6 Oct
2007
6 Oct
'07
10:26 p.m.
On Fri, 2007-10-05 at 23:31 +0100, Tony Duell wrote:
Maplin have really gone away from the hobbyist
electronic market towards
PC-clone modules, cinsumer electronics, etc. Gone are the days when you
could go to the enarest Maplin in your lunchbreak to get the bits needed
for the afternoon's hardware hacking. In fact these days, even if it's in
the catalogue, there's a good chance it won't be in the shop. Most
interesting items are 'order only'
I've started just buying components from suppliers on eBay. Case in
point was a couple of months ago when I needed an LM723 regulator chip
for the power supply in a synthesizer - Maplin listed them, but for
about ?2 and "online order only", with a lead time of two weeks.
I bought a tube of 10 for a fiver including shipping, from someone on
eBay. It arrived within four days.
Gordon