[Test-Equipment] Surplus places in Seattle area

[Bruce Lane]

	Harbor Freight is primarily cheap (both in price and, near as I can
tell, in quality) tools. The vast majority of what they carry comes from
China, Taiwan, et al. Personally, I would never buy tools from them. I
value my health and projects too much to trust them to pot-metal.

	The ONLY other generalized electronic surplus place of note, that I know
of, is Electronic Dimensions, in Tacoma. They have a great variety, but
their pricing has never been very good. The owner will dicker a bit, so
they still might be worth checking out.

	Vetco Electronics, in Bellevue, still has a generous supply of LEDs and
resistors in the 'surplus' category, but that's about it. The rest of
what they stock appears to be cheesy overseas imports, good only for
minor-class "hobby" experimentation. I'm not too keen on their pricing
overall, either.

	If computing surplus is what you're after, you'll find plenty of it at
the RE-PC stores in Tukwila and Seattle. I would add that, every so
often, RE-PC does uncover the odd item of test gear or other electronic
widgets of interest. These usually show up at Tukwila.

	The only other "surplus" place in the area is Washington State's surplus
store in Auburn. It's rare they have exotic electronics, but they are
still worth a look.

	All the places mentioned, with the exception of Harbor Freight and Vetco
(neither one qualifies), are listed on my surplus-directory web pages at:

	http://bluefeathertech.com/technoid/waswapindex.html

	The sad truth is the Boeing surplus store was a major source for exotic
stuff, electronics included. When they went, they took an awfully big
pipeline with them. Although I'm always on the lookout, I've not seen any
new electronic surplus places spring up in this area since I moved up in
1993. Quite the contrary -- At least three have disappeared, never to
return.

	However, with that said -- You've picked a great time of the year to
visit, as this is our "summer" phase. Very little rain, pleasant
temperatures. I see you're a hamateur as well, so I would suggest
checking into the Mike & Key ARC repeater once you get to the area.
146.82 receive, negative TX offset, 100Hz PL. I can often be found on
there (call for KC7GR).

	Depending on when you visit, you might also be able to catch the Radio
Club of Tacoma Swap Meet. It's happening on Aug. 8th. See this link for
details.

	http://www.w7dk.org/

	For non-electronic activities, I highly recommend both zoos in the area
(Woodland Park, Seattle, and Pt. Defiance, Tacoma).

	Happy travels. 


*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 14-Jul-09 at 06:54 pete wokoun, sr. wrote:

>Hey, group;
>
>  Visiting the Seattle area.  Are there any interesting 'surplus' places
>to visit since the Boeing store closed?  Was going to visit Harbor
Freight
>which I hear was down that same street but any others?
>
> 
>
>tnx,
>
>pete KH6GRT
>
> 
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