Why does "66m" translate to "Belfast?"
I'm in.

Quote from: Paul Perry (Frostwave) on March 03, 2007, 05:15:58 AM
That Google translator is just TOO good sometime... chasing those transistors, I got:

"PNP possession of a kid on the trip
18V125MA125MW音频放大18V125MA125MW audio amplification" 

Urg fluck muck ick son...

 Heh- hence the "Good luck" and "for now" comments. Wait til ya try to buy a small quantity... that'll be interesting...

Also, good luck finding that Hong Kong mom&pop without a plane ticket.

Sorry for being negative here. It's a noble idea. It's just that I've tried this sort of thing before... Reminds me of those "But we only care about BIG business"  commercials.

If only there were a Chinese version of Mouser... Or better yet, Smallpanda.

I do not know what kind of chinese goods are imported in your countries, but in mine most chinese stuff is of poor quality. From home electronics to toys to clothes to etc., regardless the brand or price.  "Y... es chino" ("well, it's chinese"... risky) it a new phrase in my country.
I doubt that chinese products shipped to the USA/Europe are of the same quality than those sent to Latin America. Most likely that those products that do not satisfy a certain quality standard and therefore cannot be shipped to USA/EU are traded somewhere else.
After all, my family does the same thing when sending wheat and meat to USA/EU and to China or Africa, and when shipping leather to Italy or China... payback...

Anyway, if you had good results with these ge I hope the chinese guy processing my order has zero geopolitical & geography knowledge.

mac

 Heh, it's just like R.G. said- if the demand is for very inexpensive goods, the quality suffers. Sometimes this does not hold true however, like in Chinese guitars for instance it's possible to get a great instrument for under $100.00, but if ya want a stereo for the same price, you'll get junk. The Chinese are quite capable of producing high quality goods(who here does not own of want any Behringer non-pedal products?), but they can't do it for free... And face it, they already beat anybody's price anywhere no matter what level of quality you're talking about. If ya want them to pay their workers a fair wage or get serious with environmental regulations, prepare to sacrifice all those bargains. The reason for the low prices is the fact that right now they can do things that no other country on earth can at the moment. Including deliberately de-valuing their own currency on the global scale... not fair trade practices, but saves us all some coin.

The goods shipped to US are forced to meet a whole bunch of safety standards, none of which have anything to do with quality... It's ok if it only works for 30 minutes, as long as the insurance companies approve. The reason why the quality is relatively high might have to do with competion- why buy something known not to hold up when XXX has a good track record for not much more...? It's the gigantic size of the market that makes the difference... there's always someone else selling an equivalent. But, if foreign goods get a bad reputaion, there are always domestic alternatives. For instance, we have LOTS of leather, so who wouldn't buy leather based on both price and quality? If the South American leather that shows up here is good stuff, at a good price, we buy more. If it's no better than we can get round the corner, we just go round the corner and buy domestic. Simple as that.

Remember, not too long ago this whole quality myth was being focused at Japan, for almost exactly the same reasons. Now, through track record and looking through the lens of history(and because the bargains are gone), Japanese = good stuff.

QuoteAfter all, my family does the same thing when sending wheat and meat to USA/EU

Whoa, we import wheat and meat? I can honestly tell you that those 2 products are something we have IN ABUNDANCE. To the point where the farmers are forced sometimes to NOT sell their produce, but pile it up high to rot(everytime I think of all the folks who don't have enough to eat this makes me sick!), just to keep food prices high enough that they can survive. To import more is... well it must be good stuff, or there'd be no imaginable reason. No wonder ya send the good stuff to us... just goes to prove my point. If ya wanna sell ice to eskimos, it better be good ice. Really good ice.

Do you have any idea how much wheat and meat we EXPORT? Mind boggling...

Quote from: mac on March 03, 2007, 12:22:35 PM
I do not know what kind of chinese goods are imported in your countries, but in mine most chinese stuff is of poor quality.

