Looking for advice on “go to” places for basic electronic accessories…quality stranded wire, male/female barrel plugs for batteries, etc. For a city the size of Fresno not to have an actual electronics store is criminal. And with Radio Shack gone it’s even worse.
Thanks,
Richard
Richard,
Welcome to my world with regards to suppliers of anything! Last year, someone on this forum recommended MPJA www.mpja.com) out of Florida. I bought various doo-dads off of them to make my DIY power packs and throttles. After a year of service, and this despite my abysmal soldering skills, all the parts are holding up fine. For another project, I had to go to some random vendor selling via Amazon, and it worked fine. The key for both sources was to wait until I had a big enough order to make the shipping worth my dollar, which did delay both projects.
Eric
I agree. I so miss Radio Shack. If I need one little part or some solder or something, I have to order it. Bleah.
That said, I get all my components, jacks and such from these two places:
Widgets and other assorted things from:
And of course, Amazon has everything 
Thanks for the suggestions. I’m looking forward to checking them all out. The other cringe-worthy reality in the Fresno area is the lack of large scale or any model train stores. The closest is Tehachapi with Gold Coast Station which is about 2.5 hours away…while an amazing site to see with all of the inventory it’s not an easy “quick” trip. I’ve often thought that when I retire from teaching to open a little shop up…
Richard
And with Radio Shack gone it’s even worse.
Funnily enough, we still have an RS store locally, with lots of goodies to buy. The online store works too.