As an Indian amateur radio and electronics enthusiast currently in Australia, this documentary makes a lot of sense to me ! Having lived in the electronic city of India, Bengaluru, I had access to an immense range of electronic components. I could take a bus to S.P. Road and spent a whole afternoon walking from shop to shop and purchasing enough components cheaply, sometimes for a couple of weeks of experimentation. When I moved to Australia, I needed components and other stuff to pursue my hobbies. Got an Aussie radio license to pursue ham radio. I had a lot of expectation moving to Australia, given its remarkable history in technology (for example, Australia is a world leader in radio astronomy) and having heard of stores like Dick Smith. However, the situation made me a bit sad, but not disappointed. Jaycar does a remarkable job, but some of the components are simply not available or the ones available are of sub-standard quality. Also, I find some things to be overpriced. However, I do realize that the situation is same across the world, many small towns in India used to have good electronic parts shops that are now closed. In fact, I am relived that there are Jaycar and Altronics stores in Australia. If they were to close down, I would miss the opportunity to walk into a store and buy a few components and tinker with them over a weekend. I have a "nerd perks" membership too. Yet to explore Altronics.
Very interesting perspective, thanks for commenting. If you are in Melbourne, check out Rockby Electronics which has a fabulous surplus store you can walk around and pick up a bargain in www.rockby.com.au
I remember when the store I worked for changed from being a private owned Dick Smith Electronics stockist to a Jaycar - I learnt the Jaycar book by being tasked with changing SKUs from DSE to Jaycar. That's how I got my head rooted in the products available. Some of my best memories are working there at that store. Fast forward a decade and I found myself working at a Company Owned Jaycar and if it wasn't for the absolutely shitty way the Regional Manager and Store Manager treated us and the failings of HR in defending the employees I would most definitely still lovingly work under Gary. I am a hacker/modder/builder/maker/experimenter. I loved nothing more than looking at a customers' PCB from for example a tractor control unit and diagnose the fault and provide the parts and send him on his way satisfied. I recall not being allowed to even put a DMM to board for 'safety' reasons at the end. Now it is all the most money grubbing 'get the most profit and lie to customers about specs' company I have ever seen. I still support the company, send customers their way (and where I work has an account with Electus) just because I know that to please the customer, send them to Jaycar with the part number and they will have it today. Haha, even today the duty manager of one store called my work number to tank me for a sale! Gary: Fix your management, bring the passion you had as a child/teen back, and hire staff that don't see the shop as a stepping stone to something else.
+EEVblog Hey Thanks Dave. Now that we have setup the era, how it got there and established the players we can finally get into some meat. The next episode will hopefully start to lead into more interesting territory (not that what we have seen so far isn't interesting) :-)
+Michael Dombrowski Yes I thought of doing that at some point. They still would need some editing/assembling. Thanks for your support, much appreciated.
This is a wake up call that is about 20 to 30 yrs too late. I totally agree with the episode presented here. As an amateur operator, I remember a time when the local Radio Shack stores, as well as some of the independent electronic stores, would have classes and instructionals designed for young, inspiring hobbyists, scientists, designers and ham radio operators like me. Many times, the classes were held in the early evenings and there were so many experiments and projects that you could enjoy! That was when you actually "learned" how a clock was made, or how to make your own crystal radio receiver, and how an antenna works. Not to even mention the fact that you were immersed into a world where you could begin to learn circuit tracing and what a specific component was. Good times! Now we have generations that are only able to purchase the newest smart phone and download apps until the newest phone is introduced. 73s to all you old dogs like me!
+Gear Hammer Any advice for a 19 yr old uni student who is trying to learn? I never had a good childhood and thus my ability to focus on my passion was halted. Anyway to overcome that?
***** Ignite your passion with a small but exciting project. Buy an Arduino or Raspberry Pizero and follow an example project. Alternative buy a kit from your nearest hobby store or online and put it together. Follow Dave L Jones & others on UA-cam, Listen to the Amphour podcast, look at Talking Electronics website, Sparkfun, Adafruit ... there a good start :-)
State of Electronics I appreciate the feedback I really do but I do not like kits. I put them together and the project works but it feels so fraudulent. It doesn't feel like I really had any hand in doing it. For some reason, I feel like a fake. Everyone else in my university courses has had their passion since grade school but I never got the opportunity to really learn like they did. I took things apart all the time and tried to make them work but that was the extent of my learning. Certainly my education system didn't teach me. My local robotics class couldn't teach me as all we did was out together other peoples Kits. Perhaps I'm just being cynical for the sake of being whiny.
***** Kits are good if you take the time to read the explanation on how they work. Gives you ability to check voltages with an MM to verify things fro yourself. Sure its doing other peoples work but provides opportunity to interrogate a circuit, trouble shoot it if it doesn't work etc. Its worth persisting. Hope that helps
As an Aussie expat living in Dubai, I feel very fortunate that we have about 20 very small electronics stores spread over about three blocks, all packed to the rafters with components. One store will specialise in switches and connectors, another is the place to go for capacitors, another for kits and Arduino, Raspberry Pi, another purely for stepper motors and servos etc. This definitely enabled by the extremely crappy mail service in this country, where literally 50% of anything you order from China or US post gets mysteriously 'returned to sender' for no reason! When I do my weekly trip there, all the store owners know me by name, and are keen to show me any new things they have in. I'll really miss this when I eventually go back to Australia.
+The Bright Pixel That I can relate to. I have marauded the electronics hubs in many Asian cities and like you, acknowledged store owners by name and they knew mine in return. I do miss that interaction, ability to go visit a place that has the things you want etc. Sadly though, most places in Asia until recently really didn't have the latest things in their curb-side stores. More leftovers from industries now moved on, so more TTL logic chips and passives - not Micro-controllers, sensors etc. Thanks for your perspective from the middle east. Fascinating stuff.
