw is a problem for the agricultural industry, even with shorter stalked
varieties there's far too much of it. The i.c.e. has a lot to answer for ...

My guess on this is that the cost of gathering and transporting it all
makes it uneconomic. Thats one thing thats so good about oil, the fact
that its liquid and thus easily transported, and the fact that vast
amounts come out of one hole.


Consideration is why we use what we do. Polystyrene is used to reduce
goods damage, it would waste more energy to not use it.

You need to tell us what the alternative option is youre suggesting. As
far as I can see there isnt one, we're doing as good as we can, in most
cases.

I don't understand that last sentence.

I meant I was not aware of any alternative packing option thats better
than what we use today. Your sons straw sounds very interesting, but Im
guessing there was some reason it has not caught on. Few ideas make it
over all the hurdles, unfortunately.


NT

Homer2911 wrote:
NT:

there really arent better packing options for bulky items, thats why
its used. Maybe you know of one...

There are better options but they aren't as convenient for the packer.
Corrugated board (cardboard to you!) can be cut and folded into all
manner of ingenious fitments, and is 100% recyclable.

If it takes longer to pack, as it does, then its not a good option.
Humans take a lot of energy to run, especially in rich countries, and
the energy requirement of the extra time will far outstrip any energy
saving within the material itself.

Around 80% of
every sheet of board made in the UK is recycled material. The
remaining 20% is made from trees that would not otherwise have been
grown. In the US they can grow more trees so they use a lot more
virgin fibre - again, these are trees that would not otherwise have
been planted. Corrugated board is green, and it was used for packing
washing machines and the like long before polystyrene became popular!

For all its plusses, it still uses more energy, so is not so green.


There is another alternative, which is moulded pulp fitments, made from
100% recycled paper, but capital costs prevent its widespread use.

dont paper products require much more energy to make than foamed
plastics though?


BTW, I am a freelance writer, specialising in paper and packaging - any
commissions out there?

if youd like to explain


NT

wrote in message
ups.com...
Mary Fisher wrote:
wrote in message

Perhaps I used the wrong tense. Back in the eighties a son did his
masters
on alternative uses of straw and various forms of the material were used
in
packaging, one was certainly a method which used it very finely chopped
and
'expanded' by bonding it with some other material - not a man-made
plastic.

ah! A bit similar to what I was thinking about the other night. Straw
fibre could reinforce expanded polystyrene, thus enable lower density
of plastic to be used to achieve the same end strength.

Except that I specified it wasn't a man-made plastic :-)


Straw is a problem for the agricultural industry, even with shorter
stalked
varieties there's far too much of it. The i.c.e. has a lot to answer for
...

My guess on this is that the cost of gathering and transporting it all
makes it uneconomic.

The problem began when motor cars replaced horses. It continued inexorably
until today when there's very little (relatively) demand for straw and more
and more arable crops being grown. Even most farm animals aren't bedded on
straw thesedays - although there is a small movement back to it.


You need to tell us what the alternative option is youre suggesting. As
far as I can see there isnt one, we're doing as good as we can, in most
cases.

I don't understand that last sentence.

I meant I was not aware of any alternative packing option thats better
than what we use today. Your sons straw sounds very interesting, but Im
guessing there was some reason it has not caught on. Few ideas make it
over all the hurdles, unfortunately.

I understand THAT para but can't make it correlate with the other :-)

Don't worry about it!

Mary


NT

wrote in message
ups.com...
Homer2911 wrote:
NT:

there really arent better packing options for bulky items, thats why
its used. Maybe you know of one...

There are better options but they aren't as convenient for the packer.
Corrugated board (cardboard to you!) can be cut and folded into all
manner of ingenious fitments, and is 100% recyclable.

If it takes longer to pack, as it does, then its not a good option.
Humans take a lot of energy to run, especially in rich countries, and
the energy requirement of the extra time will far outstrip any energy
saving within the material itself.

Around 80% of
every sheet of board made in the UK is recycled material. The
remaining 20% is made from trees that would not otherwise have been
grown. In the US they can grow more trees so they use a lot more
virgin fibre - again, these are trees that would not otherwise have
been planted. Corrugated board is green, and it was used for packing
washing machines and the like long before polystyrene became popular!

For all its plusses, it still uses more energy, so is not so green.

You don't seem to be considering its disposal. That's where the main problem
arises.

Mary

On Wed, 08 Jun 2005 10:19:33 +0100, Pete C wrote:

Have some nice stuff in he
http://www.greenweld.co.uk/data/spring05.pdf

Electronic water softeners for 40 quid - there you go dIMM !


It's all _new_ stuff though - no interesting old surplus tat 8-(