[sdiy] NTE ahhhhhhhh!

[elmacaco]

Well, say what you want about NTE, but they had both the positive and
negative dual rectifier diodes I needed to fix my MPC 60's 5 volt power
supply in the same screw to the heat sink package when all other net sources
were tapped.

I gladly paid $5 each for what I needed plus a couple of spares.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Metrophage" <c0r3dump23 at yahoo.com>
To: <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 6:02 PM
Subject: Re: [sdiy] NTE ahhhhhhhh!


> NTE is just a dumb service for:
> 1. TV repairmen who need to run out for a part, and pass the extra
> expense to customers
> 2. Stores which feel obligated to stock some electronics parts, but
> don't know anything about them, or cannot be bothered to source them
> properly
>
> So instead of the expense of hiring a person to do purchasing, you
> could get a rack of standard NTE components to keep in stock, and not
> think about it. Sucks for just about anybody else!
>
> I used to get the odd NTE part when I lived in Mass, because I could go
> to an actual store in Needham which stocked a decent amount of parts,
> compared to Rat Shack (which has since gotten even far worse). First
> hassle I realized were the nonsensical part numbers, which were a pain
> to cross-reference. They obviously do this for the reasons others
> mentioned: if they used standard part names, people would quickly see
> that the parts are widely available. Nobody needs NTE. Second problem
> is that the NTE "replacement" parts are way too expensive. What was
> worse was that the store I was going to would NEVER mark the prices on
> the NTE parts. So I'd wait fifteen minutes in the checkout line for
> somebody to explain to me that quad op-amps cost $6 each!
>
> The NTE phenomenon just bites. I recommend not supporting them in any
> form. If you do a web search, you can typically yield a cross-reference
> to real parts. Worse case, keep an NTE book just in case, as one can
> readily find what the real parts would be. Indeed, this is all I have
> used it for.
>
> Colin's idea kicks ass! I don't know Perl though. It's been like two
> years since I needed to check an NTE number.
>
>
>
>
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