I used to love going into stores like Dick Smith and just looking at all the switches and components in clear lidless boxes on shelves, and wanting to build and make projects just so I could use the stuff. I would go into Dick Smiths to buy $5 worth of electronics components and look around and walk out with some this months specials and items worth $50 to $150. Once they stopped selling resisters , switches and components I stopped going in there. That small low profit component stuff was the bait to get you in there and the bean counters did not see it. Thank you JAYCAR for being around for us when Dick Smith Stores turned their back on us. I take my kids in JAYCAR and buy pre-made things and buy components to build and fix things. Thanks to the the other stores that sell electronics, I don't mean to leave you out but JAYCAR is the only stores near us. Tandy was great when they send flyers out with this months specials in the actual mailbox. A flyer made of paper is more exciting than email Flyers(But Tandy is Out of business now anyway). I miss those old days. Remember when you could take the back off a radio or kids walkie talkie and smell that smell of circuit board and components (Yes there was actual components not black dots on a board like now)and the leather cases some things came with smelt nice like leather does.
Another great episode! Thanks! Looking forward to next week. Thanks for producing these. I do a lot of Chinese buying, again, slow, but available. 40 mins from various Fry's and surplus stores, and it's always nice to see it all in one place, but it's getting tougher, I'm afraid. At least Make magazine's efforts helped spark the interest in the Maker movement. It's good to see the transfusion from them. We have to keep it going! Stu from the USA.
+D. Stuart Hey thanks Stu for the comment. Glad you like the episode. Sounds like the same pressures are everywhere for brick & mortar. Yes this episode really didn't deal with the most recent phenomena of Make magazine and others in the US which are definitely redefining the hobby market. Would love to hop across the pond to do that episode at some point :-)
+State of Electronics Come on down! (Or up.) They're headquartered up the way from here. Maker Faire in May, I think. It has definitely brought some attention to electronics as a hobby, and as useful knowledge to many other genres of Maker. Keep up the good work! Stu
I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next edition of this brilliant documentary. Best thing I have seen on youtube. Can we all get together and swap stuff?
I laughed out loud at 6:28 when Garry Johnston said "you've got to carry the whole range" of resistors. Jaycar are worse than Dick Smith - they only carry a restricted range of resistors and only every second value within that range. Because of their very small range of parts, I buy less than 5% of my needs from Jaycar. I get 70% from RS Components - they can be expensive, but their local stock is vast and they ship by overnight courier - order this afternoon, and I have it next morning. The other 25% I get from various online stores.
Very nice work again Karl. You've gathered the very few elite Aussies who still care so much about the hobby and give likewise. I wish governments would focus more on encouraging creativity rather than self-justification and advertising. The movie 'Idiocracy' should have been a documentary rather than a comedy I think :-) As the world slowly devolves...
+Phil B Australian governments failed to keep Car manufacturers here , so why would government help electronics? do we need more pink batts scandals - or solar scandals? even our Subs are Japanese electronics
+JONOVID That's an interesting question and hopefully one that this series could help to influence. Government in Australia has had a long association with an understanding in technologies of the day - Just 4 years after federation of Australia, it passes the "Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905". It is a majority stake holder in AWA, a huge tech company in Australia from 1912 until the early 90's, not to mention PMG, Telstra and the like. It's just unfortunate in recent history it seems the lack of industry advice (because thats slowly decaying here), lack of interest in general has probably caused a failure for recent governments to understand Australia's strengths. The CSIRO, NICTA, AIG and others have pressed their concerns and even the recent WiFi Patent win which is worth billions was not enough to stop amalgamations and reduction in government spending into R&D, education and industrial incentives. It does surprise me that the government has not looked at the car industry and seen how it can be transformed into something else - electric cars, robotic assembly lines for other products etc. rather then just left to wither on the vine!
Freetronics posted a video recently of Jaycar ripping off their experimenters kit. Will the market grow if the inputs to that market are squeezed out? My intuition says no.
I saw my soldering iron! Its the duratech ts-1390. I have had enough of the cheap wall plug and stations from ebay. I have had 4 or more fail already so i decide to buy from jaycar. I have learned to buy from different places depending on what the part I'm looking for. I wish i was around when there were more shops. All that i know is online and jaycar. Eyes glued to screen waiting for next episode. Loving the series
+astrixistheman Super glad you like the series. Try Altrsonics as well. In each capital city in Australia, if you hunt around there may be a few others. In Melbourne, there is Truscott Electronics World and Rockby Electronics.
Wall plug soldering irons have their place but like you I opted for something better, thankfully DSE had residual warehouse stock of their temperature controlled soldering station and this was my last ever purchase from DSE.
I would love to have such great local shops. In my city, there are only 2 shops that sell discrete components, and they are offering quite a narrow range of stuff. Web shops are great, but having a real deal where you live is priceless. What a shame, I think I'm from another era, back then being the hobbyist was awesome, but now people just see me as a freak.
