Dick Smith Kits

A growing number of people are speculating about that....

Bob

Not so, some are not reduced, some are less than half price. See their web site for exact figures.

Seems pretty obvious they are reducing their inventory at least. The Powerhouses got out of kit's already, so it's only a matter of time. Looks like they may keep some of the beginner kits though, and drop the magazine projects altogether.

MrT.

Wait for the microwaves to go on sale

Is this the type of thing you are looking for? Unfortunately the term "euroconnector" describes a host of goodies from the 21 pin SCART to these things. :-(

Cheers, Alan

Checked any of their shops or catalogs recently? They even sell vacuum cleaners.

I thought it was "Dick Smith Electronics kits aren't toys, they're used in many of the world's elite scientific research institutions including The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, NASA and major aerospace manufacturers."

Fairly remote from vacuum cleaners, but DSE's (= Woolworths) management knows what's important and what isn't.

They have your ESR meter kit for $25:

Dave :)

That's the original 1996 version of the kit. They're also selling the

It raises two questions: (1) Why are they flogging these kits at a price which must be well below the cost of producing them? (2) What are they doing with stocks of the kit which was superceded about 3 years ago?

DSE's become quite strange since Woolies took over and turned the chain into a consumer-electronics-oriented version of Big W.

Bob

Who knows, they are motivated by profit and now kits are no longer profitable due to lack of demand. Hobbyists have long since ceased to be significant for them, I'd say they'll get out of kits apart from imported ones if you are lucky.

FWIW I built a MKII this arvo and it worked fine, the kit is a very good one and it's hard to go wrong with it: a good design and a good implementation of the design.

Thanks for your positive feedback. :-)

Bob

see...

Thanks Bob I went in and nabbed an ESR Mk2 and a power supply kit (several models available very cheaply), the last ones in-store at Blacktown. Haven't bought a kit in at least a decade I think, quite nostalgic! Can't believe the IC's in the ESR kit are still stuck in the al-foil covered styrofoam! Interestingly, the sales lady used to work in the kit department and said that almost the entire kit department has been shut down and the employees moved to other roles (no retrenchments apparently), only a couple of people remain, presumably to mop up, or handle the non- magazine kits.

Dave :)

Some things never change! :)

That seems to confirm the speculation. Thanks to the 'wisdom' of Woolies management, DSE kits are gunna be a thing of the past. We can expect them to completely cease selling components next. Gary Johnstone (Jaycar) must be wringing his hands with glee (unless DSE gets into the 'Choke-A-Chicken'/Coughing Ashtray market next!).

Cheers Bob

Well the Silicon Chip ad says all kits %50 off.

"Limited Stock" *

• Which will not be renewed The end is nigh for another chapter in Aus Electronics hobbying ;-)

- Rob.

It's wrong then, I'm quite happy some are *more* than 50% off though. :-) (some are less too if the web site is to be believed, and everything I bought corresponded exactly, despite some not being marked down on the shelf)

It's been happening at DSE for years, and frankly I don't think it's much loss. Looks like Jaycar and Altronics will still be doing kits, for now at least. In fact, if it means the end of DSE developed kits taking up space in SC, then it's probably a good thing :-) (although there has been far less of that in recent years too, presumably as they reduced their whole kit department)

MrT.

Does the grinnig Dick have no say anymore ?

geoff

According to the Wikipedia thing at

Ultimately owned by Woolworths Limited

Key people Alvin Ng (General Manager) Dick Smith (until 1982)

Which seems to mean that the answer to your question is "Not since

Bob

at

Yes, even after 25 years we STILL get people going on about how DSE has gone down hill since Dick himself left, as if it were yesterday, or last week, or last month, or last year, or last decade!

Dave :)

Some would say that it's been a constant gradual decline for the last 25 years....

Bob

It has for at least the last 15 years, and I would not argue with 25 years. Anyone who hasn't noticed that needs a checkup. There was that brief spurt when the powerhouse stores opened, with their "massive" range of components, fully stocked data library you could browse, a work bench you could use, demo and kit building classes etc but it died in the arse.

I recon we must get at least a couple of people a year complaining about the "recent" decline of DSE, and another couple a year complaining about the "decline" of Jaycar into a farting/novelty toy seller, both of which are absurdly incorrect. Classic material for an FAQ!

Dave :)