lead-free solder

[Gordon JC Pearce]

On Fri, 2007-10-05 at 23:31 +0100, Tony Duell wrote:

> Maplin have really gone away from the hobbyist electronic market towards 
> PC-clone modules, cinsumer electronics, etc. Gone are the days when you 
> could go to the enarest Maplin in your lunchbreak to get the bits needed 
> for the afternoon's hardware hacking. In fact these days, even if it's in 
> the catalogue, there's a good chance it won't be in the shop. Most 
> interesting items are 'order only'

I've started just buying components from suppliers on eBay.  Case in
point was a couple of months ago when I needed an LM723 regulator chip
for the power supply in a synthesizer - Maplin listed them, but for
about £2 and "online order only", with a lead time of two weeks.

I bought a tube of 10 for a fiver including shipping, from someone on
eBay.  It arrived within four days.

Gordon