Hard to Find Surplus Electronic Parts & Components

This article will help the electronic hobbyist locate some of those hard to find parts needed to complete their electronic projects. Many electronic parts are getting harder to find and electronics, as a hobby, is not as popular as it once was. Local electronics shops are becoming harder to find. The days are past where an electronic hobbyist could walk into a local TV repair shop and buy discrete components. Radio Shack has discontinued carrying many common components and electronic tools that the business was built on. Fortunately, the Internet has evolved to be a great source of new and vintage electronic parts.

I have personally dealt with many electronic parts suppliers over the years. Some of these web sites are companies that have been around for a long time and a few of these suppliers offer hard copy catalogs for the asking.

Electronic Surplus

Electronic Surplus has been around since 1946. They are the one to go to for hard to find surplus transformers, relays and older electronic stock. Ham radio enthusiasts and inventors make up a large portion of this company's client base.

BG Micro

BG Micro charges just $6.00 for orders under two pounds. They accept Paypal and have a large assortment of hard to find electronic surplus. Components can be found here for a very low price compared to the larger supply houses.

Electronic Goldmine

Electronic Goldmine is a great place to buy surplus electronics for building robotic projects. They stock many rare parts and truly is a gold mine of electronic components. Electronic Goldmine has a well maintained site and has very low prices with many special offers.

Surplus Stuff

Surplus Stuff is always worth a look when searching for old parts. They offer some hard to locate military and amateur radio components. This is the place for military TM-11 radio manuals.

Quest Components

Quest Components have a huge inventory of electronic parts and fast shipping. This is a great place to stock up on resistors, capacitors and Integrated Components. They have a $25 minimum order.

All Electronics

All Electronics stocks mostly surplus electronics and items. They have lots of different surplus merchandise and even have some surplus Moped parts. Their stock includes motors that are great for robotics and solar cell components. I love getting their catalog in the mail and seeing what is new in their inventory.

New Electronics Parts Houses

A lot of hard to find electronics can be found in the parts warehouses that have been around for a long time. I use these on line stores on a consistent basis and they come highly recommended.

Allied Electronics is an old player and has a large inventory. Digi-Key Corporation and Mouser Electronics are two others that are great to order from.

In a way it is easier now to find electronic parts that it has ever been with the advent of the Internet. The convenience of walking into an electronics parts store is practically gone. It was a wonderful world in those days having a shop owner to talk electronics with on a Saturday afternoon. Things change, but the satisfaction of completing an electronics project will be around for some time.

Sources: Personal Experience.