On 24/06/18 14:30, Roland Perry wrote:

You could argue those dominoes began to fall in 1994.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maplin...ion_by_Saltire


Quality of connectors fell then. Products from Altai were made of cheese
quality plastic, and soldered badly.

Some here, I spotted at a car boot sale.

PL259s galore....
https://youtu.be/KFuWZZFGiew

Here's a writeup by someone.

http://www.alanwinstanley.com/alan-w...-farewell.html

--
Adrian C

In message , at 22:54:45 on Sun, 24
Jun 2018, alan_m remarked:

On 24/06/2018 22:38, Rod Speed wrote:

We have seen a lot of that with ISPs particularly.

Homebase purchased by incompetent Assies?

Irrespective of the nationality of the buyers, Homebase is a classic
example of a store which has been passed from one successor to another
for a very long time.

In retrospect the acquisition of Texas Homecare in 1995 probably grew to
operation beyond what was sustainable. And that was the second time
Texas had been sold, so they were well into the "hot potato" territory
by them.

Interesting that Texas was a "pile it high" DIY outlet, whereas Homebase
more of a soft furnishings store in a shed. Bunnings were trying to go
back to the former model.
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 00:47:48 on Mon, 25
Jun 2018, Adrian Caspersz remarked:
On 24/06/18 14:30, Roland Perry wrote:

You could argue those dominoes began to fall in 1994.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maplin...ition_by_Salti
re


Quality of connectors fell then. Products from Altai were made of
cheese quality plastic, and soldered badly.

Some here, I spotted at a car boot sale.

PL259s galore....
https://youtu.be/KFuWZZFGiew

Here's a writeup by someone.

http://www.alanwinstanley.com/alan-winstanleys-
journal/2018/4/27/maplin-electronics-the-long-farewell.html

Got their timeline a bit muddled when talking about Raspberry Pi in the
same paragraph as causes of the 1990's decline in component-level
construction.

But spot-on when saying that once the shops no longer stocked a critical
mass of component-level items, why would the traditional hobbyist want
to go there at all. If you are going to have to get the "difficult"
parts somewhere else, why not get all of them elsewhere.
--
Roland Perry

On 25/06/2018 07:23, Roland Perry wrote:


Interesting that Texas was a "pile it high" DIY outlet, whereas Homebase
more of a soft furnishings store in a shed. Bunnings were trying to go
back to the former model.

Judging buy my local Homebase Bunnings piled it high by buying the
worlds total production of Christmas decorations which they had no hope
of selling and then priced their other goods higher than B&Q.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

In article , Brian Reay wrote:
On 24/06/2018 22:54, alan_m wrote:
On 24/06/2018 22:38, Rod Speed wrote:

We have seen a lot of that with ISPs particularly.

Homebase purchased by incompetent Assies?

On the subject of businesses set to fail, how may Turkish barbers can a
small area support and how many Vaping Parlours are required? There
are 4 of the latter within 10/15 minutes walk from my house - all
empty when I walk past them.



It is a 'sign of the times' that our high streets are full of shops /
businesses which come and go as their owners discover the area can't
support them. Eventually, many premises end up as charity shops-
apparently they can get some favourable deal.

I understand that Charity Shops don't pay Business Rates.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

"alan_m" wrote in message
...
On 25/06/2018 07:23, Roland Perry wrote:


Interesting that Texas was a "pile it high" DIY outlet, whereas Homebase
more of a soft furnishings store in a shed. Bunnings were trying to go
back to the former model.

Judging buy my local Homebase Bunnings piled it high by buying the worlds
total production of Christmas decorations

They dont do that here. Must have been some ****wit
pom they chose to employ there that did that.

which they had no hope of selling and then priced their other goods higher
than B&Q.

Ditto. Here they sell it for 10% less than you can
show them it is available from somewhere else for.

In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
I still have a 1995 one on the shelf for just that reason - one of the
last to include full pinouts for many of the ICs they stocked.

+1

--
*I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Monday, 25 June 2018 00:09:57 UTC+1, John Rumm wrote:
Ironically, its quite of the ads that are the most interesting bit of
some old mags now... Like looking at just how much a decent V22 bis
modem was back in the 80's ;-)

However 'old' phones (probably bakelite 300 series) could be had for about £3 from J Bull or similar, and 'new' phones (probably 706) about £5.

