[time-nuts] HP Cesium Standards in the International Atomic Time Scale, the legend of Felix Lazarus, and the "top cover

[Bob kb8tq]

Hi

The gotcha is - if you have a very unique part in a device and it goes away, how
many years of stock do you buy on the “last chance” order? 

In the case of the 5071, I’d bet a pretty good brand of six pack that nobody on the 
planet would have guessed 20 years ago that it still would be in production today. 

Bob

> On Dec 24, 2018, at 1:59 AM, Hal Murray <hmurray at megapathdsl.net> wrote:
> 
> 
> jimlux at earthlink.net said:
>> and the "market lifetime" of parts today is much shorter.  There are  lots of
>> parts from Hittite that were essentially "run on this line  only", and when
>> they moved geometries, they're never to be seen again. 
> 
> Most vendors make a lot of noise before they pull the plug on a part.  The 
> usual deal is that they fill all orders placed by a specified date - lifetime 
> buy.  Distributors typically send a note to anybody who has purchased them, or 
> maybe only purchased significant quantities.
> 
> If a part isn't expensive, you can afford to buy extras beyond what you expect 
> to need to cover some what-ifs.  That probably doesn't cover something like 
> the 5071 being in production for 30 years.  But it could give you a few years 
> warning - maybe enough time to find a substitute and/or redesign that section.
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> These are my opinions.  I hate spam.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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