tools / test gear / components in the US?

So would I. Unfortunately the big componnet suppliers in the UK (RS Components and Farnell) will not supply their catalogues to hobbyists at any price (they will take orders placed on their web site). I find these web sites very annoying to use. An example : I need a plug and socket pair, and this particular connecotr comes as plug and socket shells, backshells (hood) and crimp pins, all as sepaate parts. I manage to find one part, say the plug shell, on the website. There's no obvious way to find all the related parts (heck, in some cases crimp pins and solder pins for the same sereis of conenctors are in wildly different parts of the site). Or I find one value of reisstor that I need, there's no obvious way to find other valuse in the same series. And so on. -tony