This page is provided to enable members who want to buy or sell (or give away) items of electronic equipment or individual components to state their wants or give details of what they want to dispose of. It can also provide a forum for members to give their views about the service provided by component suppliers, which could by very helpful to other members, especially those with limited experience of the wide variety of such suppliers.
Rapid Electronics (Heckworth Close, Colchester, Essex, CO4 4TB) is a well established supplier whose prices are low and product quality good. They issue catalogues twice yearly, in April and October, and it is noticeable that their range seems to widen with each new issue. They do have a minimum order value of £10, and for orders below £30 a carriage charge of £2.50 + VAT is made. But BAEC member Brian Broad offers a buying service to other members who want just a small number of items, which he will obtain for them at cost plus postage. The Rapid catalogue is free to account customers; members who want a copy can get one direct from Rapid or from Brian at a cost of £3. Some time ago, in a letter to me, Arnold Exley wrote: "I have switched from Maplin to Rapid Electronics, and the saving has been enormous. Their delivery is as good as Maplin's (24 hour), and their telephone ordering is less hide-bound".
Brian Broad recently produced a new 11 page catalogue of components and equipment he can supply. In the preamble to the catalogue he says: "These are all brand new good quality end-of-line parts from a local electronics company. I keep my prices as low as possible in order to help BAEC members to build their projects at minimum cost". For example, PCB radial electrolytic capacitors from 0.47µF to 4700µF, 10V to 200V, 24 values, 1p to 60p; axial electrolytics from 2.2µF to 4700µF, 10V to 63V, 12 values, 1p to 22p. Equipment available includes two small DMMs at £10 and £18. If you would like a copy of his catalogue, write to him at: 20 Churchill Avenue, Hadleigh, Suffolk, IP7 6BT or ring 01473 823877.
Julian Hanson is a BAEC member who is setting up his own electronics business, and as he has contacts with many suppliers of electronic and mechanical equipment, he is prepared to get items from them for other members. If you are having difficulty in finding a supplier for something you particularly want, get in touch with him at Black Sword Systems, c/o Forward Design Technology, Moorview Business Park, 628 Leeds Road, Thackley, W. Yorks, BD10 8JH. He recently had a visit from a Maplin representative, and told him of the concern felt by amateur electronic enthusiasts about the high prices Maplin now charge for one-off components. He thinks it would be a good idea for BAEC members who feel this concern to write to him so that he can correlate the information and present it to the Maplin representative, who told him that it might be possible to negotiate some kind of discount for BAEC members.
Bill Dardy wants a valve communication receiver, working or not, condition not too important so long as it is complete, unless a manual is available. If you can supply one, write to W.E.Darby, Shebee, Trevarren, St. Columb, Cornwall, TR9 6PJ or ring him on 01726 860187.
Keith Law has started a clear out, and offers the following items either for a small charge or free for the cost of postage:
Amiga 500 motherboard only, all the plug-in ICs have gone. £2 to cover cost of postage.
Sinclair ZX81 motherboard, no case, otherwise complete. 50p for postage.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ - the one with the hard keys, no other bits with this. £2 for postage as it is rather heavy.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128+2 - the one with the built-in tape player. This comes with loads of stuff, including 30+ tapes, manual, PSU, all cables and a light gun to play with. I think this would cost around £7 to post, so if you want it I suggest you call me to discuss it.
Sinclair 128. This is a rare one with heatsink fins at the right hand side. It is in perfect condition but no extras are available. Postage £3.50 to £4.
Hewlett Packard 1Gb hard drive; it has been dropped and two pins on the connector were broken, but it may still work or be repairable. £2 to pack safely and post just in case it does work.
Alba satellite system model SAT300, separate receiver and decoder, with cables and remote control; just needs a dish. As this is in full working order and can be adapted to do all sorts of things I am asking £20 for it.
I have a PC 486 motherboard with a DX4/100 processor and cooling fan. I am not asking a lot for it, but I would like to hear what anyone would give me for it - or swap for it. I also have another motherboard with a Pentium 75MHz processor complete with heatsink and cooling fan, fully working, with manual (unusual, I know), and I am asking £40 for this.
All items include postage, and I am open to any offers to swap anything interesting. My address is 15 Norman Street, Dudley, W.Mids, DY2 8LU, tel. 01384 822632, or you can contact me at my Email address
miner@cableinet.co.uk
All the following items are available from me (H.F.Howard, 41 Thingwall Park, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 2AJ, tel. 0117 965819):
Mains operated Audio Signal Generator with sine, square and triangle wave outputs, four ranges covering 10Hz to 100KHz. This was constructed by a local member, using a Maplin PCB and it incorporates the 8038 frequency generator IC. It is offered for the cost of the components - £12 plus postage, and the proceeds of the sale will be given to the club funds.
Autona digital panel meter DVM314. Basic range -99mV to +999mV, 3 digit LED (digit height 0.43") in case with mains PSU and with plug-in temperature measuring unit. Can easily be adapted as a multimeter; full details available for this. £5 plus postage.
Electric desoldering tool. This is a combined soldering iron and desoldering pump which allows one handed operation when desoldering components - the bit is hollow. £8 plus postage (Rapid Electronic's price is £18.68).
I still have three ZVN4434A MOSFETs as used in the PIR detector described in EPE last year. Any member who wants one can have one from me for 80p including postage.
The following items are offered free for the cost of postage: PXFox 10 turn helipot 50K, Reliance ditto 5K, Spectral precision 10 turn pot 100K (2 available), 10 turn dial.
For any valve enthusiasts, the following are available: 6V6, 6V6G/GT, 6X4, 6B8, 6Y3G, ECF80, ECC81, ECC82 (2), EF86, W17 (=DF91), ZD17 (=DAF91) - and if you want a valve holder I can supply almost any type, from 4/5 pin through octal B7 and B9. A specialist mail order supplier of valves and associated components and vintage radio components is Kenzen, Unit 9, 16-20 George Street, Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12 9RG, tel. 0121 4464346. They rarely advertise in electronic magazines, but will supply leaflets listing their stock for a S.A.E.
Also available from me: Radio Valve Data 9th Edition 1970, listing characteristics of 3000 valves, and 10th edition listing 1000 valves. Both also include details of transistors and ICs in use at the time.