RE: [GreenKeys] Forget 4-Star Electronics.

[MURRAY, WALLACE W (ATTASIAIT)]

Gil:
Thanks for sharing this with us.  Never realized what a far reaching impact the issue of lead would have.  To echo Gil's comments Don, I tried to buy some crimp BNC connectors for Belden 8281 coax.  Digi Key had two different prices, one at $.75 and another at $2.50.  Digi Key would not sell me the lower cost ones as they had lead in them.  Fortunately, you are looking for something that is all silver plated.

________________________________

From: gil at vauxelectronics.com [mailto:gil at vauxelectronics.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 11:30 PM
To: Don Robert House
Cc: Charles Dansreau; John J Volanski; MURRAY, WALLACE W (ATTASIAIT); Frank Nichols; Bob Camp; greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
Subject: RE: [GreenKeys] Forget 4-Star Electronics.


Hi Don:

There are a lot of firms specializing in "obsolete" components -- I have used several myself in the last decade, but to obtain moderate qty (1000's) of parts that were discontinued (twice this happened when Philips did it to me -- Philips can now kiss my sweaty butt, as I will never design in a single-source part of theirs again).

But these "obsolete" parts places mainly exist for this specific reason -- production builds that got screwed by manufacturers discontinuing parts.  A lot of it happened in the last couple of years, as everyone got ROHS (restriction on hazardous materials) jammed up our rears by Europe and China.  Parts that were not big movers often got discontinued.  The idea of ROHS is lofty -- remove lead, mercury and other stuff that gets into landfills and hence groundwater, or so they say.  But it has cost manufacturers (like my little company) a lot to comply, and there is a big concern about reliability:  the lead-free solders now used "grow" whiskers of tin that can short out circuits after a few years.  The military recognizes that this is a ticking time bomb, so they still require lead solder in critical systems, but commercial products are, well, who knows?  Of course, nobody seems surprised when an electronic product fails after a year or so, since we have been conditioned to expect it after years of shitty Chinese products that have flooded the market.  I couldn't find a non-Chinese ethernet router even when specifically looking for it.  I went out of my way to find a non-Chinese laser printer last year, but could not find one.  I got a used HP 5m (made in Japan) on ebay, and it is very solid.  To be fair, I did get a Chinese-made Brother laser as well, and it has worked well, but I still have concerns about Chinese reliability.  I guess I'm kinda grumpy tonight -- back to your project:

If you look for "obsolete" electronics, you will generally find those big broker places with large-qty rfqs.  
If you look for "surplus" electronics, you usually find modern-ish parts and generally no minimums.
There are also low-qty places that specialize in "vintage" parts, like:
http://www.smcelectronics.com/ic.htm
http://smcelectronics.com/index.shtml
https://www.wellgainelectronics.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=357
https://www.wellgainelectronics.com/
http://www.acpsurplus.com/servlet/Categories?category=Integrated+Circuits%3ARAM-SRAM-Memory
http://www.acpsurplus.com/servlet/Categories?category=1.+Vintage%5C%3A+Integrated+Circuits

And one of my favorites, though it is more contemporary surplus than vintage:
http://www.bgmicro.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=94

And there is always ebay;  sometimes you get a good price;  sometimes not.

What is it you are looking for anyway?  Might have it in my junk drawer.

gil



	-------- Original Message --------
	Subject: [GreenKeys] Forget 4-Star Electronics.
	From: Don Robert House <k9tty at dls.net>
	Date: Wed, November 12, 2008 7:06 pm
	To: greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
	Cc: Charles Dansreau <CharlieDansreau at cs.com>, John J Volanski
	<jayvee at san.rr.com>, "W. Wallace Murray" <wm3912 at att.com>, Frank Nichols
	<FNichols at dtwc.com>, Bob Camp <pb at cq.nu>
	
	Friends,
	
	I am sorry I sent the previous message to you all. A company dealing 
	in obsolete components was almost too good to be true.
	Well it is. They have a minimum order depending on the components 
	from $200. to $400. No wonder they are so successful.
	
	Back to the drawing board. Five years on this project and still 
	ticking away.
	
	Don
	K9TTY
	
	
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