I haven't bought from Digi-Key in a long time. I needed some C&K switches, and got a pleasant surprise when I ordered.
Digi-Key no longer requires a minimum purchase. And they have eight-ounce First Class shipment for under $3. Not bad. I ordered Monday, and had the parts Wednesday.
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Nice, thanks for the information William. I always ordered from Mouser for this very reason, now I can consider DK a viable source for small purchases.
On a not entirely unrelated note, I was saddened to see that my local parts store, NORVAC Electronics, is no longer in business (just an empty building with "CLOSED" on the door). They were the last electronics store here in Eugene, and were a reliable source of heat shrink tubing, discreets, NTE components, and crimping terminals (among many other items). It was nice to be able to pop down there in the middle of a project when I needed a few extra items, and they will be missed.
I wish that was the case. I called the local number and got a voicemail message from the manager (I recognized his voice), left in February, stating they were beginning their "going out of business liquidation sale." Calling the Beaverton store (up by Portland) retrieves a similar message left yesterday, so it appears that the entire company has gone belly up.
I do remember a conversation with one of the employees last year, in which he mentioned that business was slowing down, so perhaps this had been in the works for awhile.
That's interesting. We have at least four stores in the Vancouver, BC area (not Vancouver, Washington) that cater to hobbiests and industry, and all are busy when I visit!
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They all seem in good shape...
And they are indeed handy to have around when you need something right now! Soldering station tips, tools, various project boxes, etc...everything the hobbiest or small repair shop needs to get the job done.
Now mind you one other store did close recently - Active Componenets - who were the retail store for Future Electronics, but they were never busy when I dropped in.
John :-#)#
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John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
I can do better than that. I ordered from Digi-Key some Panasonic sliders that were needed for a Peavey mixer amp, and which Peavey UK - or anyone else in the UK for that matter - didn't have in stock. I placed the order around lunchtime on the one day, and received a confirming email back within minutes. I also had to declare the end use, because your government is paranoid about where the items are going to finish up. After returning this, within a very short time, I received another mail to say that the goods had shipped. They arrived on my doormat on the afternoon of the following day.
I guess that when the order was placed, it was early morning stateside, and I was just lucky in the way that my order caught collections and customs and flights and clearance into the postal system this end, but never-the-less, how good a service was that ?
My point was more that Digi-Key was now willing to take small orders without a surcharge, and ship them inexpensively. But that's incredible service. I suspect Digi-Key does enough business in GB that it can ship its daily order "in bulk", and has a local agent that handles splitting it up and getting it out.
One of the reasons Digi-Key had the part you wanted is that D-K (not to be confused with the British publisher) started its business by carrying specific ranges of products (rather than a company's entire line) in depth. If you wanted a particular kind of Panasonic capacitor, and D-K stocked that range, you were virtually assured of it being available when you ordered. By expanding one range at a time, D-K kept its reputation for availability. D-K is almost always the first place I look for name-brand parts.
When it comes to Chinese "junk", take a look at monoprice. It has decent-quality stuff at prices that will have your jaw hanging.
By the way, in the US a "slider" is a White Castle hamburger. The name apparently derives from their small size -- they slide right down your gullet.
Those are called 'Slide Pots' or 'Slide Potentiometers' over here. :)
What some people don't realize is just how big some US distributors are. For instance: MCM took up a large part of an industrial park, back in the '80s. They have everything optimized for fast order picking, and empty tractor trailers sitting there waiting for the orders. The picked orders go directly to the regional hubs for each shipping service, not the local office. I used to deal with MCM on a weekly basis, when I lived in the area, about 25 years ago.. Sometimes I needed something that day, so I would make the 45 minute drive to use 'Will Call'. The order was always waiting at the front counter, and I would pass 20 to 30 trailers at their docks that were being loaded for UPS & USPS. Another reason I made that trip about once a month was to dig through the closeout items, and samples of things that never made their catalog. I found a lot of interesting & useful items that they felt wouldn't sell in large enough quantities to be worth their trouble.
Your order was likely at the airport within 45 minutes. :)
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