Mate there is nothing special at all about ULN2081 or 3081. They are just an array of seperate, general purpose transistors put in an IC package simply for assembly convenience.

You could very easily make up a replacement with seperate BC547's - I certainly wouldn't be paying anyone big bucks for them....

Thanks Homepin.... yeh i know its just a packaging... ill see how much they are before i make a decision.

It does explain why my Ic tested faulty though... schematics have pin 9 as COLLECTOR..... its actually VCC..

looking closer, i have a small ceramic cap that ties to ground.. this is not on the schematics and i bet its my faulty component... LOL - dont want to test it for short... would just about kill me after the day ive had!