Is there an RS outlet that differs from the "corner Radio Shack" store in the
UK?
It happens that there's a "RadioShack.com" store, coincidentally here in Denver,
and it seems to operate quite differently from the "corner Radio Shack."
They sell parts that seem to work properly, aren't blister-packed, and they
seem, most of the time, to have matching connector halves, pins and receptacles,
as well as the tools and materials needed to use them. It's really quite a
shop, though severely tainted by not only the Radio Shack name, but the product
lines as well. Whenever you need a PIC component, though, you can just go in
and hand them the money for it, as they've got 'em for the most part. They also
do an internet business and ship their parts, which means you, Tony, can order
from them, I do believe.
Their search engine leaves a little to be desired, however, so be prepared to
spend a little time with it until you find the "tricks" needed to get it to go
past the usual Radio Shack problem that the search engine doesn't know that you
might be able to use a 74F381 when you're searching for a 74AS381. You get the
picture ...
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tony Duell" <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2001 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: CPU design at the gate level
> > Good thing too as most of the surplus parts were off spec... I was burned
> > a few times back when.
>
> THere used to be a company in the UK who bought up rejected ICs., tested
> them, and sold them at seemingly low prices to hobbyists. There were only
> 2 problems
>
> 1) They would sell things like '7400, 75% good'. Meaning one defective
> gate in the package. They didn't tell you which one. And the 'good' gates
> tended to fail pretty quickly as well.
>
> 2) Their tester was based on telephone relays, uniselectors, and so on.
> It ran at 1Hz, and that's being generous. Many of their 'tested, 100%
> good' ICs failed at more sensible speeds.
>
> I had a lot of problems with their devices. When I started buying
> full-price TTL from RS components, etc, then I started having circuits
> that worked first time...
>
>
> -tony
>
>
Received on Sat Nov 03 2001 - 13:53:03 GMT