The bakelites have held their value well over nearly 40 years.

Owain

In article ,
alan_m wrote:
On 25/06/2018 07:23, Roland Perry wrote:


Interesting that Texas was a "pile it high" DIY outlet, whereas Homebase
more of a soft furnishings store in a shed. Bunnings were trying to go
back to the former model.

Judging buy my local Homebase Bunnings piled it high by buying the
worlds total production of Christmas decorations which they had no hope
of selling and then priced their other goods higher than B&Q.

And still didn't have what I was looking for. Found that on Ebay.

--
*Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sunday, 24 June 2018 22:54:49 UTC+1, alan_m wrote:
On the subject of businesses set to fail, how may Turkish barbers can a
small area support and how many Vaping Parlours are required?

One local barber was found to have a very profitable sideline in not-particularly legal substances.

Gives a new meaning to "something for the weekend"

And two charity shops closed.

Owain

On 25/06/2018 10:45, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
I still have a 1995 one on the shelf for just that reason - one of the
last to include full pinouts for many of the ICs they stocked.

+1

These days I just head to the RS website and look at the manufacturers'
data sheets.

If I'm short of something that I want urgently, it's only 15 minutes to
their trade counter too.

SteveW

On 25/06/2018 09:56, Rod Speed wrote:

Ditto. Here they sell it for 10% less than you can
show them it is available from somewhere else for.

In the UK this tends not to work too well. No two competing stores will
have the exact same item. Even the manufacturers play the game by
having different model numbers on identical equipment and/or removing or
adding an insignificant feature to make a like for like price comparison
impossible for these "price match" deals.

Perhaps the Bunnings model only worked in Oz because they didn't have
the competition from often nearby outfits such as Screwfix or Toolsatan?

Some supermarkets play the same game with some "branded" food items but
IMO they all seem to be running some unofficial price hike cartel as the
same items can usually be had much cheaper in supermarkets, or other
retail outlets, that don't play the game.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

In message , at 09:29:52 on Mon, 25
Jun 2018, charles remarked:

It is a 'sign of the times' that our high streets are full of shops /
businesses which come and go as their owners discover the area can't
support them. Eventually, many premises end up as charity shops-
apparently they can get some favourable deal.

I understand that Charity Shops don't pay Business Rates.

Charities get reduced business rates, but aren't allowed to trade. I
wonder if the shops operated by their commercial arms fall between those
two stools?

However, empty shops attract penalty Business Rates after I think a
year, so landlords are happy to rent them out for peanuts to defuse that
liability.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
Steve Walker wrote:
On 25/06/2018 10:45, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
I still have a 1995 one on the shelf for just that reason - one of the
last to include full pinouts for many of the ICs they stocked.

+1

These days I just head to the RS website and look at the manufacturers'
data sheets.

yehbut in the heydays of the Maplin cat, you'd have been on dialup. ;-)

If I'm short of something that I want urgently, it's only 15 minutes to
their trade counter too.

But not for 99.999999999999999999% of the population. ;-)

--
*He who laughs last has just realised the joke.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 25/06/2018 11:29, alan_m wrote:
On 25/06/2018 09:56, Rod Speed wrote:

Ditto. Here they sell it for 10% less than you can
show them it is available from somewhere else for.

In the UK this tends not to work too well.Â* No two competing stores will
have the exact same item.Â* Even the manufacturers play the game by
having different model numbers on identical equipment and/or removing or
adding an insignificant feature to make a like for like price comparison
impossible for these "price match" deals.

Perhaps the Bunnings model only worked in Oz because they didn't have
the competition from often nearby outfits such as Screwfix or Toolsatan?

Some supermarkets play the same game with some "branded" food items but
IMO they all seem to be running some unofficial price hike cartel as the
same items can usually be had much cheaper in supermarkets, or other
retail outlets, that don't play the game.

The ASDA Price Guarantee scheme seems to work quite well (they expect
their prices to be at least 10% cheaper than at least two of four
rivals, branded and unbranded), though rather cumbersome to use. I
ignore coupons that are less than £1 but still save around 2-4% on my
total bill, which is better than you get with loyalty cards.

