advices for surplus or parts stores in San Diego ?

Try Radio Shack.

Thank you for your answer, John, but to me Radio Shack is my definition of 4th world when it comes to electronic parts :-/ Last time i checked (this winter in Mi) they had the same parts in store as 20 years ago, at the same "premium" price... That was very handy when i was a beginning kid but now i solder TQPF and 0603 parts :-/ The only thing I bought was a rubber desoldering pear to replace my very old one.

I was then amazed in Toronto, their stores are awesome, so I supposed I could find something at least as good in USA, in such a big city... Come on, it's supposed to be America ! :-P

Any other hint ? :-)

yg

Ah ! That sounds much much better :-D

thank you very much !

yg

He is a complete idiot, and isn't even from the area.

You want to take the trolley from downtown toward Santee and stop over in El Cajon, right before the end of the line. There are two military/industrial surplus stores there, just a few blocks away from the trolley tracks (less than a mile).

There is also an industrial liquidator shop in the Clairmont Mesa area.

I think it is even called "Industrial Liquidators".

a.

Murphy surplus. Bring money. Lots of it. I will admit they have cool stuff, so it is worth the look.

i just found their site :

yg

There used to be one over on University around Euclid that specialized in used test equipment. That was some 40 years ago; things might have changed.

Rumor had it that if Anchors Aweigh were ever played in that store, half the test equipment would come to attention and salute.

Jim

To have electronic parts at a surplus shop would require electronics to be built in the general area. Have you considered China? ;-) Remember, the US is a nation of code monkeys and marketing experts. Oh, and useless top management. Well useless unless they cut me a PO.

Further north, there are more possibilities due to the aerospace biz. C and H in Pasadena perhaps. The trouble is most of these stores place a high value on their junk.

I found a fake C and H website that is set up for link bate.

C&H in Pasadena closed a couple of years ago. Seems to have re-opened in some form 15 klicks or so east off the 210 (Duarte). I haven't been to the new location yet.

Yes, they're very proud of their stock. C&H also has/had the problem that local prop guys would pay big bucks for impressive looking doodads.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

"The Journey is the reward"

eff.com

Oh, make that bait, as opposed to waiting with bated breath. These spelling checkers need to read minds.

The worst one is Halted in the bay area. You can't believe the crap test instruments they think are worth money. The only surplus store in the bay area I bother checking is Excess Solutions. Weird Stuff is a waste of time.

well, my travels are not primarily motivated by the technical sides, i just try to find all the possible perks :-P So no China for me...

and trolls if i look at the SNR here :-P (the french group is much quieter and generally more on-topic :-P)

No idea if i'll go "further north", soon or not... but i suppose there is more (semiconductor) activity :-D

Someone told me about Fry's and sdelectronicsupply.com

have a nice day, yg

Don't remember the name of the city, east of San Diggity dog, towards the mountains - 2 rather decent surplus stores and one "invitation only" type. But that was 30+ years ago..

That would be El Cajon, two miles south of Gillespie Field.

Jim

ebay has killed a lot of the surplus stores and electronic flea markets.

John

The Livermore flea market went kaput. I think it was more due to the community college kicking them out of a prime spot near 580 to what amounted to a dirt field in the middle of nowhere. Sellers that posted ebay ads on their gear at the flea market didn't exactly help matters.

Ebay itself has gone to hell due to the amount of vendors with reserve prices. I can see why ebay does these sales, but it simply wastes the time of the buyer. At least the current incarnation of ebay allows you to only see auctions.

When you went to the local flea market and got screwed by a vendor, you recognized the clown and never dealt with him again. On ebay, you just change your name. I don't think this is progress. ;-)

Fry's is a retail store. Still worth the visit, but it is not surplus.

a.

Industrial Liquidators was more interesting when it was called "Earl's". I used to work a few blocks away, and there are a few good lunch-time spots in the neighborhood, so I visited often. It was considered good karma to find something in there that one had designed a few years earlier.

Typical conversation at Foothill:

Me: Will you take a check for that scope?

Him: Sure.

Me: Of course, I'll stop payment if I get it home and it doesn't work.

Him: Sorry, no checks.

Also "I haven't tested it, so I can't say that it works" actually translates to "It's broken."

John

Nope. They are both on North Marshall Just south and across from the Trolley Platform, and are situated about a mile South of the airport.

The one in Kearny Mesa is at Clairmont Mesa Dr. and Rayteon Dr. next door to the gun store.