[Robotgroup] Solenoids n MC Howard

[Paul Atkinson]

What's AMP? I don't recognize the acronym.

Paul

On Jan 15, 2008 9:33 PM, vkonradi <vkonradi at swbell.net> wrote:

> The first time I went into MC Howard electronics would have been early
> 80s.  In the back there was an IC recycling room with ladies sitting in
> front of hot plates full of sand.  They'd lay a PCB on the sand, and once it
> heated up, they would start flipping ICs out of the board with a little
> screwdriver.  Howard had a universal TTL checker console that they would
> plug the device into.  It would ID power and ground, then through signature
> analysis determine what TTL part number it was.  Pretty cool.  I think some
> of the tubes of chips still at Howards were filled in those days.
>
> Incidentally I tried the hot plate and sand trick to salvage some ICs.
>  Ruined my roommates' cast iron skillet that his grandmother gave him.  Not
> nearly as easy as it looks.
>
> Howard is good if you need a TTL or CMOS latch, a particular 1N or 2N
> device, or an odd connector.  In my recent memory, if you call on the phone
> and ask for a device by part number, they (assuming its the old guy) will
> tell you right off if they have it.  From memory, and likely right.  I still
> go there for a weird-ass zener or diac that I just need right away.  But it
> is true they haven't had much exciting new stock for years.
>
> I think the coolest surplus houses have usually been in places with a good
> bit of military manufacturing.  Cost is no object, and lots of
> over-purchases, program terminations, tooling scrap-outs.  Especially for
> all that cool electro-mechanical stuff.  'Mecha' per Japanese terminology.
>  Silicon valley and southern CA for instance.  More of that cold war
> dividend.
>
> Anyone been to AMP recently?
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