DSE ESR meter

Hi Dave,

You're right, the mark-up is massive. As for the proportion of sales, everyone here knows Woolies is hell bent on clearing any line that isn't earning its keep on the shop floor so I believe the sales of those items are meeting expectations and no doubt the GP still helps to balance out the bottom line from selling low GP consumer elect items.

From a personal point of view we ( in our store ) sell quite a reasonable quantity of components considering. Obviously I can't speak for the other DSE stores and have idea of what their component sales may be, but we seem to do ok. I think we're lucky though, the guys I work with aren't pimply faced 16 year olds, we're all old enough to know that a record was once something played on an amplifier with phono inputs :) Myself and the manager have component knowledge while the other staff can at least point people to the right area of the store or get one of us to assist. None of us claim to be electronics gurus but we try to help where and when we can.

Infact, slowly but surely, we're redoing the component section of our store because previous management there has been less than enthusiastic about the area and let it run down badly.

So, yes, there are still some DSE employees who care about the component side of the business :)

Mike

Reply to
Mike Paull
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"rebel"

** What pain ???

Long as YOU know what you are after and have the common sense to make sure it is listed in the DSE catalogue - all the staff have to do it take your money.

If a particular store is out of stock - then any staffer can check the DSE on line database as to stock levels held at other stores. Even the female staffers seem very adept and obliging at this.

BTW:

Ill mannered geeks have always been a right pain in the arse to electronics store staffers.

OTOH - polite geeks with cat numbers on hand generally get royal treatment.

....... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Gosh, who'd have thought that females could manage that?

Peter

Reply to
Pete

Well they do have smaller feet.

Reply to
atec

DSE

Shame the database is often wrong and they send you to a store with no stock though.

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

That's what the phone is for. On being told in Box Hill that the last two stocked EPROM programmer kits were on the shelves in Broadmeadows, I used the phone. Half an hour later, I got a call back saying yes, they were in the computer, but they couldn't find them anywhere. The happy ending is that the computer also said that 69 units were still in the distribution centre, and all I had to do was ask the local store manager to have one sent down :-).

Clifford Heath.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

I dont bother asking them for advice on resistors and transistors & I assume that they don't know. Even if you trained them to recognise some components by sight, to the average non-tech person, a transistor, FET, triac, SCR, voltage regulator, high speed diode pack, oftan all come in the same looking packages, and can easily be mistaken for each other by people without some knowlege of electronics.

Based on some of their telephone sales people in the past, I doubt that some WES staff would know what a resistor is either ;)

With component stores like DSE, I just go and get them myself, write down the catalog number when I do, and go to the counter and give them the list and pay for them. I think if someone has no idea what a resistor looks like, (or can't read the labels on the little component drawers) maybe they shouldnt be buying one.

Simple, no problem

Reply to
kreed

I agree with you and Phil - write a list of the catalog numbers, get the parts (if they can be found) and give the list to the staff to key into their terminal. Thinking back over my recent common-component buying patterns though, I've always gone to Jaycar without even considering that the DSE store up the road might stock the same parts.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Parker

for

either.

etc

away in

Hell, the last few times I've been there (only in desperation 'cause Jaycar didn't have it), they've glanced at the bunch of components I've dumped on the counter, entered the most significant items and ignored the rest, making the transaction rather cheap. Bless the attitude of Gen X or whoever they are :)

Reply to
Poxy

stock

That's my point. The computer based web stock list is worthless and the old fashioned "ring them and get someone to look on the shelf", is still the only reliable method.

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

why not just use Farnell? their pricing is pretty good, and the stock levels are slightly higher :)

plus of course they have smt stuff.

Cheers Terry

Reply to
Terry Given

Usually safe to assume they don't. You won't be wrong very often :-)

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

Jaycar

making

Which is probably why their inventory database is always wrong :-)

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

"Terry Given"

** Shame how Farnell want $516 + gst for the exact same 10 MHz CRO that DSE sell for $98 inc.

Shame how DSE, not Farnell sell Brother laser printers for $95 inc.

Shame how DSE, not Farnell sell top kits like Bob's famous ESR meter for as little as $25 inc.

Shame how DSE, not Farnell has no minimum purchase quantities.

Shame how DSE, not Farnell let you peruse any of their stock before making a purchase.

Shame how Farnell want $10 ( or more) per order delivery charge every time.

Shame .......

...... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

It sorta depends on what kind of parts you're after. I can often get everything I need by mail from Rockby Electronics who have a fairly good range of stuff

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and if I'm not in a big hurry. Farnell are good when you absolutely need to have something, especially industrial/professional parts, *now*.

Rgds Bob

Reply to
Bob Parker

-----------------------

It isnt just DSE where that works, In the supermarket a good trick was to buy boxes of items and then say to checkout operator 3 boxes of

  1. you will invariably find that they give an answer much less than the real one.

in one case I bought 6 cartons of cat food, (when it was on a very good special) told operator that there were 6 cartons of 24 cans, the total keyed in was 43.

strangely I didnt realise this until I was halfway out of the shopping centre and checked the docket.

Reply to
kreed

Of course! Why didn't I think of that? The education system's turning out kids who not only have no knowledge of spelling and punctuation, but they can't do mental arithmetic either. It has its good points. :-)

Reply to
Bob Parker

I bought certain goods this morning , came to $34.35 I handed over $40.50 , when putting the cash change away I realised I got $20.20 back .

Reply to
atec 77

who would want a cruddy little scope like that? Its better than a multimeter I suppose, but still just a toy.

My favourite was always the $600 wooden plank that RS used to sell (havent checked lately).

OTOH Farnell periodically sell expensive stuff at better-than-reasonable prices. I've bought both the Hakko 474 desoldering staion and the 850 smt station for ~ NZ$800, along with a whole bunch of fluke 87s.

AFAICT its becuase the stock sits around for a long time at silly prices.

I got mine frm Harvey Norman.

hopefully mine will turn up in a day or two.

true, but the MOQ is usually pretty small, and I never buy one of anything.

this is very important, as DSE cant tell you exactly what any of it is, you have to look for yourself (and even then that wont necessarily help you)

OTOH if I want a Welwyn WA84 resistor, I can just order one from Farnell and *know* thats what I will get.

all good points. to be honest I dont know why Farnell even bothers with the consumer stuff, their prices are indeed just silly.

I should have written "why not just use Farnell for COMPONENTS"

I have 6 DSE lab supplies (3 x 0-30V 6A, 3 x 3-15V 25A), bought in two lots when the price dropped to $200

of course its a shame how DSE wouldnt know anti-static if it leapt up and bit them, has no SMT stuff at all, and by comparison has ~ 0 different parts.

IMHO the biggest problem with DSE (Jaycar too) is you have NO IDEA what parts you will get. I ran into a problem with an LED last year. the Jaycar LED I used magically changed shape and efficiency, whilst retaining the same part number. And nobody could tell me who made it.

if you can get me the peak-pulse-power handling data for a resistor from DSE, I'll print out a copy of this post and eat it.

I guess I'm in a slightly different position, as I simply pass component charges on to my customers; I could in theory try and get the cheapest possible components, but the labour costs dwarf the component costs.

I'll take it as read you will respond with a tirade of filth; save the BW :)

Cheers Terry

Reply to
Terry Given

Hi Bob,

I got my ESR meter in the mail this morning, built it and it works well. Its a lot faster than using the HP3577 network analyser, and a hell of a lot quieter (although the cat wont be able to sleep on top of the ESR meter). Plus of course I can lift it with one hand ;)

All up, a job well done!

Cheers Terry

Reply to
Terry Given

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