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s u l p r u S a s e i c e i p & n s t i b t a e g Mweb sites for hard-to Hot If you love searching out obscure parts at the cheapest prices, try buying surplus and distress stock components! You’ll find lots of goodies at various web sites on the Internet. One of the best things about being interested in electron­ ics and other technologies is finding the bargains – those bits and pieces that others see as junk but which to you open up a whole new world of possibilities. But besides haunting garage sales and secondhand stores, where else can you find the good gear? 4  Silicon Chip By ADRIAN CUESTA The are lots of companies specialising in the good bits, both in Australia and overseas. And while buying from overseas used to be difficult, that’s no longer the case. What’s more, you can easily browse the catalogs of the overseas companies via the Internet. Most of the o/s companies also have printed catalogs available that can be sent to you for quite reasonable sums. In no particular order, here are the best surplus companies that I’ve found on the Internet: (1) Vorlac Industries & Rockby Electronics If you don’t know about these guys, boy are you ever miss­ing out! Both businesses are at the same location and have the same contact numbers, but Vorlac specialises more in discrete electronic components while Rockby has larger bits and pieces. A couple of things make these companies stand out from the crowd: they’re right here in Australia, they have a good range, and they are CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP! OK, so that’s three things. Once you are on their mailing list, they send out a spe­ cials flyer every couple of months. In it are components such as PROMs, op amps, power transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors and the like. The stock changes each time and it’s all brand new, original packaged stuff. But what I like is the range of weird and wonderful parts that pop up – odd-sized cable ties, square rubber equipment feet, crocodile-clip test jumper leads, magnetic card readers, a laser diode module and so on. Postage costs $7 for up to 3kg ($5.50 within Victoria). The easiest way to reduce that is to pitch in with some mates and put everyone’s order under the one address. I’ve been buying from these companies for 12 months and everything has been as good as they state. It’s the only place where you can spend $30 or so and get a box of genuinely exciting stuff home-delivered to your door. Very highly recommended. Address: 261 Huntingdale Rd, Huntingdale, Vic, 3166. Phone: (03) 9562 8559  Fax: (03) 9562 8772 Internet: http://www.rocom.com.au; http://www.vorlac.com.au if you’re after a brand new, never-used Collins 20-pole lever switch from an ancient receiver, $US25 may well seem cheap. Address: 1502 Jones Street, Omaha, Nebraska, 68102, USA. Phone: 0011 1 402 346 4750  Fax: 0011 1 402 346 2939 Internet: www.surplusales.com (2) Surplus Sales of Nebraska (3) Surplus Traders Doesn’t that name just roll off the tongue? And their cata­log just about rolls the postman’s bike to a standstill! Costing $US10 delivered by airmail to Australia, their 400page catalog is well worth the money. It lists an enormous range of electrical and electronic components but it’s not your everyday 1990s type stuff. No sir; if you’re over 50 and/or you like vintage radio, this one’s for you! There are literally hundreds of valves, huge RF variable capacitors (some 38cm long!), RF coils wound from 10- gauge sil­ver-plated wire, and rotary ceramic switches capable of handling 15kV and 30 amps. In the range of power supplies there are anci­ent units capable of supplying (from the US 115 volts AC mains) 0-36 volts DC and 50-300 volts DC. And there are vibrators work­ing from either 6V or 27.5V DC. There are also strange meters, such as a 0-50A DC Westing­house “nuclear meter” and an 87mm meter that is calibrated 0-180 seconds with a full scale deflection of 30V DC. There are sole­noids and connectors, relays and robots – a vast array of the weird and wonderful. The stock leans towards brand new equipment from the last 50 years but has a sprinkling of late-model equip­ment. Thirteen pages are devoted to Collins communications equip­ment parts and accessories. As far as I can determine, these parts are not generally available from other sources. The prices seem to me to be on the high side but This company has a huge catalog available on the Internet but, unlike other companies, generally has parts available only in bulk quantities. Three million comic books at three cents each is one deal that I remember well! From this example, you can see that it’s not just electron­ ic components that this company sells. And thankfully, you don’t have to buy in such huge quantities! Often you need buy only 10 units, a number which can be quite achievable – especially if you have a few mates interested in the same sort of things that you are. The parts that pop up are incredibly varied – from Bosch automotive relays for a GM car (13,000 available at $US1.50 each in lots of 500) to a single used Blood Gas Analyser in good condition for $US1500. And there’s almost everything in between! Discovering whether or not Surplus Traders have (or will have) what you want is eased by a number of factors: (1) they have an inbuilt search engine at their web site; (2) the site is very well organised and indexed; and (3) you can add your e-mail address to an “interest list”. Doing the latter means that you will be automatically e-mailed details on the products that become available in those categories. And don’t worry that you will drown in e-mail – I added myself to more than 20 different categories and receive notification of 5-10 new products about once a fortnight. The