Where do you get chips for the vector boards ?

cwilbar

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 8, 2015
Messages
1,209
Reaction score
31
Location
Massachusetts
I'm working on some Tempest boards, and at some point I have some Space Duel ones to get to as well.

I thought I had a few of the following, but am unable to locate them (probably used them and never obtained any replacements):

LF13201
MC1495L
AM6012PC
DAC-08

possibly some others as well. Other than eBay from China, where do you get your chips like this these days ? I'd probably want to get 4-10 of each to have some on hand.
 
Great Plains Electronics (and others) have the 201's. The rest all come from china, even if you buy them through local sites. Easiest and cheapest to just get them direct on eBay. I have had good luck with all of them.
 
I got a lot of mine from Ebay too ... but the OP specifically asked for non-China sources. :001_stongue:


I understand that. I'm just saying they all come from there, regardless of where you buy them.

I've never had issues ordering from China anyway, so unless you want to give free money to middle men, it's best to just order them direct.

(Or if you want to pay a premium, I'll gladly sell them to you.)
 
I understand that. I'm just saying they all come from there, regardless of where you buy them.

I've never had issues ordering from China anyway, so unless you want to give free money to middle men, it's best to just order them direct.

(Or if you want to pay a premium, I'll gladly sell them to you.)

Agreed. Got some good deals off of Ebay.
Only random counterfeit ones or a random non-working IC (i.e. ROM).
I believe we both have previously listed Asian vendors we've had good experiences with for random "obsolete" parts similar to those listed in the OP. Thus the OP should reconsider buying off of Ebay. :001_sbiggrin:
 
I'd be interested in seeing this list if you happen to come across it again.
Just don't buy PROMs from China. Utsource is a good vendor. I've bought lots from AliExpress and eBay (China). My advice, have a way to test whatever you receive.
 
It's funny, this old thread has a list of vendors to avoid, but the funny thing is, I've bought from several of them no problem, including utsource (as well as Polida and Adele).

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=290640

This was the more recent thread on the topic:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=416460


It makes me wonder if these vendors were just distributors, and also got burned by fakes, and have smartened up about it, as everyone I've bought from seems to be conscious of fakes, and makes some claim of quality in their ads. Maybe they've cracked down on their end.

But in the end, yes, you'll need to have some way of checking what you get. But trying them in a known-working test board (which is what I do) is the easiest way.
 
UTSource admitted to me that they are just a "front"/distributor for other vendors and that they cannot manage the integrity or validity of all the components they sell.

So, as always, it's a crap-shoot. Buyer be cautious ...

Also had varying luck with polida2008 etc.
 
UTSource admitted to me that they are just a "front"/distributor for other vendors and that they cannot manage the integrity or validity of all the components they sell.

So, as always, it's a crap-shoot. Buyer be cautious ...

Also had varying luck with polida2008 etc.
I think the stuff utsource sells on eBay and Amazon is their own. I've bought using their Android app and stuff that is sold by a third party is pretty clearly identified as such but they are extremely thorough about customer verification of item arrival, as is AliExpress. In my experience AliExpress handles disputes better than eBay (who suck).
 
In my experience AliExpress handles disputes better than eBay (who suck).
Wow, really? My experience has been the complete opposite.

Aliexpress heavily sides with the seller (and the sellers know that)... they force the buyer to wait a week to negotiate with a seller, who will offer a small fraction of the cost back as a refund when something isn't right. If you can't come to an agreement, AE drags their feet for a couple more weeks while they "investigate", then say "sorry, there's insufficient evidence of a problem" despite clear pics, description, etc. Then the appeal process is just a couple more weeks of the same thing. Your only real recourse is the protection from your credit card.

On the other hand, eBay sides with the buyer in a lot of cases, even forcing the seller to pay return shipping when it's arguably the buyer that screwed up. I've found eBay sellers to be much more willing to help out, such as sending a replacement for a defective part, or even just refunding if they send the wrong part.

Feedback is much more important on eBay as well with sellers practically begging for perfect feedback, where sellers don't seem to care if they get negative feedback on AE.

That's been my personal experience at least...

DogP
 
Wow, really? My experience has been the complete opposite.

Aliexpress heavily sides with the seller (and the sellers know that)... they force the buyer to wait a week to negotiate with a seller,

Maybe I wasn't clear. I was referring to the cases where you actually had to involve their customer service. I agree, when it comes to dealing with the sellers initially the Chinese eBay sellers are more likely to roll over. The two systems are quite different. I don't like the amount of time AE allows before you can file not received dispute but whenever I have filed either a not as described or not received it's always been rapidly (< 1 day) ruled in my favor.

I'm not sure I'd drop $$$ at AE but this thread is about electronic components and we're typically talking sub $10 purchases. I've found AE to often be cheaper than eBay but it's good practice to check both.
 
Last edited:

Forgot to add, you can use an Intersil DG201 as a cross here (also DG211 if you are willing to jumper 12/13 - I think the Maxim DG211 doesn't need a jumper).

I've never had issues ordering from China anyway,

Repairing some BZ boards today, discovered I purchased some bad TL082s (from eBay seller good-module who I'd bought from before with no issues).

Googling 18MDSHY TL082 brought up this interesting article:
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/fake-tl082-are-actually-a-cheaper-model.141005/
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20171228_220037.jpg
    IMG_20171228_220037.jpg
    263 KB · Views: 51
  • IMG_20171228_220428.jpg
    IMG_20171228_220428.jpg
    513.7 KB · Views: 47
  • IMG_20171228_220337.jpg
    IMG_20171228_220337.jpg
    243 KB · Views: 67
I wouldn't even bother with random Chinese sellers for TL082s, which are still in production and readily available from numerous reputable sources.

You must be buying in very high volume that a 10 cent IC makes a big savings vs paying 25 cents from a top ranked distributor like Digikey.
 
I wouldn't even bother with random Chinese sellers for TL082s, which are still in production and readily available from numerous reputable sources.


Ian beat me to it. I get most of my active parts from Digikey and/or GPE, except for the obsolete stuff that you can't find, like DACs and 1495's. Common stuff like TL082's are actually pretty cheap if you get them in volume.

For me, the certainty of buying from reputable sources is worth the few extra bucks, when it comes to the common stuff, as I do a high volume of repairs. I did get things like 7xxx regulators and transistors from China when I first started getting into repairs, and didn't end up having issues in those cases. But now that I'm doing higher volume, the minimal savings aren't worth the risk, and it ends up being more convenient to get everything from one or two sources anyway.

But in the end, taking risks on cheap China deals can be a fun gamble/exercise, as long as you have the means to test what you get, and be sure it's reasonably good enough for your purposes. I'll take chances with my own boards, but not for other peoples' stuff.
 
I get most of my active parts from Digikey and/or GPE, except for the obsolete stuff that you can't find, like DACs and 1495's.

I was replying to your earlier comment "I've never had issues ordering from China anyway,". I was surprised they would go to the bother of faking something as cheap and ubiquitous as this. Lesson learned. As I also said earlier "My advice, have a way to test whatever you receive".
 
Last edited:
I use www.findchips.com to locate things like the DAC312HP which replaces the DAC6021. These are/were still available from reliable sellers. They also will list sources that have the old PROMs used on the mathbox boards. I've had mixed results buying from eBay. I've gotten working parts and I've gotten junk.

Buyer Beware!

Kirk S.
 
Back
Top Bottom