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Long live American Science and Surplus

milwaukeerecord.com

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Re: Long live American Science and Surplus

#21

Post by blooalien »

We used to have the most amazing little electronics store a lot like this called "Ra-Elco" in SLC, Utah, but specifically devoted to every wild bit of electronics you could imagine, ranging from individual little components of every sort all the way up to weird esoteric devices nobody's ever heard of (at least there were a lot I'd never seen before). Totally love these kinda shoppes, and I truly wish they weren't such a dying breed. :(

Re: Long live American Science and Surplus

#22

Post by bluGill »

MaDeuce wrote: post #16

These were my go-to guys for sciencey stocking stuffers at Christmas for my kids. Their catalog was always a joy to read, with excellent puns. Like the guy who wrote the linked article, a GoFundMe for a for-profit enterprise rubs me the wrong way. However, I just donated because of all the great memories they've provided me and my kids. Seems like those of us that like these things may need to pitch in from time to t…

Lindsay retired. Not quite the same. I still miss them though, many interesting books and well currated

Re: Long live American Science and Surplus

#24

Post by RickS »

Oof, i'll be donating big to help out. My partner's from here and i visited for the first time last year. Its fantastic. Half kitschy weird science stuff, but half genuinely fantastic maker materials at great prices. Salvaged air pumps, motors from GMC electric seats, super high load bearings, all kinds of stuff that is at the intersection of obscure, extremely useful, and difficult to get on Amazon, especially at a reasonable price or small quantity.

Anyone from the area should check it out.

Re: Long live American Science and Surplus

#25

Post by JKCalhoun »

MaDeuce wrote: post #16

These were my go-to guys for sciencey stocking stuffers at Christmas for my kids. Their catalog was always a joy to read, with excellent puns. Like the guy who wrote the linked article, a GoFundMe for a for-profit enterprise rubs me the wrong way. However, I just donated because of all the great memories they've provided me and my kids. Seems like those of us that like these things may need to pitch in from time to t…

Scored a lot of Lindsay's books when you still could (lot of build-your-own regenerative receivers and similar, reprints of "The Boy Mechanic", "5 Acres and Independence", etc.).

I would suspect (hope) many have been "archived" at "the org".

(EDIT: I see for example "The Impoverished Radio Experimenter Vol. 4": https://archive.org/details/impoverishedradi0000lind/mode/2u...)

Re: Long live American Science and Surplus

#26

Post by luyu_wu »

cmcconomy wrote: post #19

There used to be a place much like this in Toronto called Active Surplus. Sadly got kicked out as rents rose on Queen Street. RIP https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6495767,-79.3925583,3a,77.4y...

From what I know it still exists further out of the city. I have a friend who picked up quite large amount of scientific equipment. Might be a similar store with a different name though.

Re: Long live American Science and Surplus

#28

Post by tdeck »

blooalien wrote: post #21

We used to have the most amazing little electronics store a lot like this called "Ra-Elco" in SLC, Utah, but specifically devoted to every wild bit of electronics you could imagine, ranging from individual little components of every sort all the way up to weird esoteric devices nobody's ever heard of (at least there were a lot I'd never seen before). Totally love these kinda shoppes, and I truly wish they weren't suc…

I like these places too but I can see why they are dying. The number of SKUs people want has exploded and the cost competition from buying online is unreal. Recently I needed a motor driver in a hurry (a4988 or equivalent) and decided to visit my local electronics shop. They wanted $9 for it (plus tax), which I was willing to pay, but were out of stock. So I went home and found a 5 pack of the exact same part for about $10, shipped from the US.

The reality is that with these electronics things it's not just 20 or 30% cheaper to buy online, it's often 1/10 the price or better. I can order a 10 pack of pin headers for $1-2 from China and each of those headers costs 50c at my local shop.

Re: Long live American Science and Surplus

#29

Post by 0_____0 »

tdeck wrote: post #28
blooalien wrote: post #21

We used to have the most amazing little electronics store a lot like this called "Ra-Elco" in SLC, Utah, but specifically devoted to every wild bit of electronics you could imagine, ranging from individual little components of every sort all the way up to weird esoteric devices nobody's ever heard of (at least there were a lot I'd never seen before). Totally love these kinda shoppes, and I truly wish they weren't suc…

I like these places too but I can see why they are dying. The number of SKUs people want has exploded and the cost competition from buying online is unreal. Recently I needed a motor driver in a hurry (a4988 or equivalent) and decided to visit my local electronics shop. They wanted $9 for it (plus tax), which I was willing to pay, but were out of stock. So I went home and found a 5 pack of the exact same part for abo…

This is a benefit of having ultra dense industry specific zones like the Shenzhen SEZ. Physical vendors get the volume to warrant operating and reasonable pricing, buyers get components on short notice.

Suburbanization set up the US for failure here, and the governments haven't bothered intentionally creating any equivalent of Shenzhen. Santa Clara county used to be the spot, and I'd regularly pick up quickturn PCBs in person. Still can, but if you're in SF you're probably going to wait for next day shipping unless it's super super important, in which case it could come from any domestic CM.

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