--
Max Demian

On 25/06/2018 09:29, charles wrote:
In article , Brian Reay wrote:
On 24/06/2018 22:54, alan_m wrote:
On 24/06/2018 22:38, Rod Speed wrote:

We have seen a lot of that with ISPs particularly.

Homebase purchased by incompetent Assies?

On the subject of businesses set to fail, how may Turkish barbers can a
small area support and how many Vaping Parlours are required? There
are 4 of the latter within 10/15 minutes walk from my house - all
empty when I walk past them.

It is a 'sign of the times' that our high streets are full of shops /
businesses which come and go as their owners discover the area can't
support them. Eventually, many premises end up as charity shops-
apparently they can get some favourable deal.

I understand that Charity Shops don't pay Business Rates.

I went to one today nicely cool with a/c with the front double doors
open, so maybe they don't pay electricity either.

--
Max Demian

On 25/06/2018 14:53, Max Demian wrote:

The ASDA Price Guarantee scheme seems to work quite well (they expect
their prices to be at least 10% cheaper than at least two of four
rivals, branded and unbranded),

That's the con. They are only comparing prices with a few alternative
retail outlets and usually on "branded" goods. Take the branded instant
coffee[1] that I prefer to drink for instance, when it is expensive in
Asda it tends to be expensive in Tesco and Sainsbury but elsewhere in it
is readily found 30% cheaper. It's almost as if the big players have a
set of unwritten rules in that if one supermarket sells a branded item
more expensively they will all put the prices up for the same item and
possibly only compete for a matter of pence. The shopper is given the
impression that they are penny wise but in reality pound foolish.


[1]
£6.99 in Asda, £4.99 in Pound Stretcher, £4.99 in Farm Foods plus 10%
off on all purchases with a £25 spend (around my way the discount
coupons are posted regularly through my letter box)
--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 25/06/18 14:18, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Steve Walker
yehbut in the heydays of the Maplin cat, you'd have been on dialup. ;-)

If I'm short of something that I want urgently, it's only 15 minutes to
their trade counter too.

But not for 99.999999999999999999% of the population. ;-)


I wish I lived close enough to CPC's trade counter...

Can't they build one in the south of the country?

--
Adrian C

Adrian Caspersz wrote:
Here's a writeup by someone.

http://www.alanwinstanley.com/alan-w...-farewell.html

.... who happens to be the editor of Everyday with Practical Electronics,
one of the regular electronics mags, since approximately forever.

He links to rather interesting financial whodunit:
http://www.coppolacomment.com/2018/0...ectronics.html

Theo

alan_m wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Ditto. Here they sell it for 10% less than you can
show them it is available from somewhere else for.

In the UK this tends not to work too well.

Corse it does.

No two competing stores will have the exact same item.

I dont buy that with appliances and tools
and stuff like that and that is the price of what
most care about, those higher priced items.

We are in fact seeing amazon.com.au heavily discounting
the Philips Hue lights, switches and sensors and Bunnings
are matching those prices Mostly by repricing their stock
just a couple of cents under the amazon price so they dont
have to sell it to you for 10% less than the amazon price.

Even the manufacturers play the game by having different model numbers on
identical equipment

Yes, we do see a bit of that, but it isnt happening
with the Philips Hue stuff currently.

and/or removing or adding an insignificant feature to make a like for like
price comparison impossible for these "price match" deals.

Sure, but I havent seen anything like that with Microsoft
or Logitech or Philips or Gerni or Karcher stuff.

Perhaps the Bunnings model only worked in Oz because they didn't have the
competition from often nearby outfits such as Screwfix or Toolsatan?

They did with Masters which went bust because they couldnt compete
and with Mitrer 10 and Home Hardware and lots of other chains.

Some supermarkets play the same game with some "branded" food items but
IMO they all seem to be running some unofficial price hike cartel

Thats illegal here under our trade practices act.

as the same items can usually be had much cheaper in supermarkets, or
other retail outlets, that don't play the game.