+State of Electronics Thanks for such great videos! As a person who doesn't have much money and prefers to harvest parts from an old electronics, idea about opening my shop is way over the horizon. Yeah, there's other shops, but... They sell solid core wire, LED strip, bit of solder, ZnCl flux and call themselves an electronics shop. Hell no
Great video! One observation, though, the U.S. is a *big* place and Fry's Electronics is only in Silicon Valley (and perhaps a few other parts in and near California). I live on the other side of the U.S. near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. No Fry's here, and nothing close to it. Radio Shack declared bankruptcy and closed a lot of stores throughout the U.S. I'm fortunate that the one in my town survived, but it still doesn't have all the cool stuff that was available in the '70s and early '80s. I've never seen anything like those stores that you showed in Singapore! Wow! Bottom line: I'm jealous of your Jaycar! :-)
+Walt Wimer Hey thanks for your kind words. Agree totally the USA is a big place and equality in distribution of electronics maybe/is probably sorely lacking. Its the same here in Australia. Big areas of nothing but people still live and work in those places and probably have more of a legitimate need for building and designing their own electronic widgets. For those of us lucky enough to be near a Fry's or Jaycar... well it probably means we can do things on the fly but really the internet is the big saviour for most I suspect. And thats fine for those that understand what they are doing but not so great for those starting out, who might need some mentoring etc. Thanks for participating. Much appreciated.
LOL, Remember the advertisements for the 'Tech-spurts' at Dick Smith, they can sell you a phone but they don't know what a resistor is. A friend used to remove the pn stickers from the cheap RF connectors and stick them on the expensive ones & the numb nuts behind the counter had no clue ! $12 connectors for $1 Thanks Woolworths ! Cant do that online. Cool doco BTW, keep it up ;)
That's because those salesmen are not physicists or even a mere EE. Most of them are high-school drop-outs. Few years ago while I was a student, I applied to work at Jaycar many times, and each time my application got declined right off the bat. I had hands-on research experience in nonlinear microscopy & co-authored one paper in OCT. But these shops are interested in salesmen types, not someone with enough experience & academic credentials to actually help a customer.
Sim lim tower and sim lim square in Singapore is the best place to buy electronics components and computers. Both are my Favorited places. Great for DIY builder !
+gck86 haha yes when in Singapore I always go look. However I've noticed many of the vendors have closed or reduced stock. 2nd floor of Sim Lim Tower is now mostly prebuilt audio gear/party lights etc and Sim Lim Square has virtually no electronic components to speak off - just finished goods like computers, cell phones etc. I still go there when I can though :-)
We have the same problem now in the US. Finding reasonably priced components with any decent selection is impossible. Radio Shack and Frys have gone completely to crap, as they are now selling mostly pre-made crap and have very limited selections. My solution is to grab on-line grab bags or selections when I see a good deal on e-bay. I have my resistor kits, for about $5 for a few thousand resistors, transistor kits for around $5 for a couple hundred, capacitors the same $5 for a few hundred. The IC's get tricky, as I don't know specifically which chip I need until I need it; so I tend to grab a few more than I use, and get chips that I find to be similar and figure I may need in the future. My budget for chips is usually, anything under $1 is ok; but over that I really need to be sure.
Honestly your stores look a million times better than what we have in the US. Radio Shack is gone so the only major retail store that sells components/tools is Microcenter and they are actually pretty good (way better than what RS became), but they are only in a few cities, nowhere near the way Radio Shack was in like every mall. I think they have maybe 20 stores in the whole country, I used to live in close walking distance to the one in Queens, NYC and really miss it. I live in South Florida (the major metro area that Miami and Fort Lauderdale are in) and we have no Microcenter, our options are Master Electronics in Miami who have a great variety and good quality parts/instruments but are hideously, ridiculously overpriced to the point where I wonder what mental illness people have to actually buy more than a few small parts from them rather than buying online, and there's MPJA way out in the boonies in Palm Beach which is a tiny shop that sells extremely cheap/shady stuff (think the absolute cheapest version of [whatever] on aliexpress) but their prices actually closely match the prices of cheap and shady stuff that you can get online so they're useful for certain things where quality (or safety) doesn't matter a whole lot. Other than that, nothing. No cool surplus places or anything really catering to hobbyists and I think most of the US (apart from probably some places in California, which might as well be another country) is the same way.
Problem has become the same in Colorado. There were 3 stores in the greater Denver area when I moved here, all three are gone, there is now only one in Colorado Springs with some good prices, and a lot of unrealistic ones.. I feel microcenter in Denver is a bit too limited in a number of ways, but then that's not their main focus. Now amazon prices are quite often out of touch with mouser and digikey...
Even if you had to buy an SMD microscope/camera and a $60 hot air station, you can still do electronics for less money than you did in the "golden era" of electronics hobbyists.
If hte last of the hobbyists hired at least one person, maybe more, that was familiar with core electronics, that would be great. I enjoy the fact that I love electronics as much as I do.
How I miss these kind of shops here in Germany. I remember when I was a kid there was a shop near me where I could go and buy parts. Sadly they closed mid 90s. If there was a shop here I would definitely buy there cause let's be clear it's always the same you plan stuff order parts and then this 1 fking resistor is missing
I know this is in Australia but I live in central North Carolina in the United States. I couldn't tell you where to find an electronics store anymore. I don't know if anyone here is familiar with RadioShack but there was 12 within 30 miles of my house around 2010 but they all closed in my area and no other store have come in to replace them. I'd rather go to a brick and mortar store than shop online. For one I do not use credit cards or debit cards. I'm 36 but I don't fit into the buy everything on the internet scene. I've never bought anything from Amazon. Ebay is the only online retailer I've bought anything from and that was model trains. Dislike very much buying on the internet.
Tech Build Thank you :-) You should follow others like ua-cam.com/channels/u7_D0o48KbfhpEohoP7YSQ.html ua-cam.com/channels/42d7zFnWU0dYVk_M0JED6w.html ua-cam.com/channels/i4UZoZM0Iw9_tTeRjZd_bA.html ua-cam.com/channels/6mIxFTvXkWQVEHPsEdflzQ.html ua-cam.com/channels/Dqryeq1kMDSEQwltWqASrA.html ua-cam.com/channels/osnWgi3eorc1klEQ8pIgJQ.html ua-cam.com/channels/jLEI6iQflJTdtvcxvqQgiQ.html ua-cam.com/channels/KxRARSpahF1Mt-2vbPug-g.html
You just have to accept there are things you can do at home with reasonably priced equipment, and there are things that you cannot touch. I spent a summer and after school working in a TV store 49 years ago at age 11 to learn electronics and have tinkered with them ever since. At age 60 I can't even see the smallest surface mount resistors much less solder one even with an lcd microscope and jewelers goggles.
