RG-62/u Cable and Cap Sources

[Steve Harrison]

At 12:14 PM 1999-12-15 -0500, Bob Carner wrote:
>        I'm surprised that no one out there deals with Newark Electronics.

I have, both personally and at work.

> They stock an incredible amount of stuff.

That's true. They even have high-voltage feedthrough caps like the ones in
all the final cages of Heaths :o)))))

>They're a little higher priced, but at least they have what you need.

Actually, for some items, they're a bit CHEAPER than DigiKey or Mouser. But
for general run-of-the-mill things, they're usually higher than anybody
else, even my local store. And no, they do NOT always have what's in the
catalog. It wasn't unusual for us to hear that delivery wouldn't be for a
month or 6 weeks; that CAN'T be "off the shelf". They have also made
serious mistakes such as assigning their own part numbers to several items.
For example:

We used to buy the Power One MAP-4000 switching power supply by the gross;
nobody else had it in stock for immediate shipment. But we'd have to make
certain that our own Purchase Agent actually described the item by the
Power One part number because Newark also assigned their own part number
for the MAP-4000, whatever it was, to a very expensive GE high-current
contactor. Three different times over two years, we received a gross of the
contactors instead of the power supplies. The first two times, Newark's
billing department didn't catch the problem even after we'd finally
received the correct power supplies several weeks later, and we continued
to get bills for the already-returned contactors for several weeks AFTER
the bills for the correct power supplies; the contactors were several
hundred bux more than the supplies so it was a big deal to our accounting
girl. An unusual situation; but I did run across still another part whose
Newark P/N was doubly-assigned, too.

>Their catalog prices NEVER match what the price is when you call! But
their catalog is >just under 1500 pages!

I don't remember ever paying anything EXCEPT the catalog price, unless they
increased the price due to supplier price increases.

Recently, on a Monday morning, I ordered a Weller soldering iron heating
element. They said it was in stock and would ship via UPS Ground COD, I
should have it by Thursday. Come Thursday.. zilch. Friday: zilch. Monday..
Tuesday.. Wednesday... finally I call them again on Thursday when I receive
a letter thanking me for my first personal order to Newark; they'd
obviously logged the order instead of round-filing it as I feared. "Oh yes,
here's your order right here. Yes, it will ship tomorrow from our warehouse
in Raleigh, North Carolina. Thank you for calling Newark!".

Goes by the rest of that week. Then Monday: zilch. Tuesday...sameo.
Wednesday, I'm getting a little peeved. "Oh yes, there was a hangup at the
warehouse; it will ship today, you should have it by Friday. Thank you for
ordering from Newark!". Huh, have it by the day after tomorrow, UPS Ground,
even from Raleigh to Massachusetts? I should have caught that, I suppose.

Friday, there's UPS at the door. With my soldering iron element. SHIPPED
NEXT-DAY-AIR. AT MY EXPENSE, despite their previous assurances of
UPS-Ground-COD. Gritting my teeth and knowing that I can't do ANYTHING
without that dang heating element, I pay the shipping charge which was
$27.88; the iron element was only $26.63 including tax.
Grindteethgrindteethgrindteeth.

For about $70, I could have bought a whole new iron handle replacement from
virtually anywhere. It'll be a cold day in Panama before I order from
Newark again unless nobody else has it.

I don't like Newark; but sometimes, they're the only game in town.

Check out their web site for closeouts, too; some inneresting things there
from time to time although not much of a discount.

73, Steve K0XP

Sponsored by the City of Tempe 

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