Australian prices and suppliers (Hakko 888, BK Precision DMM etc)

[snarkyboojum]

Hi guys,

Second post!

I'm keen to upgrade my DMM and perhaps my soldering station/iron. I'm looking at some of the recommendations made by Dave of course. I'm based in Australia, and would like aussie power plugs if possible (for the Hakko), so I'm looking at aussie distributors/suppliers.

Everything I've found in country is almost 2x the price of the same gear in the US or elsewhere. Are we just getting ripped off over here? Are there any tricks to getting decently priced gear with Australian plugs, and perhaps even from aussie suppliers without getting gouged?

Cheers,
Adrian.

[justanothercanuck]

Hard to say.  The US dollar is almost on par with the Canadian dollar, and the same holds true for the Australian dollar.

Do you have any particular products in mind?  We could always price-check. 

[snarkyboojum]

Aye - the aussie dollar is still on par with the greenback or slightly stronger - has been for a while. We don't see any price drops here though.

I've done some price checking, and au.mouser.com, au.element14.com etc are at least 50% more expensive, but more often than not closer to 100% more expensive. All other aussie retail sites I've checked are just as bad.

Products I was interested in:

BK precision multimeter 2709B
Hakko FX-888D or FX-888 solidering station

Was hoping the collective electronic wisdom on here might have been able to make recommendations for decent aussie prices for electronics gear - so any suggestions would be appreciated I suspect it's like most other retail stuff in Australia - we're getting seriously gouged

[Harvs]

For the FX-888, it's the 220/240V versions are just double the price.  Doesn't matter what country you buy it from, so after a lot of searching around I just added one to an au.element14 order.


It's been discussed on here before about why it's like that, so feel free to search and read those threads if you like.


But at the end of the day, I bought one for the 240V price, and long ago forgot the extra money it cost.  I still think its worth the money despite the significant difference to the 110V market.


Obviously for a battery powered DMM the worlds your oyster for shopping, so just buy through a different country if you don't care about warranty and after sales service.  Or buy through an Australian rep if you want to play for the service.

[justanothercanuck]

BK precision multimeter 2709B
Hakko FX-888D or FX-888 solidering station

The meter comes back as $112 on Mouser.  Wasn't able to source the soldering station, but I only checked Mouser and Digikey, so I didn't try all that hard. 

I'm not sure if I like that meter though.  It's voltage range is okay, but I don't like the resistor or capacitor ranges. 

[snarkyboojum]

Thanks for the insight, guys. I'll do some more searching/digging. Amazing that the 220V/240V is twice the price. Crazy.

[snarkyboojum]

BK precision multimeter 2709B
Hakko FX-888D or FX-888 solidering station

The meter comes back as $112 on Mouser.  Wasn't able to source the soldering station, but I only checked Mouser and Digikey, so I didn't try all that hard. 

I'm not sure if I like that meter though.  It's voltage range is okay, but I don't like the resistor or capacitor ranges. 

Yup - and $142 on au.mouser.com. See what I mean? Inflated prices (OK. I'll stop whinging now).

[notsob]

mektronics have a 'special' on FX888D this february

[EEVblog]

TrioSmartCal have good prices in oz for meters.
For instance, some cheap "ex-demo" Agilent meters:
http://www.triosmartcal.com.au/1164-agilent-u1241a.html
http://www.triosmartcal.com.au/2998-agilent-u1241a.html

Dave.

[poorchava]

I think it may actually make economical sense to buy a 230<->120 transformer and buy US stuff.