There are NO electronic shps now in the UK. There may be the odd one but where I live since Maplin went there is nothing. I can pay £5 postage for a 10p item online to a UK firm or - China. I get annoyed when people grizzle about Chinese kit. If it's the crap they say it is who's the fool for buying it. I could not carry on my electronics hobby without China. I find most Chinese stuff does what it says on the can. The odd item is rubbish but most are fit for purpose and a tenth the price. Mind you their 99p 240v soldering irons are only for those looking to end it all.
Jaycar are quality & convenience. still have that quality $5 Blue LED! -must frame it! but $6 buys 250 Chinese high brightness water clear LED's in 5 colors including Blue. Now the US 2N2222 but for the Chinese its collector,emitter,base -so 600 Chinese 2N2222's for $7.or 3 Chinese Arduino PIR Sensors $3 but 1 is dead, or try all 32 Arduino Sensors for $12 -but how many are dead on arrival? at my door. so make it 2x box,s. if it Chinese always Test it 3 times
+JONOVID Jaycar acknowledge they are more expensive but with the added bonus of immediacy and availability. As several said in the episode, the "Killer to passion is endless delays" so in order to counter those delays a slightly higher price would often be quite acceptable. However I do understand what you mean for the cost conscious :-) Thanks for your comment.
+State of Electronics -must add that I started building my stockpile of Electronics a yr or two before starting new projects. its a bit like building a house . I hope to barter with our hobbyist's at Maker Faire's esc..
Fry's Electronics is quite a place, but it's just Radio Shack plus. I mean, Radio Shack had the parts, the equipment, the audio, the video, and all in a space of a shoe store. Fry's is the size of a Walmart, with furniture, a restaurant, appliances, general rubbish from China in bins, computers and videos. Maybe their model is better, maybe their employees less likely to sell you a cell phone with an extended service contract, but it is, I must confess, my go-to place for electronic stuff. PS, don't buy a computer chair there, it's rubbish.
You can buy assortments of 400 resistors or capacitors from China for less than $20 each. Even though you'll never use most of them, all you need is to use a few to break even. Tough to compete in an industry like that. Extremely high quality parts like Nichicon capacitors are seldom used by hobbyists. Frys Electronics in America is an absolute rip off I avoid them unless I desperately need something.
as an electrician i buy stuff all the time from jaycar i hate the waste if you can fix it i look at the web site get the part number and go tothe store try and send stuff back to china if its wrong just fixed a nice chrome fan that needed a new motor start capacitor $15 i guess you can buy a chinese fan for less so sad
+fleuroman so true ...Lucky country back in the 1950's and 60's maybe?? However in recent years it's been more of a struggle. However I know what you mean. Living conditions are still good but future opportunities don't look fantastic for our children.
I wish I new what the requirements for getting a job at Jaycar were... it certainly is not electronics experience or knowledge they want and you certainly can not get any of that advice in their shops. Some of the advice you do get is a damn joke..
Jaycar is not engaged in productive economic activity. Just another middle man in the chain adding its profit margin to the products that others manufacture. Chinese manufacturers->.........->Electus->Jaycar. Sorry Garry but while it is very occasionally convenient to be able to pop down to the local Jaycar to get something, I won't really shed many tears if Jaycar goes down in flames as a result of ebay and amazon. Perhaps if you took a leaf out of Dick Smith's play book, and made an attempt to manufacture components in Australia, then I might be persuaded to pay slightly higher prices. If not then I would rather save a lot of $$$$$s and get the majority of my hobby needs from ebay china or alibaba express.
Tandy closed here in Rural Victoria years ago and DSE went "consumerist" sometime after that, without online retailers sourcing parts would be nigh on impossible...
As an Indian amateur radio and electronics enthusiast currently in Australia, this documentary makes a lot of sense to me ! Having lived in the electronic city of India, Bengaluru, I had access to an immense range of electronic components. I could take a bus to S.P. Road and spent a whole afternoon walking from shop to shop and purchasing enough components cheaply, sometimes for a couple of weeks of experimentation. When I moved to Australia, I needed components and other stuff to pursue my hobbies. Got an Aussie radio license to pursue ham radio. I had a lot of expectation moving to Australia, given its remarkable history in technology (for example, Australia is a world leader in radio astronomy) and having heard of stores like Dick Smith. However, the situation made me a bit sad, but not disappointed. Jaycar does a remarkable job, but some of the components are simply not available or the ones available are of sub-standard quality. Also, I find some things to be overpriced. However, I do realize that the situation is same across the world, many small towns in India used to have good electronic parts shops that are now closed. In fact, I am relived that there are Jaycar and Altronics stores in Australia. If they were to close down, I would miss the opportunity to walk into a store and buy a few components and tinker with them over a weekend. I have a "nerd perks" membership too. Yet to explore Altronics.
Very interesting perspective, thanks for commenting. If you are in Melbourne, check out Rockby Electronics which has a fabulous surplus store you can walk around and pick up a bargain in www.rockby.com.au
I remember when the store I worked for changed from being a private owned Dick Smith Electronics stockist to a Jaycar - I learnt the Jaycar book by being tasked with changing SKUs from DSE to Jaycar. That's how I got my head rooted in the products available. Some of my best memories are working there at that store.
