[Milsurplus] Component sourcing

[howard holden]

Sounds like you stepped in the bucket!! Great job Steve, I'd be in pig heaven. But no more work for me, at least the kind u get paid for.

73, Howie WB2AWQ

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From: milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net <milsurplus-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of sbjohnston--- via Milsurplus <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2024 2:43 PM
To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Milsurplus] Component sourcing

The equipment at WWVH is nearly all vintage, and my hobby interests also tend toward the older gear - plus I am living on small island in the middle of the Pacific - so I've been giving the internet a real workout in my quest for parts lately.

The onward march toward more and more surface-mount parts means that as time passes the new parts vendors like RS-Allied, Newark, DigiKey, Mouser, etc will be less helpful for our work with vintage gear.  I increasingly find myself looking at dealers who sell surplus electronic parts.

After a decline in the availability of surplus parts from online sources (due to the closing of several long-lived companies), I've recently noticed an increase in the number of dealers that come up on an internet search for surplus electronic parts online.  You often need to go several pages deep in the search to turn up all the possible companies.  I've also used different search engines to try and find everything.

Amazon and eBay are also useful for me but there you have to beware of counterfeit parts (especially semiconductors).  I've received re-labeled ICs, regulators, diodes, and transistors.  In each of my personal experiences the faked parts were from mainland China.   I cannot imagine how this activity is a viable business model but there it is.

I even received some fake electrolytic filter capacitors for repair of a power supply.  The new capacitors seemed way too light-weight - felt like the cans were empty.  I ordered 4700 uF @ 50v but the capacitor meter indicated only around 47 uF.  I cut them open and sure enough there were tiny 47 uF @16v radial capacitors soldered inside the big empty cans!  At least the larger cans would have contained the shrapnel if I'd tried to use them in the power supply (overvoltage).   A complete rip-off and waste of my time - gee thanks.

I've had much better luck getting parts for vintage projects only from vendors in Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, and eastern Europe.


Steve WD8DAS

sbjohnston at aol.com
http://www.wd8das.net/<http://www.wd8das.net/>   <http://www.wd8das.net/>
http://af4k-crystals.com/<http://af4k-crystals.com/>/
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