| Author |
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cm 3885
| | Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 11:43 am: | 
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So why are the NTC parts more common in RF parts supplier wholesale shops than the regular ECG parts? |
Czar
| | Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 1:50 pm: |
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no such thing as ntc parts ????!!!! |
bruce
| | Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 1:54 pm: |
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i belive that they BOUGHT ECG a while back The NTC parts are VERY expensive gosh ive seen $3.00 for a part that you could get for .60cents! I bought a bag of 100 shoky diods the ones used to mod the old 2950dx radios for .12 dollars each NTC wanted $2.30 each! Shop around youll save a bundle! |
Czar
| | Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 3:22 pm: |
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Don't you guys mean NTE corp. parts ??? I did a search could find no listing for ntc,are they new? |
bruce
| | Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 6:21 pm: |
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czar your right |
CM 3885
| | Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 8:31 pm: |
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Nte so sorry i didnt use the proper term... |
2600
| | Posted on Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 8:34 pm: |
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Uhhh, "TCE" is Thompson Consumer Electronics. They bought the RCA name 15 years or so back when GE bought RCA and liquidated all that company's separate divisions. They also acquired the "RCA SK" line of "baggie" replacement semiconductors. I remember hearing that they would stop using the "RCA" name on the "SK" replacement stuff eventually. I don't know. Haven't bought an "SK" part in ten years or more. ECG is owned by North American Philips and "NTE" is owned by a company that used to be called New Tone Electronics. They all buy parts with original numbers on them, scrape those off and print their "equivalent" number on before putting it in a printed baggie.
Semiconductors are made by hundreds of manufacturers, who all compete for the same business. A transistor meant to fill a particular job will be made by Panasonic, Sony, Mitsubishi, Motorola, etc. They will interchange to some degree if the specs match.
In the mid-sixties, electronics distributors were used to tubes. They all had standard numbers, so it didn't matter which brand of 6LF6 they stocked, Joe's TV repair would buy it and it would work. Transistors presented a nightmare to these parts wholesalers. Zillions of part numbers, too many to stock. RCA, Sylvania (remember them?), GE, Workman, Motorola (remember "HEP"?) and others hit upon the idea of publishing a substitution guide, but with a new and different catalog number for each "generic" kind of transistor and diode. They could buy any of a dozen original-number parts, print "ECG-123" on it and it would serve as a substitute 90% of the time for a long list of original numbers. This was a much more manageable way to handle the increasing complexity of servicing solid-state stuff. Now, instead of stocking thousands of numbers, just hundreds would do the job.
Before long, integrated circuits (chips) became common in electronic equipment. They applied the same marketing method to these, creating their own, new catalog number and remarking them to package and sell.
Using the original numbered part is always a safer bet than the "baggie" parts. The substitutes that they use will match on, say 8 of the 12 important specs. If your circuit depends on only those 8, it will work. If your circuit depends on a different spec, it may cause trouble. The voltage, current and power ratings are usually higher on the "baggie" part than the original. Using one 5-Amp rated part to also replace the 1-Amp, 2 and 3-Amp versions reduces the number of different "ECG" numbers in their catalog.
I have come to consider the "baggie" parts as a last resort, when nothing else is available. Better than nothing, but not as safe a "gamble" as the original numbered part.
73 |
CM 3885
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 - 4:55 pm: |
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But why is it harder to buy ECG parts from a parts supplier? I have one in my area that i buy from when i do CB mods and experiments but all they have to offfer is the NTE parts and ive heard they kinda are suckie... |
2600
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 - 12:31 am: |
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It's your local distributor's choice which brand, or brands of "baggie" parts to stock and sell. I'm pretty sure NTE's price TO the distributor is a little lower than ECG's. When Joe's Local Electronic Parts decides which brand to stock, this is a large influence, especially if Joe plans to stock several hundred part numbers. The "suggested retail price" or whatever they call it is just as high as the other brands. More markup means more distributors sign up with NTE and not the other guys.
When you buy parts with the original Japanese numbers from MCM, CEI, Parts Express, Dalbani, Hosfelt, Mouser, or RF Parts, you have cut one more middleman out of the pipeline. That nearly always saves you money.
Likewise, anyone who buys a "baggie" part is paying his share of the printing and distribution cost for that big, fat "FREE" cross-reference book/catalog. Somebody has to.
The repair shops that "Joe's Local Electronics Parts" used to sell to are all nearly extinct. I'll bet your local source is paying his bills by selling industrial electronics, network cable and cable TV supplies, not parts to repair shops.
73 |
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