Fast forward a decade and I found myself working at a Company Owned Jaycar and if it wasn't for the absolutely shitty way the Regional Manager and Store Manager treated us and the failings of HR in defending the employees I would most definitely still lovingly work under Gary. I am a hacker/modder/builder/maker/experimenter.
I loved nothing more than looking at a customers' PCB from for example a tractor control unit and diagnose the fault and provide the parts and send him on his way satisfied. I recall not being allowed to even put a DMM to board for 'safety' reasons at the end.
Now it is all the most money grubbing 'get the most profit and lie to customers about specs' company I have ever seen.
I still support the company, send customers their way (and where I work has an account with Electus) just because I know that to please the customer, send them to Jaycar with the part number and they will have it today. Haha, even today the duty manager of one store called my work number to tank me for a sale!
Gary: Fix your management, bring the passion you had as a child/teen back, and hire staff that don't see the shop as a stepping stone to something else.
+23Brodieman Hey thanks for your detailed comment and your perspective on things. Much appreciated.
Love the more detail in this one! Keep it up Karl.
+EEVblog Hey Thanks Dave. Now that we have setup the era, how it got there and established the players we can finally get into some meat. The next episode will hopefully start to lead into more interesting territory (not that what we have seen so far isn't interesting) :-)
+State of Electronics Love these! Have you considered releasing the complete interviews separately? Can't wait for more, keep up the great work.
+Michael Dombrowski Yes I thought of doing that at some point. They still would need some editing/assembling. Thanks for your support, much appreciated.
This is a wake up call that is about 20 to 30 yrs too late. I totally agree with the episode presented here. As an amateur operator, I remember a time when the local Radio Shack stores, as well as some of the independent electronic stores, would have classes and instructionals designed for young, inspiring hobbyists, scientists, designers and ham radio operators like me. Many times, the classes were held in the early evenings and there were so many experiments and projects that you could enjoy! That was when you actually "learned" how a clock was made, or how to make your own crystal radio receiver, and how an antenna works. Not to even mention the fact that you were immersed into a world where you could begin to learn circuit tracing and what a specific component was.
Good times! Now we have generations that are only able to purchase the newest smart phone and download apps until the newest phone is introduced.
73s to all you old dogs like me!
+Gear Hammer Great comment and thanks for participating. Much appreciated.
+Gear Hammer Any advice for a 19 yr old uni student who is trying to learn? I never had a good childhood and thus my ability to focus on my passion was halted. Anyway to overcome that?
***** Ignite your passion with a small but exciting project. Buy an Arduino or Raspberry Pizero and follow an example project. Alternative buy a kit from your nearest hobby store or online and put it together. Follow Dave L Jones & others on UA-cam, Listen to the Amphour podcast, look at Talking Electronics website, Sparkfun, Adafruit ... there a good start :-)
State of Electronics I appreciate the feedback I really do but I do not like kits. I put them together and the project works but it feels so fraudulent. It doesn't feel like I really had any hand in doing it. For some reason, I feel like a fake. Everyone else in my university courses has had their passion since grade school but I never got the opportunity to really learn like they did. I took things apart all the time and tried to make them work but that was the extent of my learning. Certainly my education system didn't teach me. My local robotics class couldn't teach me as all we did was out together other peoples Kits. Perhaps I'm just being cynical for the sake of being whiny.
***** Kits are good if you take the time to read the explanation on how they work. Gives you ability to check voltages with an MM to verify things fro yourself. Sure its doing other peoples work but provides opportunity to interrogate a circuit, trouble shoot it if it doesn't work etc. Its worth persisting. Hope that helps
As an Aussie expat living in Dubai, I feel very fortunate that we have about 20 very small electronics stores spread over about three blocks, all packed to the rafters with components. One store will specialise in switches and connectors, another is the place to go for capacitors, another for kits and Arduino, Raspberry Pi, another purely for stepper motors and servos etc. This definitely enabled by the extremely crappy mail service in this country, where literally 50% of anything you order from China or US post gets mysteriously 'returned to sender' for no reason! When I do my weekly trip there, all the store owners know me by name, and are keen to show me any new things they have in. I'll really miss this when I eventually go back to Australia.
+The Bright Pixel That I can relate to. I have marauded the electronics hubs in many Asian cities and like you, acknowledged store owners by name and they knew mine in return. I do miss that interaction, ability to go visit a place that has the things you want etc. Sadly though, most places in Asia until recently really didn't have the latest things in their curb-side stores. More leftovers from industries now moved on, so more TTL logic chips and passives - not Micro-controllers, sensors etc. Thanks for your perspective from the middle east. Fascinating stuff.
I used to love going into stores like Dick Smith and just looking at all the switches and components in clear lidless boxes on shelves, and wanting to build and make projects just so I could use the stuff. I would go into Dick Smiths to buy $5 worth of electronics components and look around and walk out with some this months specials and items worth $50 to $150. Once they stopped selling resisters , switches and components I stopped going in there. That small low profit component stuff was the bait to get you in there and the bean counters did not see it. Thank you JAYCAR for being around for us when Dick Smith Stores turned their back on us. I take my kids in JAYCAR and buy pre-made things and buy components to build and fix things. Thanks to the the other stores that sell electronics, I don't mean to leave you out but JAYCAR is the only stores near us. Tandy was great when they send flyers out with this months specials in the actual mailbox. A flyer made of paper is more exciting than email Flyers(But Tandy is Out of business now anyway). I miss those old days. Remember when you could take the back off a radio or kids walkie talkie and smell that smell of circuit board and components (Yes there was actual components not black dots on a board like now)and the leather cases some things came with smelt nice like leather does.
