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Old 16th Jun 2020, 9:10 am   #41
vidjoman
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Default Re: RS Website

Early catalogues were only about 20-30 pages in total. I am talking 1950's here.
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Old 16th Jun 2020, 9:26 am   #42
barrymagrec
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Default Re: RS Website

Yes, I think my Dad still has a Radiospares catalogue from about 1958 no part numbers, just descriptions "min res 4.7k" type of thing. It wasn't much different in 1970, you had to give the part description and catalogue page number.
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Old 16th Jun 2020, 10:22 am   #43
tony brady
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it wasn't Dormer was it? or electrovalue?

I always went to RS first but changed over to Farnell in the early 80s as the local rep was really helpful with kitting and the catalogue generally seemed better
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Old 16th Jun 2020, 11:15 am   #44
tony brady
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I think it was Doram with the 'o' being the omega symbol
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Old 16th Jun 2020, 2:42 pm   #45
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Electromail? Doram (which became Cirkit) were, I think, independents.

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Old 16th Jun 2020, 5:42 pm   #46
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Default Re: RS Website

Went to order from RS today and found a new minimum order quantity specified and no free next day delivery available - abandoned the order.
CPC have increased their minimum order value to £17.50 otherwise a "Handling charge" is now imposed.

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Old 16th Jun 2020, 6:15 pm   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tony brady View Post
it wasn't Dormer was it? or electrovalue?
Doram for me too, as others have said.

Electrovalue were nothing to do with RS (though they did stock some RS items, as RS wouldn't supply to private individuals). Wound up as the founder, David Longland, wanted to retire and nobody wanted to buy his business, which is much missed
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Old 16th Jun 2020, 10:49 pm   #48
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Electromail were certainly RS. The catalogue was identical apart from the name on the front, and I think the prices were the same too. But anyone could order from them you didn't need a trade account.

Electrovalue were a totally different company.

I also remember being able to order from RS (this was after Electromail had come and gone) but they would not allow you to collect from a trade counter. No idea why not. I did ask them and they came up with some H&S stuff which made little sense (quite how it is safe to send me components through the post but dangerous for me to collect them from a trade counter is beyond me!)

Incidentallly, does the 'new' small order delivery charge apply if you collect from a trade counter? Or can you order 1 pack of resistors and have it sent to a trade counter for no extra fee?
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Old 17th Jun 2020, 12:52 am   #49
Boulevardier
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyDuell View Post
Incidentallly, does the 'new' small order delivery charge apply if you collect from a trade counter? Or can you order 1 pack of resistors and have it sent to a trade counter for no extra fee?
Good question, Tony! We have an RS trade counter somewhere in Bristol, so it would be useful to know.

Mike
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Old 17th Jun 2020, 1:35 pm   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boulevardier View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyDuell View Post
Incidentallly, does the 'new' small order delivery charge apply if you collect from a trade counter? Or can you order 1 pack of resistors and have it sent to a trade counter for no extra fee?
Good question, Tony! We have an RS trade counter somewhere in Bristol, so it would be useful to know.

Mike
It's in St. Philips. I've never used it in the 23 years I've lived here but I mail order from RS most months....
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Old 17th Jun 2020, 2:11 pm   #51
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Originally Posted by Station X View Post
At one time RS set up a subsidiary to cater for the hobbyist, but its name escapes me.
I have a vague memory it might have been Electrovalue.
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Old 17th Jun 2020, 4:01 pm   #52
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Originally Posted by Station X View Post
At one time RS set up a subsidiary to cater for the hobbyist, but its name escapes me.
Doram. With the O in the name stylistically replaced by an upper-case Omega on the catalogs etc.

I remember as a 5th-former studying O-levels also buying my first LED - a red TIL209 - from the Doram catalog then when it arrived _very_ nervously wiring it and its series-resistor across a PP3, and being delighted by the resultant red glow.

