[sdiy] 2sd1293m replacement?

[David G Dixon]

> Transistors are one of those things that I have to admit just 
> flummox me.
> I am in need of a pair of these now obsolete transistors to 
> repair the display board on a MKS70.  I can't believe there 
> isn't a suitable replacement part out there.  Anyone happen 
> to know or can tell me the rules for selecting a suitable 
> replacement?  This is a regularly recurring problem for me 
> lately.  It seems there are just thousands of these things
> - do we need so many?  Are there really that many variations? 
>  How do you know which to use and sub?

I'm with you, James!

I found a cool site the other day while trying to find replacements for a
couple of obsolete Japanese transistors in an old Univox fuzz pedal:

http://alltransistors.com/

It turns out that there are no fewer than 1679 more or less equivalent
transistors for the one I was interested in, including my trusty 2N3904.

In just about any other endeavor, an endless choice of virtually identical
substitutes would be impossible to bear.  Just imagine if there were 1700
different versions of the same drug for some disease or other.  Doctors and
pharmacists simply couldn't cope (they barely cope as it is)!  So, why do
electronics engineers punish themselves in this way?  Are they all
masochists?