+Argento Goldspier Great comment and thanks for contributing. Cheers
Another great episode! Thanks! Looking forward to next week. Thanks for producing these. I do a lot of Chinese buying, again, slow, but available. 40 mins from various Fry's and surplus stores, and it's always nice to see it all in one place, but it's getting tougher, I'm afraid. At least Make magazine's efforts helped spark the interest in the Maker movement. It's good to see the transfusion from them. We have to keep it going! Stu from the USA.
+D. Stuart Hey thanks Stu for the comment. Glad you like the episode. Sounds like the same pressures are everywhere for brick & mortar. Yes this episode really didn't deal with the most recent phenomena of Make magazine and others in the US which are definitely redefining the hobby market. Would love to hop across the pond to do that episode at some point :-)
+State of Electronics Come on down! (Or up.) They're headquartered up the way from here. Maker Faire in May, I think. It has definitely brought some attention to electronics as a hobby, and as useful knowledge to many other genres of Maker. Keep up the good work! Stu
+D. Stuart I think its important in the long run. If I get the chance I would love to do it! Thanks again :-)
I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next edition of this brilliant documentary. Best thing I have seen on youtube. Can we all get together and swap stuff?
+David Ross Thanks David, Very kind of you. The next episode will have plenty of meat to chew over.
I laughed out loud at 6:28 when Garry Johnston said "you've got to carry the whole range" of resistors. Jaycar are worse than Dick Smith - they only carry a restricted range of resistors and only every second value within that range. Because of their very small range of parts, I buy less than 5% of my needs from Jaycar. I get 70% from RS Components - they can be expensive, but their local stock is vast and they ship by overnight courier - order this afternoon, and I have it next morning. The other 25% I get from various online stores.
Very nice work again Karl. You've gathered the very few elite Aussies who still care so much about the hobby and give likewise.
I wish governments would focus more on encouraging creativity rather than self-justification and advertising.
The movie 'Idiocracy' should have been a documentary rather than a comedy I think :-)
As the world slowly devolves...
+Phil B Thank you Phil much appreciated. Governments role in supporting the industry is investigated in a future episode. Thanks for your comment.
+Phil B Australian governments failed to keep Car manufacturers here , so why would government help electronics? do we need more pink batts scandals - or solar scandals? even our Subs are Japanese electronics
+JONOVID That's an interesting question and hopefully one that this series could help to influence. Government in Australia has had a long association with an understanding in technologies of the day - Just 4 years after federation of Australia, it passes the "Wireless Telegraphy Act 1905". It is a majority stake holder in AWA, a huge tech company in Australia from 1912 until the early 90's, not to mention PMG, Telstra and the like. It's just unfortunate in recent history it seems the lack of industry advice (because thats slowly decaying here), lack of interest in general has probably caused a failure for recent governments to understand Australia's strengths. The CSIRO, NICTA, AIG and others have pressed their concerns and even the recent WiFi Patent win which is worth billions was not enough to stop amalgamations and reduction in government spending into R&D, education and industrial incentives. It does surprise me that the government has not looked at the car industry and seen how it can be transformed into something else - electric cars, robotic assembly lines for other products etc. rather then just left to wither on the vine!
Freetronics posted a video recently of Jaycar ripping off their experimenters kit.
Will the market grow if the inputs to that market are squeezed out? My intuition says no.
My first job was at the old Dick Smith Electronics stores, back in 1994. I really miss those days. So much fun.
I get all my kits online Unfortunately no shops where I live!!
This video makes me suddenly feel appreciative to have a Fry's Electronics within a mile of where I live.
+tohopes Yes supporting your local is a good idea
The fry's in my area just recently went out of business. Sad
@@meercreate ye they're all gone now, the Covid stuff made their business even more difficult.
Can safely say the guys at Jaycar in Phillip/CBR we're so helpful and encouraged me to pursue the hobby, owe it all to them where I am today ♥
I saw my soldering iron! Its the duratech ts-1390. I have had enough of the cheap wall plug and stations from ebay. I have had 4 or more fail already so i decide to buy from jaycar. I have learned to buy from different places depending on what the part I'm looking for. I wish i was around when there were more shops. All that i know is online and jaycar.
Eyes glued to screen waiting for next episode. Loving the series
+astrixistheman Super glad you like the series. Try Altrsonics as well. In each capital city in Australia, if you hunt around there may be a few others. In Melbourne, there is Truscott Electronics World and Rockby Electronics.
Wall plug soldering irons have their place but like you I opted for something better, thankfully DSE had residual warehouse stock of their temperature controlled soldering station and this was my last ever purchase from DSE.
+SpectreOZ Its good to know I'm not alone.
I would love to have such great local shops. In my city, there are only 2 shops that sell discrete components, and they are offering quite a narrow range of stuff. Web shops are great, but having a real deal where you live is priceless. What a shame, I think I'm from another era, back then being the hobbyist was awesome, but now people just see me as a freak.
+MrJohhhnnnyyy Opportunity to open your own local shop maybe?? I'm quite sure if you look around, you will find others :-) Thank you for your comment.
+State of Electronics Thanks for such great videos! As a person who doesn't have much money and prefers to harvest parts from an old electronics, idea about opening my shop is way over the horizon. Yeah, there's other shops, but... They sell solid core wire, LED strip, bit of solder, ZnCl flux and call themselves an electronics shop. Hell no
The bowel control comment at about 12:53 ...😂😂😂
This was a great little series. ❤
Great video! One observation, though, the U.S. is a *big* place and Fry's Electronics is only in Silicon Valley (and perhaps a few other parts in and near California). I live on the other side of the U.S. near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. No Fry's here, and nothing close to it. Radio Shack declared bankruptcy and closed a lot of stores throughout the U.S. I'm fortunate that the one in my town survived, but it still doesn't have all the cool stuff that was available in the '70s and early '80s.
