Re: Part suppliers.

Hi Daniel,

I always envy people in the US are so lucky that they can get all the
up-to-date parts so cheaply and most of the common parts are so much
cheaper as compared to what I get here.

In the small town, with a population of 1/4 million, where I live,
there are two electronic stores and they are selling mostly TV and
audio parts. Though I can get TTL and CMOS logic chips, they are not
in the full range and cost double or triple as compared to the US.
Sometimes I mail order parts from Farnell but they have a minimum order
of RM300 (1USD app = RM 3.90) to have free shipping by courier or else
they would charge rm30 for each shippment.

I've mail ordered from eBay in the US and stores like Jameco, JDR as
well as Digikey. The postage sometimes exceeds the parts ordered. I
once ordered 50 SMT chips of 26C31 & 26C32 (25 each) and the postage by
USPS air was $20.00. Some stores are overpricing their parts as I can
see. A 2N3019 for $1.49 would be too expensive, isn't it? But a
2N3055 TO5 casing costing $0.69 is considered quite cheap. But who
wants 3055 anymore!

When I visit KL (our capital city), there is a place called Jalan Pasar
where all the electronic enthusiasts hang around. The whole street is
dedicated to electronics and electrical stores. Here I can get parts
at bargain prices. But the micro-controllers here are not so cheap as
compared to eBay in US. Here I would usually get 1/4W resistors in
hundreds (RM3 for 100 pcs) where it costs rm0.20 per piece in where I
live. I would also stock some TTL and CMOS chips that were in the
projects that I wanted to tackle.

Where are the places in the States that you would visit that have many
Electronic stores and electronic junks that were sold by pounds? Who
know I might visit US one day!!

Allen Bong

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