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Registered Member #1334
Joined: Tue Feb 19 2008, 04:37PM
Location: Nr. London, UK
Posts: 615
Harry wrote ...
Nicko wrote ...
Bring back HL Smiths, Proops, (the original) Henry's Radio etc.
Was Smith's the one in Lisle Street, Soho, Nicko?
Nah. HL Smiths was in Edgware Road, just north of the flyover. Henry's was opposite and Technomatic a bit further up. Proops was in Tottenham Court Road. Lisle Street was completely different...
I got the chassis for my first valve radio made in HL Smiths - I was nine at the time, and bunked off school to go up there on a weekday...
Registered Member #1232
Joined: Wed Jan 16 2008, 10:53PM
Location: Doon tha Toon!
Posts: 881
Nicko: Thanks for the links. That looks very interesting, and sounds very similar from your description. Now I just need a reason to go to HK, and I know where to head for first. I'd also forgotten about Proops in London, but it is no more?
Avalanche: I'll have to check that out next time I'm in Derby or Notts. M&B radio also looks quite interesting for used test gear and is a bit closer to home for me too! I think a lot of Uni's send old test gear there when they re-kit their labs.
Marko: Yes the Japanese do like things to be bright and bold in the cities. There are also some nice quiet parks hidden away though so you get the best of both really.
There's two sorts of electronics shops in Akihabara. Ther big consumer electronics shops like Laox, where the salesmen speak reasonable English, and will also discuss the issues with bringing your electronic gadget back to Europe, (Different mains voltage/freq, different TV systems, radio bands, phone networks, etc.) You used to be able to get some very good deals there a few years ago on things like MP3 players/recorders, laptops, digi-cams etc. (I got a portable Sony Mini-Disc player/recordable there about 8 years ago for about 120 quid. The same model was 270 in the Sony center in England.) These days it's very touristy there, and the prices aren't much cheaper than back home. Not enough to justify the hassles of dealing with mains adapters, Japanese keyboards, foreign manuals etc. Still interesting to have a browse though because the stores are HUGE!
The other type of electronics shop there is the one with thousands of components, and one Japanese guy somewhere amongst them. (You can usually spot him if he moves!) These were the stores I found most interesting for finding unusual stuff. Unfortunately, the man or woman there typically speaks little or no English, and I speak very little Japanese. Fortunately electronics part numbers can be written down though, and are pretty widly understood worldwide.
Oh, I also bought some tiny motors there, (about 9mm long and 3mm O/D) - originally intended for vibrating alert in mobile phones/pagers.
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