I've never seen anything like those stores that you showed in Singapore! Wow!
Bottom line: I'm jealous of your Jaycar!
:-)
+Walt Wimer Hey thanks for your kind words. Agree totally the USA is a big place and equality in distribution of electronics maybe/is probably sorely lacking. Its the same here in Australia. Big areas of nothing but people still live and work in those places and probably have more of a legitimate need for building and designing their own electronic widgets. For those of us lucky enough to be near a Fry's or Jaycar... well it probably means we can do things on the fly but really the internet is the big saviour for most I suspect. And thats fine for those that understand what they are doing but not so great for those starting out, who might need some mentoring etc. Thanks for participating. Much appreciated.
LOL, Remember the advertisements for the 'Tech-spurts' at Dick Smith, they can sell you a phone but they don't know what a resistor is.
A friend used to remove the pn stickers from the cheap RF connectors and stick them on the expensive ones & the numb nuts behind the counter had no clue ! $12 connectors for $1 Thanks Woolworths ! Cant do that online.
Cool doco BTW, keep it up ;)
+moshly64 Hey thanks :-) More on its way!
Last electronic shop I went into the salesman did not know what a 16 Amp SPDT relay was !!.
That's because those salesmen are not physicists or even a mere EE. Most of them are high-school drop-outs. Few years ago while I was a student, I applied to work at Jaycar many times, and each time my application got declined right off the bat. I had hands-on research experience in nonlinear microscopy & co-authored one paper in OCT. But these shops are interested in salesmen types, not someone with enough experience & academic credentials to actually help a customer.
Ahh, Jaycar, the home of outrageous prices!
Sim lim tower and sim lim square in Singapore is the best place to buy electronics components and computers. Both are my Favorited places. Great for DIY builder !
+gck86 haha yes when in Singapore I always go look. However I've noticed many of the vendors have closed or reduced stock. 2nd floor of Sim Lim Tower is now mostly prebuilt audio gear/party lights etc and Sim Lim Square has virtually no electronic components to speak off - just finished goods like computers, cell phones etc. I still go there when I can though :-)
We have the same problem now in the US. Finding reasonably priced components with any decent selection is impossible. Radio Shack and Frys have gone completely to crap, as they are now selling mostly pre-made crap and have very limited selections.
My solution is to grab on-line grab bags or selections when I see a good deal on e-bay. I have my resistor kits, for about $5 for a few thousand resistors, transistor kits for around $5 for a couple hundred, capacitors the same $5 for a few hundred. The IC's get tricky, as I don't know specifically which chip I need until I need it; so I tend to grab a few more than I use, and get chips that I find to be similar and figure I may need in the future. My budget for chips is usually, anything under $1 is ok; but over that I really need to be sure.
Honestly your stores look a million times better than what we have in the US. Radio Shack is gone so the only major retail store that sells components/tools is Microcenter and they are actually pretty good (way better than what RS became), but they are only in a few cities, nowhere near the way Radio Shack was in like every mall. I think they have maybe 20 stores in the whole country, I used to live in close walking distance to the one in Queens, NYC and really miss it.
I live in South Florida (the major metro area that Miami and Fort Lauderdale are in) and we have no Microcenter, our options are Master Electronics in Miami who have a great variety and good quality parts/instruments but are hideously, ridiculously overpriced to the point where I wonder what mental illness people have to actually buy more than a few small parts from them rather than buying online, and there's MPJA way out in the boonies in Palm Beach which is a tiny shop that sells extremely cheap/shady stuff (think the absolute cheapest version of [whatever] on aliexpress) but their prices actually closely match the prices of cheap and shady stuff that you can get online so they're useful for certain things where quality (or safety) doesn't matter a whole lot. Other than that, nothing. No cool surplus places or anything really catering to hobbyists and I think most of the US (apart from probably some places in California, which might as well be another country) is the same way.
Thank you for your very well considered comment. A very interesting perspective. I hope things improve for you in terms of the retail experience.
Problem has become the same in Colorado. There were 3 stores in the greater Denver area when I moved here, all three are gone, there is now only one in Colorado Springs with some good prices, and a lot of unrealistic ones.. I feel microcenter in Denver is a bit too limited in a number of ways, but then that's not their main focus.
Now amazon prices are quite often out of touch with mouser and digikey...
Even if you had to buy an SMD microscope/camera and a $60 hot air station, you can still do electronics for less money than you did in the "golden era" of electronics hobbyists.
thank still got Jaycar Electronics in Australia
If hte last of the hobbyists hired at least one person, maybe more, that was familiar with core electronics, that would be great. I enjoy the fact that I love electronics as much as I do.
How I miss these kind of shops here in Germany. I remember when I was a kid there was a shop near me where I could go and buy parts. Sadly they closed mid 90s. If there was a shop here I would definitely buy there cause let's be clear it's always the same you plan stuff order parts and then this 1 fking resistor is missing
Great episode Karl! Thanks!
+Fredi Machado Many thanks Fredi. Much appreciated
I know this is in Australia but I live in central North Carolina in the United States. I couldn't tell you where to find an electronics store anymore. I don't know if anyone here is familiar with RadioShack but there was 12 within 30 miles of my house around 2010 but they all closed in my area and no other store have come in to replace them. I'd rather go to a brick and mortar store than shop online. For one I do not use credit cards or debit cards. I'm 36 but I don't fit into the buy everything on the internet scene. I've never bought anything from Amazon. Ebay is the only online retailer I've bought anything from and that was model trains. Dislike very much buying on the internet.
Why? paypal is a thing.
I am interested a lot in electronics. How can I join you all?
Definitely join the www.eevblog.com but also subscribe to this channel
Already subscribed you!
