The Electronic Goldmine

[kpreid]

I recently purchased some items from The Electronic Goldmine. I placed the order on December 2 (Sunday); it arrived at my post office box December 7 (Friday). The box was large and the contents were well-padded; I think it could safely have been smaller.

On the quality and details of the contents:
G15698 “5.5" x 12" Scissor Cut SS Copper Clad” $1.75 Looks like it got kicked around a bit: scratches, scuffs, grunge, and dark spots that might be dirt or pits; I haven't unbagged it yet. GP59 “Small Mono Capacitors” $2.49 Not quite as described and depicted. The leads are 1" rather than 1⁄2" long. All have leads exiting with .1" spacing, but most of them are bent into .2" spacing. G16567 “EIC-801 Solderless Breadboard 400 Contact” $4.49 No surprises, but note that the "distribution strip" is at a half-step offset from the "terminal strip" grid. The spacing between the distribution strip and the terminal strip sockets is an even .3" (two empty rows), however. The strips appear to be separable and interlocked, and are joined on the bottom with a pad of what appears to be double-sided foam tape. G8534 “Large Universal Breadboard” $6.75 The design is almost identical to the G16567, and they came in similar packaging (EIC branded); however, the attachment pegs/notches on the sides are not compatible. Unlike the photo, the distribution strips are marked in red and blue. G16562 “Microtips Technology MTC-S16204A LCD Display w/Backlight” $3.95 Looks new; haven't tested it yet. The pins fit into a breadboard as expected. G2200 “Electronic Surprise Box” $3.25 I haven't unpacked this, as I do not yet have containers to sort it into. The box is about a 4" cube (inside), and reasonably well filled. The items I've spotted on top are:

• 3 × 6.5V 8800µF electrolytic capacitors
• 1 × large non-electrolytic capacitor
• 2 × rectangular-ceramic-cased power resistors
• many resistors, on tapes
• many small glass diodes, loose
• 3 × not-yet-identified TO-92-package device
• 1 × not-yet-identified IC (bent leads)
• 1 × LED
• 3 × paired "N/R" 14V indicator lamps, incandescent, panel-mount
• 4 × 125V indicator lights
• 3 × thermal cutout fuses
• 3 × headers, 2×?? pins
• 4 × stick-on rubber feet
• 2 × stick-on cable clips

GP27 “LED Mixture 1” $2.49 All the non-surface-mount ones are working and in good condition. 5 were surface mount, packed in a plastic strip; I did not open it to test them. 3 are in plastic right-angle frames like in the photo of GP43; 10 are in frames which have the leads folded back underneath as if for surface mount or plug-in use. These frames could probably be removed by straightening the leads. 9 are rectangular, and 23 are round (various sizes, mostly 5mm). G1498 “Test Clips With Wire” $1.99 All tested and working; however, removing one of the insulating sleeves shows that the wires are attached merely by folding the conductor back over the insulation and crimping the clip on. No idea whether this is adequate in the long term. Some of the sleeves are quite slippery (fresh plastic), such that squeezing the clip fully open tends to result in it slipping out of the sleeve; shouldn't be a problem for normal use. The wires are quite flexible; nearly limp. Package branding is "SE".