#126 - "An Endangered Species?"

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Jarno
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#126 - "An Endangered Species?"

Post by Jarno » Fri Aug 10, 2018 6:49 am

I very much liked this article by John Baccigaluppi, but I do have some comments.
As one who is working in product development I have my fair share of experience in dealing with RoHS. And I agree, while on one hand it is good that we prevent hazardous materials ending up on the landfill, high end audio equipment (or in my case MRI scanning equipment) is highly unlikely to end up there. Also, if environmental considerations are at the heart of the regulation, than why isn't it also relevant for automotive products? Weird.
I must say though, the mentioning of "EU" is not needed, regardless of where certain legislation originates from, at it's core, it does make sense, let's not pollute any more than we need to. Anyhow, most regulations are harmonised globally anyway, so country/ region of origin is moot.

With respect to availability of components, I do not share your concern, except for resistive optocouplers (vactrols). While it is sad to see the local shops go, with the advent of the internet, getting the exact type of component you need has never ever been easier. In the old days, I vividly recall going to my local electronics shop, only to find out a certain capacitor could only be had axial and not radial, not in a certain value, way too large, way too small, or the IC not available, or potmeters in some exotic pinout or value, etc etc.
At least for DIY electronics, it seems a sort of "ad hoc" industry standard is there. And with eBay and other outlets, as well as valves being produced in numerous types, availability of components is pretty good. People are even making those pesky specialised IC used for synths again (CEM3340 etc). Yes, we sometimes lament the obsolescence of parts like OTA's and matched double transistors, or a painful one like vactrols, but at the same time there are pretty interesting new parts.

Keep up the good work! Would like to see more (DIY) electronics articles in TapeOp!

TapeOpLarry
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Re: #126 - "An Endangered Species?"

Post by TapeOpLarry » Sat Sep 15, 2018 4:00 pm

If you were repairing studio gear, and had to get a tape deck up and running for a session tomorrow, you would be pretty annoyed if no electronic parts stores were in your area and the only way to get a 50 cent diode was to order it online and pay $20 to get it delivered too late for the start of the session. These are really the problems we face, and it's changed as the internet came along.
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