prices vary enormously, being cheapest for bulk spe­ cials. In fact, some of these are real eye-openers. Even with the price in US dollars, sometimes the money being asked is something like one-quarter of local retail. Me? – I’m waiting for some EFI injectors or automotive MAP sensors to come up. I’ll buy 500 of them and make a killing! Address: PO Box 276, Alburg, VT, 05440, USA Phone: 0011 1 514 739 9328  Fax: 0011 1 514 345 8303 Internet: http://www.73.com/a February 1998  5 that are mostly science-based. Prices seem quite good and the collection varies from feeder kits for squirrels to Peltier heat pumps. Address: 3605 W. Howard St, Skokie, IL, 60076, USA. Phone: 0011 1 847 982 0874  Fax: 0011 1 800 934 0722 Internet: http://www.sciplus.com (6) Marlin P. Jones & Associates Inc (4) Oatley Electronics If you read their ads in this magazine, then you already have a pretty good idea of what Oatley Electronics sell. The real benefit of checking out their web site is that they also have a “Bargain Corner” where they list lots of components and products that are available only in small quantities – too small to adver­tise in the magazine. At the time of writing, “Bargain Corner” bits and pieces included 50 used 4.7nF 3kV ceramic disc capacitors for $9, 10 mini dynamic 8-ohm loudspeakers for $2, replacement fridge ther­mostats for $8 each, and 10 TAA611B audio amplifier 1 watt ICs for $15. As you can see, the prices are very competitive! Address: PO Box 89, Oatley, NSW 2223. Phone: 02 9584 3563 Fax: 02 9584 3561 Internet: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~oatley (5) American Science & Surplus This company is the ideal place to look if you’re a school science teacher – or doting grandparent. While there are quite a few surplus products like fans, motors and other products (not too many components, though), the real strength of this company lies in their wide collection of weird and wonderful toys and experiments 6  Silicon Chip This company has a very well presented Web site with a wide range of kits, components and equipment. The kits range from computer trainer/programmer items through to audio gear, alarms, games and sound generators. The company is very much like one of the larger Australian electronic stores in the range and prices. MPJA will probably have a full catalog on-line by the time you read this and should then be worth a close look. Phone: 0011 1 561 848 8236  Fax: 0011 1 561 844 8764 Internet: http://www.mpja.com (7) Gateway Electronics, Inc Gateway are well worth checking out. You’ll find video cameras and monitors, Peltier junction coolers, LCD display panels, lights, microphones, motion detectors and other such pro­ducts. The subheadings on their contents page include amateur radio and small motors. They also have a section devoted to speciality multi-pin connectors – those dedicated multi-pin connectors that you find on car audio, CBs and ham equipment. They’re often impossible to get through normal avenues but Gateway has a wide range avail­able. Prices are good. Address: 8123 Page Blvd, St Louis, MO 63130. Phone: 0011 1 314 427 6116  Fax: 0011 1 314 427 3147 Internet: http://gatewayelex.com (8) Hi-Tech Surplus Protect Your Valuable Issues Silicon Chip Binders REAL VALUE AT This company has very few single parts listed. In­stead, they specialise in assemblies and sub-assemblies. For my money, the best products are the electro­ mechanical interfaces. Anyone trying to get an electronic circuit or a computer to actually do something in the real world needs input sensors and output actuators. After all, how do you get your robot to do anything if there aren’t any motors, arms or bellcranks available? In the robotics/automation category, Hi-Tech Surplus list the following sub-headings: (1) Controllers; (2) Linear Equip­ment; (3) Miscellaneous; (4) Motors; (5) PLC Items; (6) Robots; and (7) Sensors. $12.95 PLUS P &P ★ Hold up to 14 issues (12 issues plus catalogs) ★ 80mm internal width. ★ SILICON CHIP logo printed in goldcoloured lettering on the spine & cover. Just fill in & mail this handy order form; or fax (02) 9979 6503; or ring (02) 9979 5644 & quote your credit card number. Yes! Please send me ______ SILICON CHIP binder(s) at $A17.95 each (incl. postage). Australia only; not available elsewhere. Enclosed is my cheque/money order for $­______ or please debit my ❏ Bankcard   ❏ Visa Card   ❏ Master Card Card No. Signature­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________ Card expiry date___/___ Name ___________________________________ Street ____________________________________ Suburb/town _________________ Postcode______ SILICON CHIP PUBLICATIONS PO Box 139, Collaroy, NSW 2097 Phone (02) 9979 5644 Fax: (02) 9979 6503. ✂ Typical of Hi-Tech Surplus’s products is a robot arm that has about 12mm of vertical movement, continuous rotation and a weight of 7.5kg. It costs $US55 in used form. Under the Controllers category, there are temperature, pressure and flow controllers. An example is a “Blue M Electric STAT 1900” temperature controller that uses J, K or T thermocou­ples, has a 4-digit display and a time proportioning PID with an SSR (solid-state relay?) driver. It’s new and costs $40. There is also a wide range of other subject headings (audio, video, manufacturing, RF, test equipment, power supplies and others) that lead you to the sub-category that you’re inter­ested in. A good range of motors and associated equipment is also listed, including: AC Motors; AC Motor Capacitors; Brushless DC Motors; DC Motors; Motor Controllers/ Drivers; and Stepper Motors. The prices seem to be quite reasonable. Address: 605 East 44th Street, Boise, Idaho, 83714, USA. Phone: 0011 1 208 375 7516;  Fax: 0011 1 208 375 6571 Internet: http://hitechsurplus.com February 1998  7