From Scratch?... (was: Radio Shack (Was: STAPLES ....))

It IS possible to still build stuff. But it is getting more difficult and more expensive, especially in the last year or two, to build truly "vintage era" stuff. Its not just that the chips are getting harder to find, but its also that the mechanical supplies - wire wrap sockets, quality (fiberglass) prototype PCB's, etc - are getting expensive also. Even Jameco has very noticeably raised their prices recently. Where I once could get everything from one or two sources, now I have to go to 5, and I have to shop very carefully. There are definitely fewer surplus places than even 2 years ago. One bright spot I found, is unicorn electronics, which, strangely, I had never dealt with until last year. They have a lot of stuff, good prices, and free shipping. One place (I won't mention the name ) is California is off my list because of having a lot less in reality than they do in their catalog - it's so bad I don't know why they bother printing it. Radio shack was crap, and has amazingly gotten worse - no selection, frightening prices, and genuinely bad quality. The connectors they sell are beyond belief bad. I have actually seen them fallen apart while still in the bubble pack. The only things they sell worth anything IMHO are fairly inexpensive, low quality perfboards for low-budget projects. They are to a Jameco or BG what 7-11 is to a Wal-Mart superstore (sorry, international readers). I have no idea how young people will ever learn about electronics in the future. Won't be my problem, though... --- Ron Hudson <rhudson(a)cnonline.net> wrote: __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Got something to say? Say it better with Yahoo! Video Mail http://mail.yahoo.com