(A year or so later I was regularly placing £250 orders with RS for parts to build a piece of gear I'd designed - having persuaded my father to use his business to get me a 'trade account' with RS even though I was under-18).
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 12:17 am   #53
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I do recall once seeing a mail order trader apologising for no personal collection, something to do with them not having public liability insurance.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered some stuff from CPC one afternoon, standard second class mail as it wasn't needed urgently, and Royal Mail delivered it just after breakfast time the next day.
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 8:14 am   #54
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Back in the mid 70's I took a solid state theory course in the maths department at Southampton university. The was taught by the exceptionally charismatic Prof Peter Landsberg. He came in in a tatty academic gown "I wear it just to keep chalk dust off my suit" was his opening remark.

He then took out a small solar cell and an LED (probably from RS, so vaguely on topic) wired together, and you could just about see the feeble glow of the LED. "And that is basically what this course is about"

And launched into Bloch functions, reciprocal lattices and other topics I have forgotten to the extent I couldn't name them. He derived everything from first principles on the blackboard, and if he spotted that the small class (I think there were 16 of us) was dozing or just copying things out by rote, he'd build an error into an equation. Then follow it through until everything was a mess. "Ah - must have made a mistake. Can anyone spot where?"

A true charismatic academic titan, with interests from solid state through to cosmology and the nature of time. And who brought a solar cell and LED into the first lecture.

Craig
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 10:40 am   #55
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Back in the 60's my Dad used to bring home the Radiospares catalogue sometimes (he was head of the science dept at the local comprehensive). I used to read it from cover to cover - it probably was no more than a few dozen pages in those days. Here's a memento I have from then:
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 6:45 pm   #56
kalee20
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Looking at the solder (super photo, Keith!) I think the rebranding from Radiospares to RS Components took place in the early 1970's. Which would put the reel at a bit later than the 60's.

Someone correct me if wrong!
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Old 18th Jun 2020, 11:32 pm   #57
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Original Radiospares.
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Old 19th Jun 2020, 11:17 am   #58
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It's RS every time for me ... I opened a non-trade account with them when they were also known as Electrovalue (or something similar). When they closed that down, my account was conveniently transferred to RS. The free shipping on all orders is a new thing (last couple of years?)
I don't miss Maplin at all. I had one on my doorstep, however if you wanted three of anything you were stuffed because they never seemed to stock more than two of anything.
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Old 19th Jun 2020, 12:51 pm   #59
Craig Sawyers
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Maplin's slide into the history books of corporate failure was progressive and very sad. Around 20 years ago I bought Elna Cerafine electrolytics there, and also Eminence Kappa high power 15" bass guitar drive units. They progressively discontinued those and other superb products and went into things like radio control cars and drones and similar tat.

The multiple changes of hands between investors and private equity is detailed in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maplin_(retailer)

My preferred suppliers are RS, Farnell and Mouser. Second tier are Rapid and CPC.

Craig
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Old 19th Jun 2020, 6:00 pm   #60
duncanlowe
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When I was at 6th form, myself and a friend set up a kind of mini company, with a bank account, and managed to get a trade account with Farnell (otherwise you couldn't deal with them at all). If anyone else we knew wanted parts, we would order them and charge a small commission (very small and made clear). One person we knew used Maplin, when it was a mail order only (well apart from the shop in Rayleigh) and although they were cheaper on items they sold, they didn't have the range of products that Farnell had. To my mind, Maplin went the same way as Tandy. When they started to get physical shops they were useful for getting urgent bits and pieces. But the quality and range started to drop and prices went up, so people didn't buy components anymore, so they didn't stock them. Very ocaissonally they had online only prices that matched anyone else, so you could click and collect.

Where I worked until April we used to order from RS most days, sometimes several times a day. Yes they tend to be expensive (though not always) but we bought so much from them that we got a decent discount (though I was never told how much) and free next day by 10:00 delivery. They would even sometimes special order stuff for us apparently. I do remember our account was important enough to them, that we persuaded them to continue stocking a particular style of 4mm banana that we used hundreds of when they initially discontinued them. On some items, though, I couldn't stomach paying what they wanted even if we were getting discount. I needed a long HDMI lead, 10 or 15m kind of length. RS wanted something like £100. CPC £14. Not quite as bad as another company who willingly paid £90 each for 2 1.5m HDMI leads from PC-world.
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