Introduction and question about Electronics Components shops in the NE

[tuga2112]

Hi everyone. im hoping this is the right group to get some help when it comes to electronics projects ?

I dont actually do electronics as a hobby per se, but as a side effect of my "real" hobby (repairing cars from the 90s) I Have ended up learning how to handle a soldering iron... swaping microswitches in mice... and eventually made a window control unit using an arduino nano..

so. at this point i am looking to find out if theres any place where i can buy a SMD NPN transistor suitable to repair a speetometer circuit.

I Know theres a business in whitley bay that may have it. but as i live in Durham. its not really a practical place to go.. if its still there, and is open on weekends ?

so.. this leads to the question if anyone can help with some insight into electronics and where to get parts from.

if i dont find anything local ill just end up ordering some from ebay.

on a separate note. is there some discord server for this group or something like that ? this board seems rather quiet ?

[Alistair MacDonald]

Hi,

Welcome to the group.

It is ESR Electronics that is just down from Cullercoats. It is still there but does not open on weekends any more to my knowledge.

Truth is we buy most components online nowadays. Personally I get most of mine direct from China via Aliexpress, or Farnell or RS in the UK. For smaller quantities in a hurry I would go to the RS trade counter in Team Valley.

Is that of any help? What component is it you are after?

All the best,

  Alistair

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[Jason S]

Does the Team Valley RS deal with hobbyists? I thought it was trade only so wouldn't recommend it. If it does, I'd recommend to avoid the large postage costs.

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[Glen Beestone]

Hi this is the general northeast ( and beyond) Makers Google group.

Are you a member of MakerSpace ? http://makerspace.org.uk
If you are I can get you added to our Maker Space Members mailing list and our chat channels. 

ESR is pretty good but a bit out of the way for me. I generally just use eBay for components.

Regards, 

Glen

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[Alistair MacDonald]

It was trade only, but okay to use as a freelancer so no ID needed. They use to want a company name and address to put in the computer but I understand they do not any more. It has been veen a decade since I used RS though so I am going on what others have said.

All the best,

  Alistair

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[Jon Davies]

The IM platform is Matrix, put #makerspace-ncl:matrix.org or #makerspace-ncl-main:matrix.org into your client of choice.

The favourite client seems to be Element: https://app.element.io/#/welcome

Sign in or create an account if you don't have one, then as above, search for our chat room.

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From: tuga2112 <tuga...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2025 21:36
To: North East Makers
Subject: [Makers] Introduction and question about Electronics Components shops in the NE

[David Pye]

Hi,

We might be able to be more helpful to you if you can offer more information.

Specifically, the circuit diagram/the NPN transistor you require.  We might have some (or an equivalent) in our stores, and for the price of a stamp I'd certainly be happy to send a couple to you *if* we have something suitable.

David

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[tuga2112]

not a member of the makerspace. but i have visited the premises and meet a few members.

i liked the premises and the tools available to members were the kind of stuff i cant have (expensive or too large) but i was told that pretty much every single of them "wasnt working right" which puts me in a position of adding more work to fix them before using them. which when adding to the fact id have to drive a bit of a distance to get there, made the place not worth paying a regular membership fee for.

as far as the circuit... this is proprietary stuff from a car manufactorer. i dont think its possible to get diagrams legally. or even ilegally it will be quite a challenge to get hold of them if they are at all available..
the transistor markings were rubbed off at the factory, which is also unhelpfull. im in the position to want to go someplace and just get a range of different things with the same size and trial them hoping something works.

[tuga2112]

thanks for all your prompt replies.

I Am not a formal paying member of the gateshead markerspace.
I Have visited the place on a wednesday evening, had a look at the facilities and meet a few of the members. it didnt seem like i would be taking advantage of the facilities enough to justify paying a membership, there is a chance I will be joining if/when i start some project where a laser engraver, or wood CNC machine would be required. but for the time being, my soldering station at home fulfills all my needs and the members i spoke with didnt seem to have the same motivation for engaging with electronics as mine.

thanks for the tip about team bvaley RS components. thats a bit closer to me. and i will certainly give them a try.

[Dan Nixon]

Curious what you were told was not functional.

Currently we only have one machine that is completely unserviceable (the CNC mill), the rest are usable and do see frequent use.

Best,

Dan

[tuga2112]

the CNC was "unsure if it can work"
the lathe was "probably works, nobody has ever used it?"
the 3d printers were "works but not acurate"
and i think there was an osciloscope or a power supply unit that was fully not working.. i cant remmeber what it was specifically. but was one of those more involved electronics machinery and was completely non-funcitonal.

[Glen Beestone]

Someone may have pointed out our old prusa i2 as being defunct. but our current 3D printers work great. the new Bambu ones are super accurate.

The lathe works, but doesn't get a lot of use and is possibly not super accurate. (depends on the level of precision you require.)

theres a hefty DC supply in the office that needs a once over before it can be used but
there are many others to choose from, as well as oscilloscopes.

The Laser cutter might have been temporarily out of order when you visited it,  was recently,  but is either now fixed or will be very soon (awaiting a part)

there is a large CNC woodworking router if that is what you were shown ? that works fine

So yeah, really only the CNC metalworking mill that is a work in progress.  

Regards,

Glen.

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[Alistair MacDonald]

It sounds like you visited a number of years ago. In fact I think we are a couple of generations of 3D printer on and there are two CNCs (the mill and the router, and the router actually works ;-) ). Things change all the time. To me it feels mothing changes for moths and then everything happens at one, but as long as we are progressing then I am happy.

All the best,

  Alistair

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[tuga2112]

i think its been about a year since my visit. maybe not that long.

I Recall a wood CNC machine. i do not recall seeing a metal CNC machine. that certainly is a much more usefull tool for my specific circunstances. (assuming its dimentions could make the kind of stuff i would be looking for)

its good to know the tooling is better than when i last visited. I may pay another visit sometime soon.

[David Pye]

Hi,

Unless you can figure out a bit more about the transistor (pinout, voltage/current it needs to handle, gain- ideally), it's going to be very difficult to figure out what you need.

Feel free to drop me a message if you locate that info and I can see if we have something suitable for you.

David

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