Suppliers eh? What are they like?

[neil.johnson at camcon.co.uk]

Tony Allgood wrote:

> The new Maplin catalogue came through my letter box this morning. This
> really is bad news, the once great supplier of electronic stuff of all
> sorts, actually has a catalogue so small it fits through my tiny letter
> box. The semiconductor section is a hoot. As an example; it has only two
> analogue switches for sale. Maplin seem to be more interested in selling
> the computer hardware side of things, and most of those have no price
> attached.

Oh dear.  Fads and fashion.  Are we back to days of a catalogue with a
separate price list?  Meanwhile, check out the new multi-part Farnell
catalogue - they _do_ sell to Mr. Private-Buyer, and they have prices on
the page.  And, the first catalogue has a freebie pack of sticky things.

> CPC on the other hand is a very good company, if only you could get on
> to their website or even possibly get hold of a catalogue. Account
> holders only I'm afraid. Why? Heaven knows.

Agreed, CPC are a very useful company.  They do all sorts of weird and
wonderful things, spares for hi-fi's etc.  Once bought a selection of
magnetrons for some experimenting, as well as the HV caps and 12kV
diodes too.  Interesting times.  And yes, they only sell to trade.

> RS gave me a laugh last week. I ordered some stuff on line, only to be
> told by phone the next day that the parts should be delivered in April.
> April... I ask you... I have to presume that it is April next year, as
> opposed to April 2002.

What were you ordering?  I know that surface mount is a washout at the
moment - I could well believe 12 to 18-month lead times on certain
components (tantalums especially so).  Its all these people who buy
mobile phones.

> Rather different topic, sort of. Behringer have not sent a single mixer
> to the UK since January. Which means if you wanted to buy a MX2442A,
> which I did, well, you can't get one. They misread the market place and
> just didn't make enough. In fact, many of Behringer's products seem to
> have gone into the very rare category. UK dealers are not impressed...
> and nor was I. Spares are also a problem too I was told. It generally
> appears that the larger analogue mixers are not in fashion at the moment
> so I was told on umpteen occasions. 'Don't you want a digital mixer?' No
> I don't... call me a luddite if you want.

Welcome to Luddites Anonymous (I'm getting a dizzy head just typing this
email...)

Upside: lots of yucky olde worlde analogue horribly noisy
more-knobs-than-you've-had-hot-dinners-my-son mixers on the 2nd hand
market.

> Thank heavens for a Yamaha GF24-12. Nice desk, very good price.

Neil
--
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Neil Johnson ::::: MSc CEng MIEE | Life is the fiddly,
W.W.W: http://www.njohnson.co.uk | squelchy bit between
Email: me at njohnson.co.uk         | birth and death.
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