[sdiy] Favorite (American) Parts Suppliers

Fri Oct 8 17:42:58 CEST 2004

Hi List,

After my Rat Shack rant of yesterday, I figured maybe it would be more useful to list suppliers I *do* like.  Bear in mind I'm situated pretty much in the geographical center of the contiguous 48 states, and these suppliers are in the States.  Hence, the inclusion of 'American' in the subject line.

I'll leave off the overly obvious suppliers like Mouser and Digikey - those are so well covered, it would be redundant (even for me) to list them.  

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Jameco Electronics
http://www.jameco.com

I've mentioned off-list that I always go to Jameco first.  Why?  Mainly because they generally have the best prices and often for IC's that are not easily found elsewhere.  If you want to load up on CA3080E's, this is the place I recommend.  The 3080's I've gotten from them are the RCA's (IIRC).  They also have a great transformer for +/-15V power supplies for a decent price.  They're prompt and rarely make mistakes.  If they do make a mistake, they rectify it quickly.

Warning:  Canadians, I do seem to recall a list member having problems ordering from Jameco, so proceed with caution.  Had to do with duty or something like that?

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Allied Electronics
http://www.alliedelec.com/
The only thing I *ever* order from Allied is Vactrols - best prices hands down on them (except for the VTL5C2 - see the entry for BGMicro).  Prompt delivery.

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Hosfelt Electronics
http://www.hosfelt.com/
Good place for CMOS and linears.  Excellent prices for reed switches, etc. Medium good delivery times.  Very reliable.

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Alltronics
http://www.alltronics.com
Want one of those cool joysticks MECI used to have?  Go to Alltronics and you'll find they're cryptically hidden in the resistors section.  Good pots, etc.  Nice surplus selection.  It's been a while, so I can't remember how long my orders took to get here, but definitely reliable.

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All Electronics
http://www.allelectronics.com/
This is where I get my patch cables (3.5 mm/1/8").  Nice price, they work well, and like Peter G says, if it breaks - what the hell, it only cost a buck!  Good surplus selection.  Reliable and fairly quick.

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BG Micro
http://www.bgmicro.com/
Good surplus, indeed.  Often will have 'by the tube' deals.  The only place you can get VTL5C2 Vactrols for 50 cents apiece.  Reliable, fairly good delivery time.

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Electronic Goldmine
http://www.goldmine-elec.com/default.htm

Ma and Pa Goldmine get the sexiest surplus stuff around, and it doesn't last long (they've been the cause of a stampede or two on the list).  Keep an eye on them, and subscribe to their circulars.  Good delivery.  Reliable, if not frustrating when they've sold out.  Have been known to make inappropriate knob substitutions in at least one case I know of (not me, someone else), but I love these guys anyway.  I put them in my will.  Medum good delivery time.

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Ocean State Electronics
http://www.oselectronics.com/

Very good surplus selection.  I've ordered once from them - got what I'd ordered, but man, oh, man did it take a long time - perhaps they were moving or something.  After five weeks, I figured the order never went through and re-ordered the same stuff from someplace else.  Their order arrived on *the same day* as the other stuff I ordered.  That put the kibosh on the spouse-gating for a while, I gotta tell ya.

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Futurlec
http://www.futurlec.com/

Yes, the dreaded Futurlec.  Futurlec is this amorphous entity that exists *somewhere*, but you're not really sure where.  Ordering from them is a gamble where the level of frustration  is the payoff.  Weird problems emerge ("post office can't find your address", "your credit card number doesn't work", etc.).  They can take a month (or, I've heard, longer) or less than a week to deliver.  IIRC, Ken Stone has sworn off them completely.  So why do I list them here and abuse myself by ordering from them?  (1) I actually have received everything I ever ordered (no matter how long or even short it took), (2) I absolutely am addicted to the protoboards they sell and (3) they do have a great IC lineup for not-so-bad prices.  So, they're reliable in the fact that you'll probably get what you ordered and also that it may be a painful experience.  But it's such sweet pain =-D.  YMMV rating.

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MCM In One (Formerly MCM Electronics)
http://www.mcminone.com/

MCM has a great selection of replacement chips, semiconductors, and other stuff.  They even have (sotto voice) bbd's.  Good delivery, quite reliable.

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Small Bear Electronics
http://www.smallbearelec.com

I'll preface this by saying I *love* Small Bear.  They're a DIY wet dream, mainly because that's what they're geared for.  Great crew, reliable, a bit of a wait for delivery.  *Excellent* inventory.  My PT chip source.  And they have (hushed voice) BBD's.

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American Microsemi
http://www.americanmicrosemi.com/

An excellent source for hard to find semiconductors, sometimes for hilariously out of balance pricing.  Very reliable, quick delivery.

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Marlin P. Jones (MPJA Online)
http://www.mpja.com/

Excellent source for power supplies.  Good surplus selection.  Fast and reliable.

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Unicorn Electronics
http://www.unicornelectronics.com/

Good selection, I've ordered twice and always gotten what I've ordered, can't remember delivery times, etc, but everything's worked for me.
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A place I haven't tried yet:
Electronics Plus
http://www.electronicplus.com/

An impressive listing of IC's (they have the MM5386N noise generator, BTW).  Not so hot prices generally, but what the hey?

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A place I used to order from but don't anymore:

Newark In One (formerly Newark Electronics)
http://www.newarkinone.com/

I used to order from this company quite a bit - their packaging of resistors and IC's is nothing short of awesome.  However, at some point along the line, it seemed that they started gearing more for OEM type of stuff, and I got the impression that my pesky nuisance orders weren't entirely welcome.  I still get their (huge) catalogs, but their prices don't strike me as being as good as they once were.  Maybe just my imagination, but, anyway, I really haven't *needed* them for quite a while.

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Well, that's it.  Hope it's been a help.  If anyone has their personal favorites, I'm always willing to spend money on Electronic parts =-D.

Spouse gater extraordinare,
Scott

PS:  And, BTW, I found this to be a most profound statement:

"When parts like CA3080 and LM13600 are referred to by manufacturers as
"obselete", they don't mean that they have replaced them with a better
OTA chip, rather they mean that all of the applications of these ICs
are obselete! " - Metrophage

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