Sure, like all those Ipods
Actually, now I think about it.......they ARE crap! The girls next door gave me a broken U2 special edition the other day.

Quote from: Paul Perry (Frostwave) on March 03, 2007, 06:03:29 PM

Quote from: mac on March 03, 2007, 12:22:35 PM
I do not know what kind of chinese goods are imported in your countries, but in mine most chinese stuff is of poor quality.

Sure, like all those Ipods
Actually, now I think about it.......they ARE crap! The girls next door gave me a broken U2 special edition the other day.

Yes they are a bit suspect (especially the display) - I know from experience, but I think that's due to poor design - and who designed 'em?

Quote from: Meanderthal on March 03, 2007, 08:59:33 AM
Heh- hence the "Good luck" and "for now" comments. Wait til ya try to buy a small quantity... that'll be interesting...

I can buy in any quantity, from 1 to tens of thousands, and can ship to the US or Europe. Of course for small quantities shipping is proportionally expensive...if someone wants to setup a group buy and distribute the individual quantities domestically, though, I'd be happy to help.

 That would be absolutely wonderful!

Those 3BX31C (NPN) are what would interest me... but I'm sure others would probably want some of the 3AX85A (NKT-275 equivalent)...

I would be interested

i'm interested on those NPN too.

mac

i'm also interested in NPN

I'll go to the market tomorrow (Monday) for prices, pics, and possibly specs. I usually buy the blue-dot 80-120Hfe 3BX31C, which averages 90hFE and very low leakage. There are also 120-180, 180-270, and 270-400 bins, but I'm not sure of the availability. There is also an NPN version of the 3AX85A (NKT-275 equivalent) called 3BX85A that may have mojo-by-association.

For reference:
3AX85A
1st digit: 2=diode, 3=transistor
2nd digit: A=Ge PNP, B=Ge NPN, C=Si PNP, D=Si NPN
3rd digit: U=photocell, K=switch, X=low-freq/low-power, G=high-freq/low-power, D=low-freq/high-power, A=high-freq/high-power
4/5th digit: model #

Angryrobot, definately look into prices and availablity for everything.  I am 100% interested.  If anyone is interested in getting some of that website, I can ask my friend to translate for us and handle email communication.  Lets make this work.

Also, my friend's parents live in Hong Kong, so if the company wont ship to the states or overseas, I can have him place the order to deliver to hsi parents, his parents will mail to him, he will hand to me, and I can distrubute if need be.

Joe

Put me down for a fist full. That's a technical measurement.

Ron

Angryrobot, you are a prize sent by Gods.

Unfortunately, my experience is that freight is quite expensive from China.  Could we get some large bundles out of the country, then distribute from there.  I wonder if Small Bear would be interested?

PS On the subject of China.  The general weirdness about China continues to appear on this forum.  I wonder if the jibes at Chinese components and pedals are like the jibes that people make about the American auto industry (and especially "Hardley Drivables").  Maybe there's a little envy involved? 

Angryrobot - nice idea, I'm absolutely in for several "fistfulls"  !!
I'd be happy to procure a bunch for the "UK" guys and distribute for cost and postage from
this end .
Keep us informed about this possibility ?
The NKT275 equiv and NPN equiv look like a VERY cool idea

MM.

QuotePS On the subject of China.  The general weirdness about China continues to appear on this forum.  I wonder if the jibes at Chinese components and pedals are like the jibes that people make about the American auto industry (and especially "Hardley Drivables").  Maybe there's a little envy involved?

Or maybe the jokes echo the truth. Chinese made stuff has a reputation for poor durability and quality, and Im sure the American auto industry has its own reputation (which I am unaware of   ). Exceptions and rules.

Quality control and the like is far better in China than it was even six or seven years ago. I've got a couple of recent chinese made budget guitars and they are excellent for the money.

I'd give them a bash, but I'd only want a few.