On 25/06/2018 17:50, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
On 25/06/18 14:18, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Â*Â*Â* Steve Walker
yehbut in the heydays of the Maplin cat, you'd have been on dialup. ;-)

If I'm short of something that I want urgently, it's only 15 minutes to
their trade counter too.

But not for 99.999999999999999999% of the population. ;-)


I wish I lived close enough to CPC's trade counter...

Can't they build one in the south of the country?

He, he, he - I'm only 40 minutes from CPC too!]

SteveW

On 25/06/2018 20:32, Rod Speed wrote:
alan_m wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Ditto. Here they sell it for 10% less than you can
show them it is available from somewhere else for.

In the UK this tends not to work too well.

Corse it does.

No two competing stores will have the exact same item.

I dont buy that with appliances and tools
and stuff like that and that is the price of what
most care about, those higher priced items.

That is exactly where it happens.

For example, different chains will stock exactly the same washing
machine, but it will have one digit different in the model number from
those supplied to other chains. Each chain only stocks their own model
(despite them actually being the same and from the same production
line), so you cannot pull up the same model number at another chain for
a price match. It is no use pointing out that the models are the same,
despite the different number, because they just deny that it is the same
model and refuse to price match.

SteveW

On Tue, 26 Jun 2018 05:32:31 +1000, cantankerous geezer Rot Speed blabbered,
again:

In the UK this tends not to work too well.

Corse it does.

....and the senile Ozzietard knows it better, AGAIN! LOL

FLUSH the rest of the self-opinionated asshole's usual endless drivel
unread

--
pamela about Rot Speed:
"His off the cuff expertise demonstrates how little he knows..."
MID:

"Steve Walker" wrote in message
news
On 25/06/2018 20:32, Rod Speed wrote:
alan_m wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Ditto. Here they sell it for 10% less than you can
show them it is available from somewhere else for.

In the UK this tends not to work too well.

Corse it does.

No two competing stores will have the exact same item.

I dont buy that with appliances and tools
and stuff like that and that is the price of what
most care about, those higher priced items.

That is exactly where it happens.

For example, different chains will stock exactly the same washing machine,
but it will have one digit different in the model number from those
supplied to other chains. Each chain only stocks their own model (despite
them actually being the same and from the same production line), so you
cannot pull up the same model number at another chain for a price match.
It is no use pointing out that the models are the same, despite the
different number, because they just deny that it is the same model and
refuse to price match.

Doesnt happen here with all the manufacturers I listed and I have forced
them to give me 10% off the best price I have found plenty of times.

On Tue, 26 Jun 2018 07:32:57 +1000, cantankerous geezer Rot Speed blabbered,
again:

That is exactly where it happens.

For example, different chains will stock exactly the same washing machine,
but it will have one digit different in the model number from those
supplied to other chains. Each chain only stocks their own model (despite
them actually being the same and from the same production line), so you
cannot pull up the same model number at another chain for a price match.
It is no use pointing out that the models are the same, despite the
different number, because they just deny that it is the same model and
refuse to price match.

Doesn¢t happen here

This here is uk.d-i-y, NOT au.d-i-y, in case you haven't noticed yet,
Ozzietard!

--
Sqwertz to Rot Speed:
"This is just a hunch, but I'm betting you're kinda an argumentative
asshole.
MID:

On 25/06/2018 22:32, Rod Speed wrote:


"Steve Walker" wrote in message
news
On 25/06/2018 20:32, Rod Speed wrote:
alan_m wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Ditto. Here they sell it for 10% less than you can
show them it is available from somewhere else for.

In the UK this tends not to work too well.

Corse it does.

No two competing stores will have the exact same item.

I dont buy that with appliances and tools
and stuff like that and that is the price of what
most care about, those higher priced items.

That is exactly where it happens.

For example, different chains will stock exactly the same washing
machine, but it will have one digit different in the model number from
those supplied to other chains. Each chain only stocks their own model
(despite them actually being the same and from the same production
line), so you cannot pull up the same model number at another chain
for a price match. It is no use pointing out that the models are the
same, despite the different number, because they just deny that it is
the same model and refuse to price match.

Doesnt happen here with all the manufacturers I listed and I have forced
them to give me 10% off the best price I have found plenty of times.

