> 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.
I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. A trip to Radio Shack once in a blue moon was where I got a lot of my gadgets. Mail order from Heathkit was the other source. I wish now that I had bought their robot, dammit, but it was way too expensive for me. I spent all my money on a Radio Shack Color Computer and a floppy drive. ;/ Oh well. > 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. Is this a function of everything going online and brick-and-mortar stores just aren't needed? Or is electronics just not a hobby anymore? A few months ago, I read some article by an old school hacker saying that that hobbyists soldering parts together was a "phase" like the pet rock or hula hoops were a phase. At the time, I thought he was nuts. But jeebus, I'm not so sure anymore. Greg > 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
