Experiences with Information Unlimited?

Hi guys,

I'm looking to buy quite a bit of gear and supplies, and I came across Information Unlimited at amazing1.com. They seem to have been in business for over 30 years! Has anybody ever bought supplies from them? How's the quality/time frame/customer service? Would you buy from them again?

Thanks!

Years ago ( 10+ years) I purchased 2 huge neon transformers from them. The gentleman I spoke with was extremely helpful. It was a good experience. A lot of time has passed, so I can't speak to their customer service these days. I would probably buy from them again.

The transformers still work great. I pull them out of storage every Halloween for my Jacobs ladder.

A bit overpriced, IMO but a good company!

Aye, I've bought many a thing from them over the years with great success every time. In the last decade their prices have risen considerably though so if you can find what you need elsewhere, get it there instead.

For example; Tesla Coils. Much of the smaller <$300 "tesla" stuff they have is overpriced solid state junk, and their larger coil kits cost more than collecting the parts separately elsewhere would. They're still good for schematics, spark gaps, toroids, large pulse caps (but not MMC caps), and things like that though. You can get a secondary wound to your specs from EasternVoltageResearch for less than $100, or spend >$200 on a similar but generic one at Info Unlimited.

Likewise, don't get any lasers there, it's all just CNI stuff that is far, far cheaper at Laserglow.

Pretty much anything else they sell/make is good to go. I'm a fan of their CW (Cockroft Walton Multiplier) based stuff, you can't even buy chinese crap components on eBay for less than they charge for the good stuff for multipliers!

That's very helpful feedback, folks. My pre-buy jitters are greatly alleviated, though I think I'll get my comparison shopping on before jumping in with both feet.

I remember seeing IU's website back in the late 1990s. They used to have sets of ruby rods and other stuff like that you could buy to make your own lasers.

I remember the Information Unlimited catalogs that I would get in the late 80's Used to look at them and imagine what I could do with all the cool stuff they used to have in them :>

I built an "ion ray gun" from them It charged a person up from a distance so whenever they touched something, they got a shock.....

.... to this day I feel sorry for my poor cat :crackup:


OMG they still sell the plans :eg: http://www.amazing1.com/ion-gun.htm#IOG3

OMG they still sell the plans Ion Ray, Charge Guns

Click to expand...

Many of the plans are almost useless without their kits...

Arayan said:

Many of the plans are almost useless without their kits...

Click to expand...

depends on the plan I guess, and how good you are for adapting some of the older tech to the new designs. That is like looking at "how to build your own laser phaser and ion ray gun http://www.amazon.com/Build-Laser-P...6041/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334970778&sr=8-1

The plans in that book are all using 1980's tech, and would be difficult to build today without doing research and substituting modern parts. Still an interesting read tho, for a night at least :na:

Lol, if I remember correctly I think I ordered some printed material from them in the mid-1980s, and my mom, who actually bought it for me (since I was still in high school and had no job at the time) refused to pay more than a couple of dollars for shipping/handling (they wanted about $6 or $7) for "just a few papers".

Amazingly they actually accepted and sent the order! :crackup:

ThunderSqueak said:

I remember the Information Unlimited catalogs that I would get in the late 80's Used to look at them and imagine what I could do with all the cool stuff they used to have in them :>

I built an "ion ray gun" from them It charged a person up from a distance so whenever they touched something, they got a shock.....

.... to this day I feel sorry for my poor cat :crackup:


OMG they still sell the plans :eg: Ion Ray, Charge Guns

Click to expand...

Oh my... Google here I come!