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Re: [TowerTalk] Source for FairRite ferrite cores

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Source for FairRite ferrite cores
From: Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Reply-to: jim@audiosystemsgroup.com
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2018 12:20:47 -0800
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
On 1/25/2018 11:27 AM, Bob Shohet, KQ2M wrote:
Amidon was also the only supplier that was willing to give even better pricing 
than listed plus they answered most of my technical questions.

Bob,

I wouldn't expect ANY parts vendor to provide useful technical advice.  I first published my research showing that Fair-Rite #31 was the superior material for HF chokes in 2008. It took at least 5 years for Amidon to notice. There used to be a ham named Amidon who started the company, and I strongly suspect he was the source of the tech data they list. He's been SK for a LOONG time.

Your experience may be different, but if you didn’t spend the time doing the 
hard work like I did, then you missed a great opportunity.

Over the years, I've personally done four large group purchases of Fair-Rite parts, and worked closely with others on five more. I've also done several group purchases of Amphenol RF connectors and high quality audio connectors. In all cases, either I or the other ham doing the group purchase has done the homework you describe.

There was a time when Fair-Rite direct offered the best prices. For the last several years, Dexter Magnetics and Lodestone Pacific have had the best prices. Many years ago, I bought from Kreger. They have not been competitive for about ten years.

k9yc.com/RFI-Ham.pdf lists several Fair-Rite vendors, and advises getting quotes from as many as practical. I also noted that any one of the vendors may provide a lower quote on a particular part because they have remaining stock from a large order for another customer, or because their customer base buys enough of that part to justify their own purchase in quantity for stock.  From several posts in this thread, it appears that Arrow falls into that category. Some vendors are more oriented for small quantity purchases (for industrial vendors, 100 pieces is fairly small quantity). I found best prices on Amphenol 83-1SP connectors at Allied, but better prices on adapters from other vendors. I find best prices on audio connectors from Full Compass, and suspect that Sweetwater will be competitive.

Also, quantity price breaks on Fair-Rite parts rarely fall into decimal slots like 10 and 100 pieces. Rather, they depend on box quantities, and vary from one product to another. When buying quantity, a buyer should ALWAYS ask where the price breaks are for a given part. For example, the 2.4-in o.d. toroids are packed 100 to a box, which the "largest clamp-on" (1-in i.d.) is packed 36 to a box. I recently paid $13.57 each for 150 pieces of the relatively new 4-in o.d. #31 toroid. Their box quantity is 25 pieces, with breaks at 50, 100, and 250 pieces (the largest quantity I asked for), and one box of the #31 "largest clamp-ons" for $8.45 each.

#43 material is a bit less expensive than #31 if purchased in the same quantity. I've recommended #31 for use at 6M and HF because it's superior to #43 below 5 MHz and for 6M, and nearly as good as #43 between 10 and 30 MHz. It is thus a more universally useful part, so the price difference disappears if purchased in quantity.

73, Jim K9YC

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