MOTM

Well, in this day and age, even "NEW" parts get replaced. Over the last 3
years, the FPGAs
used in my DSP work have all be replaced within 18 months of introduction!

You would also be surprised on the piles of some stuff are hiding. Except
for the really rare
chips (like the uA726, which went in 95% of all FAA ground control radars
and hence were all
bought up about 3 years ago), stuff like old computer chips you can find
places with 1000s of them. I
bet the SID guys just went out and bought  1000 for $3ea and figured 500pcs
sold is fine with them.

In the MOTM, we come up against this constantly. Look at the LM13600AN used
in the '420. When
it was in design, National still made them. 4 months later, BAM! out the
door. The day I heard about it
I bought all the LM13600s I could find in the US (about 350 of them). So now
I'm always trolling the
'net for more. I paid about 87 cents each for them: the current asking price
is around $5 ea!!! The NJR
part is not exactly the same, I haven't tried it. I like the way the
National parts sound.

Even mundane stuff like pots, knobs, and switches suddenly disappear, or go
out to 30 WEEKS lead time.

Paul  S.

> From: "Dave Bradley" <daveb@...>
>
> Yet another new product based on rare, out of production, irreplaceable
> chips. Caveat Emptor.
>