Date : Sat, 10 Dec 2005 14:51:28 +0000
From : "Ian Wolstenholme" <BBCMailingList@...>
Subject: Re: Vanishing electronics suppliers
I would highly recommend CJE Micros for all things Beeb which are
hard to find anywhere else. Agreed that they are a bit pricy for
some of the more common things you might find on E-Bay or by
paying a visit to your old Headmaster but they are an invaluable
source for items you might only find once in a dream on E-Bay. I use
them for lots of Econet spares, clocks, socket boxes, terminators, etc
and in the last two or three years I have bought the following items
from them:
Master AIV SCSI interface board x 2
New SJ Research Econet Bridge
New Acorn A4 PSU
Original Acorn VFS ROM
Acorn A4 Econet interface
New Acorn 1770 disc upgrade kit
etc etc
In fact the whole reason I got started on Domesday in the first
place was because I saw the 2 SCSI boards for sale on their website
one day and thought, "Hmm... that looks interesting, I wonder if I
can build my own Domesday Machine?"......
Best wishes,
Ian
----- Original Message -----
From: A. J. Davis
To: BBC Micro Mailing List <bbc-micro@...>
Sent: Thu, 08 Dec 2005 15:53:14 +0000
Subject: Re: [BBC-Micro] Vanishing electronics suppliers
Jonathan Graham Harston wrote:
> Has anybody else noticed how difficult it is getting to obtain
> electronics supplies? I've just been to Bardwell's in Sheffield
> for some bits. I bought the last 8m of 34-way ribbon cable, and
> they had no 34-way IDC headers. "We're not going to get any more
> in" they said. "There's no business in electronics" they said.
>
> I could understand if they were geing undercut by the likes of
> Maplin, but Maplin - if they actually stock the parts - are more
> expensive.
>
> 34-way IDE header at Maplin: `1.92. Last time Bardwell's had them
> they were about `1.20.
>
> Maplin don't do PCB-mounted IDC plugs, Molex pins, various
> 74-series ICs. In fact, most of the bits I need for the IDE
> interface.
>
> My only alternative now is online ordering from places like
> Farnell, which require a credit card, which I don't have and won't
> get.
>
> And I've just used the last of my BBC power plugs. I haven't seen
> them for sale anywhere for yonks. On my equipment I have replaced
> the power connector with a 9-pin D connector with Torch pinouts,
> but I can't supply hardware to other people and specify that they
> modify their PSUs before using it.
>
> What on *earth* possessed Acorn to use that connector on the PSU?
>
Being from Sheffield, I was a regular at Bardwell's during the 80's,
particularly for BBC stuff. I remember buying several Beeb power
connectors for around 40p each (empty shells only, the pins were an
extra 2p each!). I got the same response as you late last year when
putting a 3.5" drive on my Master.
I think Colin McDougall, a poster on the STH forums, found this place
still selling them:
http://www.cjemicros.co.uk/micros/individual/prodpages/VAR-BBCFPC.shtml
#5 EACH though! Have a browse through the rest of their stuff for a
good laugh!