Greg London wrote: > You Do It Electronics doesnt carry Zero Force Insertion sockets.
That's disappointing. That would be the first place I'd think to look. > is there a place that does? digikey has them, but I dont > want to pay shipping for a single part. And if there is a local store > that carries that level of parts, I would like to put it on my list > of places to visit. The local retail outlets for things like that have pretty much dried up. Once upon a time there used to be a few surplus stores in Cambridge (Unitech for a short while, and Eli Heferon's for decades), but they're gone. At one time there was a small chain of electronics stores aimed at high-end hobbyists and professionals called Active Electronics. (They had a store in Woburn I think.) They got bought up and renamed Future-Active and turned into a more typical wholesale distributor. Micro Center has a small smattering of electronic components, but I doubt you'll find a ZIF socket there. And while this is something you'd probably find at Radio Shack 20 years ago, as I'm sure you know, they have a pretty limited stock of components now. Unless I'm mistaken it would seem the only local option is to order from a national distributor with a local warehouse and sales office presence, like Newark, Gerber, Allied, etc. and hope they've become friendlier to non-industrial users. (Most of these companies now let you order online with a credit card and don't require a formal account, so it's possible.) Call them up and see if they'll take a pick-up order paid by credit card. They'll probably charge 20 to 40% more than DigiKey. I'd certainly be interested to know if there are alternatives. With a sizable concentration of electronics and robotics R&D happening around here, there certainly should be enough of a customer base to support several stores like Y-D-I Electronics. -Tom _______________________________________________ Hardwarehacking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking
