dick smith electronics....

[southtown]

these are the electronic shop in my town so i go to buy a lm 386 for my ruby and the box which has the label on the outside actually has a chip called a 24FC515 in it.i say to the dsick smith man hey this isnt a lm386 he goes looks on his computer and comes and tells me oh nah dont worry about it there the same thing. i assume he knows something so i go take it home, my ruby doesnt work...hmm i wonder if this chip is the sma e thing. i search this chip up on the net its some sort of memory device...stupid dick smiths..... :?

[octafish]

i assume he knows something

That's your mistake, they only know how to sell you a phone.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

DS aren't any better in Oz. I needed a 22v AC transformer (for an old Yamaha analog delay) & tragically Altronics & Jaycar couldn't help, so off to Dicky's for a M2860 (two centre tapped 15v windings.. 15 +7.5 = 22.5, close enuff). I ring first, they say "yeah we got three M2860". So off I go & say "I want a M2860" to the sales droid, who replies "nah we wont have that it's too popular" wanders around aimlessly comes back & says "nah, no stock, no M2840s at all". So i say, well it's a M2860 I want, not a M2840. So he moves over to a display of wall warts and stares hopelessly at them. I say 'it's not a wall wart" He then stares at rolls of wire while i say "it's like a component, you build it into things, it has wires out of it". he says "i'll have to look it up" So he looks in the computer (NOT the catalog, which has a pic of it!!) and eventually finds one in a box. "IT"S A BOX!!!" he says accusingly, like I was trying to trick him. Yeah man, it's a transformer in a box, and you are a waste of space :x  :x  :x  :x

[bryantabuteau]

i got an lm386 from dick smith down in welly no probs.  but they ARE pretty clueless.  invariably, some guy asks me if he can help, and sometimes I ask about a particular IC/tranny, and he says - 'it'll be somewhere in this rack here'.  Yeah, cheers for that.  I definately couldn't figure that one out for myself.

[smccusker]

I would have laughed at the assistant for checking the value of a pot from the outside lugs if i hadn't forgotten which marking indicated the which taper :/

[grapefruit]

I make a point of not going to dick smith, but a few months ago I went with a friend to pick up a few components for her daughters school project I was helping with. I endup up leaving my friend with the list and saying I'd better wait outside before I lose it and start yelling at one of these wankers. Not an enjoyable experience.  

A few years before that I had to explain ESD handling precautions to one of the staff when he put an 8031 microcontroller in his hand, unprotected, and walked accross the floor!

Stew.

[niftydog]

would any Aussies here ask a Woolworths employee to suggest which apple is best for stewing (for example!)? No way in hell!

Exact same thing at Dickies. That's about the level they employ at.

Get your info straight beforehand so you don't get misled by the idiot store clerks.

[smccusker]

I find it helps to look on the webpage first and jot down the catalogue numbers of diodes, transistors and ICs, and then just look up all the parts by their catalogue numbers (and double check the value just to be safe). Its less likely you'll need someones help then.

[robbiemcm]

I hate Dick Smith, I dont bother with the staff. I just make sure I know all the part numbers so I can show them the numbers and get away. Problem is, they don't seem to have any of the trannies I need. And if they do have it, it's almost certainly not in the box.

Where does everyone else find the major transistors and things that they use for their stomboxes (in Australia) I just can't find them.

[smccusker]

As I understand it, Dick Smith, Jaycar et al all stock transistors with different manufacturer names. So instead of 2NXXXX we have BCXXXX.
Someone here can probably tell you all the BC equivalents for 2N values.