Information on purchasing electronic components

[Drew23]

I would be interested to hear from members where they purchase there components from?, especially if you can buy just one or two, and not have to buy ten at a time.

Also I would like to know which manufactures of electronic components that member’s use, because of the quality of there products?.

 

[DPG]

I tend to buy stuff from ebay these days, but obviously that has the associated risks.

If you want guaranteed good components from someone with a proven supply chain then probably RS or Farnell would be a better idea. Or CPC (are they still going?)

 

[Lucien Nunes]

CPC are still around, part of the same group as Farnell these days. Their actual component range is limited although prices tend to be good on the stuff they do stock. Their strength is in electrical commodities like IEC cordsets, where their pricing and availability are very good for a traceable supplier. I use all of them, RS, Farnell, CPC for different reasons. Audio and video stuff I get from Canford; their catalogue prices are sky-high but with a trade account they are hard to beat.

Not sure about the best way to buy small quantities. Cricklewood Electronics have a reputation for being friendly and helpful with small orders but I don't know what their range is like, as I only use them for a few specialities. There's an incentive not to shop around when one needs to maintain turnover on a trade account. eBay can get you out of a hole for some obscure and obsolete parts, but there are many items that I absolutely would not buy from an untraceable source because of the percentage of fakes. Certain semiconductors are almost guaranteed to be fake unless traceable under a QM system. Some will work but not to spec, others will be dead, or a different part, or whatever. Sometimes the higher cost of the pro suppliers is well worth paying.

 

[pc1966]

If you want guaranteed good components from someone with a proven supply chain then probably RS or Farnell would be a better idea. Or CPC (are they still going?)

I tend to use RS as often good range and reasonable prices (but far from cheapest), but we have an account so less issues of shipping costs, etc.

CPC and Farnell are basically the same company, but you get stuff on one and not the other, or on both at sometimes almost a x2 price difference, so that it looks they are unrelated!

Rapid Electronics is another place to look at occasionally.

 

[DPG]

CPC are still around, part of the same group as Farnell these days. Their actual component range is limited although prices tend to be good on the stuff they do stock. Their strength is in electrical commodities like IEC cordsets, where their pricing and availability are very good for a traceable supplier. I use all of them, RS, Farnell, CPC for different reasons. Audio and video stuff I get from Canford; their catalogue prices are sky-high but with a trade account they are hard to beat.

Not sure about the best way to buy small quantities. Cricklewood Electronics have a reputation for being friendly and helpful with small orders but I don't know what their range is like, as I only use them for a few specialities. There's an incentive not to shop around when one needs to maintain turnover on a trade account. eBay can get you out of a hole for some obscure and obsolete parts, but there are many items that I absolutely would not buy from an untraceable source because of the percentage of fakes. Certain semiconductors are almost guaranteed to be fake unless traceable under a QM system. Some will work but not to spec, others will be dead, or a different part, or whatever. Sometimes the higher cost of the pro suppliers is well worth paying.

I used to use Cricklewood back in the 80s/90s as a hobbyist. They had a good catalogue. Second best to Maplin back then.

 

[pc1966]

Not sure about the best way to buy small quantities. Cricklewood Electronics have a reputation for being friendly and helpful with small orders but I don't know what their range is like, as I only use them for a few specialities.

Strewth! Not heard of them for years!

Sadly a few ones I used to use are long gone.

 

[DPG]

Strewth! Not head of them for years!

Sadly a few ones I used to use are long gone.

Omni electronics. And what about J. Bull and Greenweld with their unusual surplus stuff.

 

[pc1966]

Also along Edgware Road in London there were great shops selling all sorts of stuff. In the 80s I remember there were places that looked as if they (and their staff) had been there largely unchanged since the 30s.

All gone now.

 

[DPG]

Also along Edgware Road in London there were great shops selling all sorts of stuff. In the 80s I remember there were places that looked as if they (and their staff) had been there largely unchanged since the 30s.

All gone now.

We had Bardwells in Sheffield. And there was one in Lincoln up until a couple years ago.

 

[pc1966]

We used to use Cirkit Electronics Limited for various things, largely as they were the stockist for Toko inductors but sold other RF bits like varicap diodes, etc. The also sold springs described as "simple harmonic motion generators, bag of 100"