This group is uk.d-i-y

Are your experience in the UK or in a country where criminals were
exported to?

On Saturday, 23 June 2018 21:29:09 UTC+1, Bob Eager wrote:
On Sat, 23 Jun 2018 14:42:15 +0100, Max Demian wrote:

On 23/06/2018 12:15, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
alan_m wrote:
On 22/06/2018 21:33, Cursitor Doom wrote:


What with one store or another going to the wall it's beginning to
look an awful lot like a recession.

Or so many businesses getting too out of touch with what the customer
wants.

People still buy food, cloths, white goods etc. but many do not still
use the shops they may have done 10 years ago.

Today, I've sat in front of my computer and ordered goods on-line from
6 different retailers.

The sad thing is, as has been said, it that Maplin were very much in on
the start of mail order. But IIRC changed hands and lost its direction.

"Maplin Electronic Supplies was established in 1972 as a mail order
business by Roger and Sandra Allen and Doug Simmons." (Wikipedia)

Er.. what about all those electronics suppliers I bought stuff from in
the 60s?

I can only remember two offhand:

* Technical Trading in Brighton (I worked for them)
* Electrovalue in Englefield Green, Egham

There's was one that started off as Radio Spares now called RS.

In article ,
pamela wrote:
This group is uk.d-i-y

The group alt.home repair doesn't specify any country and may be
better suited to what Rod is looking for.

Does even Wodney know what he's looking for? ;-)

--
*Dance like nobody's watching.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Tuesday, 26 June 2018 14:06:25 UTC+1, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
pamela wrote:
This group is uk.d-i-y

The group alt.home repair doesn't specify any country and may be
better suited to what Rod is looking for.

Does even Wodney know what he's looking for? ;-)

Pigs and sheeps arses and somewhere to shovel **** seems to be his speciality(s)

"pamela" wrote in message
...
On 00:43 26 Jun 2018, Fredxx wrote:

On 25/06/2018 22:32, Rod Speed wrote:


"Steve Walker" wrote in message
news On 25/06/2018 20:32, Rod Speed wrote:
alan_m wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Ditto. Here they sell it for 10% less than you can
show them it is available from somewhere else for.

In the UK this tends not to work too well.

Corse it does.

No two competing stores will have the exact same item.

I dont buy that with appliances and tools
and stuff like that and that is the price of what
most care about, those higher priced items.

That is exactly where it happens.

For example, different chains will stock exactly the same
washing machine, but it will have one digit different in the
model number from those supplied to other chains. Each chain
only stocks their own model (despite them actually being the
same and from the same production line), so you cannot pull up
the same model number at another chain for a price match. It is
no use pointing out that the models are the same, despite the
different number, because they just deny that it is the same
model and refuse to price match.

Doesn't happen here with all the manufacturers I listed and I
have forced them to give me 10% off the best price I have found
plenty of times.

This group is uk.d-i-y

The group alt.home repair doesn't specify any country
and may be better suited to what Rod is looking for.

You're wrong, as always.

On Wed, 27 Jun 2018 04:47:12 +1000, cantankerous geezer Rot Speed blabbered,
again:

This group is uk.d-i-y

The group alt.home repair doesn't specify any country
and may be better suited to what Rod is looking for.

You're wrong, as always.

You're "right", as ALWAYS, right Mr Know-it-all? ****ing hilarious!


--
Cursitor Doom about Rot Speed:
"IThe man is a conspicuous and unashamed ignoramus."
MID:

pamela wrote

I sometimes wonder if there are people who troll not
for game playing but to fulfill a need for interaction.

So just what to you claim to be here for yourself ?

Clearly isnt for advice on how you should
get repairs done to your house etc.

On Wed, 27 Jun 2018 08:48:13 +1000, cantankerous geezer Rot Speed blabbered,
again:

I sometimes wonder if there are people who troll not
for game playing but to fulfill a need for interaction.

So just what to you claim to be here for yourself ?

You just don't get it, eh, you pesky senile oaf? VBG

--
Sqwertz to Rot Speed:
"This is just a hunch, but I'm betting you're kinda an argumentative
asshole.
MID: