I just saw a commercial on NY1 stating that Argo Electronics is closing. They were the last Electronic Surplus stores on Canal St. I never saw a commercial for Argo. For those of you that don't know the significance. Back in the 80s (probably back in the 70s too but I am not that old), Canal St in NYC had many electronic surplus stores. Everything from radios to oscilloscopes. There are still electronic stores there but nothing like Argo. I remember buying all sorts of stuff. Well it looks like they are closing. Here are some sites that show pictures of Argo http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/02/argo_electronics_surplus.html http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmtorrone/tags/argoelectronics/ The address 393 Canal St New York, NY 10013-1691 Phone: (212) 226-4945

Don't know... I may go down today after work. --- On Thu, 8/7/08, William Donzelli <wdonzelli at gmail.com> wrote:

Actually there is more significance than you give. The last parts houses in the Philadelphia area closed down years ago. This is part of the underlying issues that face us in the greater, real world. This is of concern for more than merely discomforted hobbyists like us. Where you have a real industrial economy that is progressing, you have lots of, shall we say, second order business that keep the main businesses going. I am doing work for a major corporation and I need a prototype. I go to a fabricator and he may need several machine shops and parts houses to build me what I want. What I need is there expediously and nobody is forced to wait for some bottleneck component to come through. My wife is frankly and simply out of business because of the demise of the rag trade in Philadelphia. She would have been a third order business. She manufactured custom pieces out of remnents. By the way, in a progressing industrial economy, you do have an active legion of talented amateurs, ie hobbiests. The lightning is getting close so I'm going to shut down now. bs On Thu, 7 Aug 2008, steve stutman wrote:

On Mon, 11 Aug 2008, Roy J. Tellason wrote: I think Advanced Electronics. It was out in Jersey down NJ73 if I remember correctly. The one in Philadelphia near Oxford Circle did like Radio Shack and went to other product lines before it disappeared. I'd have to check if the guys who sold used computer equipment in Gray's Ferry are still around. There was a guy in Germantown who sold old equipment, at least he did until his roof caved in. bs

On Thursday 07 August 2008 08:53, Christian Liendo wrote: I didn't know there _were_ any places left in that area... I guess I just didn't look far enough when I last looked. When are they closing? Heck, I bought *lots* of stuff on Canal St. way back when, including the first TTL I ever messed with, among a lot of other things. About the only interesting "electronics junk" place I know of in the NYC area is Leeds Radio (easy to find online too), but they're out in Brooklyn someplace in an area that I'm not familiar with, though I plan to make a trip out there one of these days. And places like that have got me in the habit of collecting a lot of electronics junk, for several decades now, so if there's any bit of stuff you guys are looking for, feel free to email me offlist. Not much big iron at all, but lots and lots of parts. :-) -- Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and ablest -- form of life in this section of space, ?a critter that can be killed but can't be tamed. ?--Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters" - Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James M Dakin

Stopped by on the way home from Lombardi's this afternoon. Not much of interest. A few cardboard boxes of transformers, a box of VCR guts (various nylon gear assemblies), random motors (no steppers in evidence). Almost interesting was a stack of VME boards but all of the socketed components were gone. Otherwise, a box of IR remote controls, a few repaired TV sets, some boom boxes, cheap import tool kits, cheap import ear buds, etc. Having never been there before, I have no idea what it was like in its glory days... but I'd say it's going down by the bow now. Bill