Hey all.
I’m just wondering if anyone knows of a decent electronic components shop. I usually just go to a couple of shops in the basement at the computer market, but they often don’t have all the components I want. At the moment it’s a couple of photocouplers (VTL5C3/2 to be exact). This is a real bummer when you have the whole circuit built except for one or two components.
Can anyone help? The irony is that these things are probably made in Taiwan.
Stu
Are you meaning the basement of of the square complex many associate with the computer market or do you mean the stairs down near the SW corner of SongJiang BaDe crossing. I always thought the latter is fairly well sorted…
Anyway I noticed camera and soundrelated electronics not far from the Taipei tax-office. You should be able to spot it from the big crossing outside.
YingFan
Although I haven’t resorted to this yet, if you can’t find them in Taiwan, there is always www.digi-key.com. You could also probably try ebay if the part you are looking for is a very common part.
Yeah, that was my first thought, but I assume he’s been there if he knows his circuits.
Sorry, street names are not my forte, even in English. I mean the computer market just near Zhongxiao Xinsheng station. The underground market (goes down two floors) can be accessed from two places (as far as I can see). One of them is more or less on the corner of the road diagonally opposite the market “under the bridge”. That’s the same market under the bridge where in the basement they have some “choice” VCDs. 
Try the electronic shops at the South-West corner of Zhonghua and Zhongxiao Road.
Closest MRT: Taipei Main or Ximen Ding.
(Same place YingFan mentioned, near the tax office)
Excellent. Thanks a lot.
Anyone have any experience buying components here?
I assumed you meant the Bade/Xinsheng Guanghua computer market, which is under a bridge. Yes, in the basement they have ‘choice’ VCDs and used bookstores. Diagonally to the SW are more computer shops, and walking south from that toward Zhongxiao a few stores, you reach stairs down to B1 and B2 computer and electronic component shops; there’s another entrance in the following alley. We are probably talking about the same place. I’ve bought electronics components like LED’s, switches, computer fans and the like in one of the largest shops there in B2. If you speak Chinese, that’s probably a good place to start looking for what you want, and you can ask around there too; someone can probably point you in the right direction.
Yup, that’s where I’ve been buying stuff till now. I’ve started doing a couple of guitar effects pedals and they don’t have absolutely everything I need. Usually I can sort this out by finding alternatives and returning. The electronics shops I’m used to back home can usually tell you the alternatives, but here you have to do the research yourself. No problem there though, thanks to the good ol’ internet.
Anyway, I’m stuck at the moment cos they don’t even have any alternatives for the photocouplers I’m looking for. I realise these shops are mostly greared for “computer” projects.
On a related issue, is there anywhere that sells audio (neoprene/EDPM insulated) cable? The buckets of the stuff I have here all say ‘made in Taiwan’, so… Is it reasonably easy to find common components from the same area or should I bring a big box o’ bits to last me the next ten years?
[quote=“irishstu”]Hey all.
I’m just wondering if anyone knows of a decent electronic components shop. I usually just go to a couple of shops in the basement at the computer market, but they often don’t have all the components I want. At the moment it’s a couple of photocouplers (VTL5C3/2 to be exact). This is a real bummer when you have the whole circuit built except for one or two components.
Can anyone help? The irony is that these things are probably made in Taiwan.
Stu[/quote]
Hi All,
I was wondering where I can buy electronics components, switches, ICs, inductors etc in Taipei.
I visited Chin Hua Electronic Co near GuangHua Plaza today which was quite good but am wondering if there is anywhere else. Also I noticed Chin Hua has two other stores down in Taichung. Which of the three is the largest?
Reading through old posts (circa 2005) in Forumosa I can see a few other places like dfd.com.tw/ mentioned but they only seem to have big tvs and that kind of thing now.
Are other cities in Taiwan better for buying this kind of thing?
Any help is appreciated.
AB
wow … I just checked the data sheet for that part, haven’t seen one of those for years. The last time I did see one mentioned, IIRC, they suggested making your own with a LED and photoresistor (CdS device) wrapped up in a tube or black PVC tape. The basement electronic shops definitely have CdS sensors; I’ve seen them.
And incidentally, DigiKey ship free to Taiwan for orders over NT$3000. They’re very fast, but UPS (their preferred courier) are a royal pain in the ass.
EDIT: oops, sorry, just posted during merge, apparently. Please move.
Old thread, but I need an old (1993) small electrical component HP/AGILENT MSA-0404, 1 piece.
Does it make sense to go to Guanghua and look through the small shops in the basement? Or is there some Taiwanese online shops I could rather check… I see it on european and american speciality distribution websites, and also on Alibaba. But I’d love to buy it locally, avoiding customs troubles, high shipping cost, scams etc.
Any suggestions?
What is it you need exactly? I’ve got a fair idea what’s available in the shops and what isn’t.
I need to buy some stuff from Digi-Key when I get back to Taiwan (end of the month) so I could tack whatever-you-need onto the order, if that helps. I get free shipping.
That’s very nice, @finley. I’m looking for 1 piece of HP/AGILENT MSA-0404 - a small, vintage 4-pin THT microwave amplifier: http://www.om3bc.com/datasheets/msa0404.pdf
Oh, I see, I thought MSA-0404 was the model number of the instrument!
There is a store in B2 of the guanghua electronics mall that has a whole bunch of obscure RF devices. Some of their stock looks 10 years old. They’ll be your best bet.
Failing that, I think you’ll have to attempt a substitution. How about HMC374 plus an LDO regulator? Seems like most MMICs are designed to operate well below 7V these days.
Found the place, thank you!
RF-Parts Technology Co.
They are closed now (Monday noon), no opening hours or web site visible at their booth. A neighbor booth suggested they open around 15:00, let’s see. They have a a phone number given: (02) 3322-3960
It’s in the booth B2-17 of this building, which is close to the guanghua computer parts mall:
Guanghua Electronic Plaza
No. 6, Section 1, Xinsheng S Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100
02 2322 2600
