Peter,
Would be nice if NZ Credit Cards were widely accepted to
:)
I don't hold one, usually try and make O/S transactions via
EFT
but on occasion I have had access to a company CC and it
has
been declined because its not internationally
recognized.
As far as DSE and the likes go, these businesses hire
SALES
people to fulfil a semi technical position, I have seen more
than
my share of them handling static sensitive IC's without using
any
static protection at all.
The other problem we have over here is that whenever we try
and
purchase product from the US we are met with comments
like
"Contact out Australasion Agent" then we do so and
they inform
us that either the minimum qty is a whole tube (and they
don't
supply samples), or "sorry we don't carry
that".
And YES I would leave if I had half the chance :)
Still could be worse, McDonalds could start
selling Chips.
Anyone want to swap some Sheep Photos for a
selection of
Panasonic 1381 Voltage
Triggers :)
Regards
Andrew
rom: Jinx <joecolquitt@CLEAR.NET.NZ>
Subject:
Re: [OT]Re: Price and availability of PIC parts
This is a
RANT
>------------------------
> The problem for New
Zealanders wanting to get Nat Semi
>The positon with NS at the
moment is -- Avnet are the "official"
rep for NS, they also do
Microchip, Motorola, OKI, Seiko, and many
<snip>
charge you
4 times the price for micros or RAM. Retail stores
like Dick Smith or
Jaycar just don't have those sort of components
and besides, I wouldn't
trust half the staff there to sit the right way
around on a toilet. My
last last last resort is a Dick Smith store.
>
I don't want
to go complaining about every component rep I've had
the rough end of the
pineapple from. Suffice it to say I think some
of their policies are not
helpful to developers. I'm reluctant to try
new designs as I know the
sort of trouble I'm going to get in trying
to find a sample. So often I
don't bother, or patch something up out
my money for them. And of course
I'm not going back for a larger
quantity if I can't get experimental
samples in the first place.
> Ah well, thats progress for
you.
Progress as defined by the bean-counters maybe
>----------------
You know this
type of complaining really gets to me!
By being on this list YOU are
face to face with the exponentially increasing explosion in knowledge
happening today. Yet you want the world in new Zealand to stay as it was in
the 1960's with a fully equiped DSE/Jaycar down the street with 104
monoblocks in a choice of .1" or .2" pitch. Get real. If you want
to live in a backwater for electronic hardware development then accept that
there is an increasing cost. Kids today are not going into electronics as
they did in the 1960's - they are playing Quake.
Think
'world'.
Do as I do.
1. Buy from the USA for ICs in bulk. Here
are the places:
start with:
http://www.semiresources.com/
ic
makers then find distributors
I
use:
http://www.nuhorizons.com/
http://www.digikey.com/
http://www.arrow.com/
http://www.future.ca/
http://www.future.ca/1033/fai/
http://www.marshall.com/
http://www.hh.avnet.com/parts_master/query.html
http://www.ied.pios.com/
I
have my credit card with 2 of them. I email and the goods come UPS, FedEx,
DHL.
No, dont complain to me about the high cost of couriers. You get
your goods in 3 days almost guaranteed. Post offics - 3-4 weeks for
'Airmail'.
2. For IC samples: cultivate some friends in the USA
with picture books of NZ sheep, yacht races and Queenstown mountains in
return for samples as requested.
3. For small numbers of passive
components: yes this is a problem. Here is Hong Kong everything is available
just 300 yards away (Apliu St, Sham Shui Po.) I think I will start to offer
components again for sale. Payment in $US cash currency notes sent to me.
More on that later.
Rant
finished......
regards,
Peter Crowcroft
DIY Electronics
(HK) Ltd
PO Box 88458, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong
Voice: 852-2720 0255
Fax: 852-2725 0610 Email: peter@kitsrus.com
Web:
http://kitsrus.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------