Tech Build Thank you :-) You should follow others like ua-cam.com/channels/u7_D0o48KbfhpEohoP7YSQ.html
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Here in my country most electronics stores close.
Now I buy my parts in USA, Digikey, Newark, Mouser and sometimes in china.
Cheers
Yeah I could buy it online if I had a credit card and a paypal account. There are no brick and mortar shops in South Eastern Michigan.
You just have to accept there are things you can do at home with reasonably priced equipment, and there are things that you cannot touch. I spent a summer and after school working in a TV store 49 years ago at age 11 to learn electronics and have tinkered with them ever since. At age 60 I can't even see the smallest surface mount resistors much less solder one even with an lcd microscope and jewelers goggles.
Ah Jaycar the home of ethics..... see that's how it is spelt Mr J.
There are 3 local electronic shopes in my locality
I am lucky
Do you have a Facebook page?
facebook.com/stateofelectronics/
Internet + ebay = democratization of retail sales, even if you and Gerry Harvey don't like the detrimental effects on your profits!
There are NO electronic shps now in the UK. There may be the odd one but where I live since Maplin went there is nothing. I can pay £5 postage for a 10p item online to a UK firm or - China. I get annoyed when people grizzle about Chinese kit. If it's the crap they say it is who's the fool for buying it. I could not carry on my electronics hobby without China. I find most Chinese stuff does what it says on the can. The odd item is rubbish but most are fit for purpose and a tenth the price. Mind you their 99p 240v soldering irons are only for those looking to end it all.
Suicide by faulty Chinese soldering iron.🤣
Where are you Jaycar? Canada needs you!
India too
Jaycar are quality & convenience. still have that quality $5 Blue LED! -must frame it!
but $6 buys 250 Chinese high brightness water clear LED's in 5 colors including Blue.
Now the US 2N2222 but for the Chinese its collector,emitter,base -so 600 Chinese 2N2222's for $7.or 3 Chinese Arduino PIR Sensors $3 but 1 is dead, or try all 32 Arduino Sensors for $12 -but how many are dead on arrival? at my door. so make it 2x box,s. if it Chinese always Test it 3 times
+JONOVID Jaycar acknowledge they are more expensive but with the added bonus of immediacy and availability. As several said in the episode, the "Killer to passion is endless delays" so in order to counter those delays a slightly higher price would often be quite acceptable. However I do understand what you mean for the cost conscious :-) Thanks for your comment.
+State of Electronics -must add that I started building my stockpile of Electronics a yr or two before starting new projects. its a bit like building a house . I hope to barter with our hobbyist's at Maker Faire's esc..
haha thats very cool. I like your thinking :-) Quite entrepreneurial of you
Fry's Electronics is quite a place, but it's just Radio Shack plus. I mean, Radio Shack had the parts, the equipment, the audio, the video, and all in a space of a shoe store. Fry's is the size of a Walmart, with furniture, a restaurant, appliances, general rubbish from China in bins, computers and videos. Maybe their model is better, maybe their employees less likely to sell you a cell phone with an extended service contract, but it is, I must confess, my go-to place for electronic stuff. PS, don't buy a computer chair there, it's rubbish.
You can buy assortments of 400 resistors or capacitors from China for less than $20 each. Even though you'll never use most of them, all you need is to use a few to break even. Tough to compete in an industry like that.
Extremely high quality parts like Nichicon capacitors are seldom used by hobbyists.
Frys Electronics in America is an absolute rip off I avoid them unless I desperately need something.
ok i will go have a look at jaycar .
as an electrician i buy stuff all the time from jaycar i hate the waste if you can fix it i look at the web site get the part number and go tothe store try and send stuff back to china if its wrong just fixed a nice chrome fan that needed a new motor start capacitor $15 i guess you can buy a chinese fan for less so sad
Yikes. The camera adds 10kg :)
ohh they call us the lucky country though Karl... I wouldn't live anywhere else though ;)
+fleuroman so true ...Lucky country back in the 1950's and 60's maybe?? However in recent years it's been more of a struggle. However I know what you mean. Living conditions are still good but future opportunities don't look fantastic for our children.
Ha ha, nice surprise to see Dave’s ugly mug 👍
Just finished watching the latest EEVblog instalment then this little gem pops up.
Laughed at 10:48.
You should answer also young persons about this topic.
I wish I new what the requirements for getting a job at Jaycar were... it certainly is not electronics experience or knowledge they want and you certainly can not get any of that advice in their shops. Some of the advice you do get is a damn joke..
Jaycar is not engaged in productive economic activity. Just another middle man in the chain adding its profit margin to the products that others manufacture. Chinese manufacturers->.........->Electus->Jaycar. Sorry Garry but while it is very occasionally convenient to be able to pop down to the local Jaycar to get something, I won't really shed many tears if Jaycar goes down in flames as a result of ebay and amazon.
Perhaps if you took a leaf out of Dick Smith's play book, and made an attempt to manufacture components in Australia, then I might be persuaded to pay slightly higher prices.
If not then I would rather save a lot of $$$$$s and get the majority of my hobby needs from ebay china or alibaba express.
*Every jaycar and jaycar stockist I've bought from all the staff were hobbyists...I have no clue what the fuck your on about....*
Who is your comment aimed at?
*digikey*
+CR2504life sure :-)
I get all my kits online Unfortunately no shops where I live!!
I get all my kits online Unfortunately no shops where I live!!
+HDXFH Thats understandable. Convenience is important. Thanks for your comment(s) :-)
Tandy closed here in Rural Victoria years ago and DSE went "consumerist" sometime after that, without online retailers sourcing parts would be nigh on impossible...
+SpectreOZ Yes that's very true. The bitter sweet of it is, globalisation is probably most peoples saviour?!