Small lab IC wish list

[Spehro Pefhany]

Another moment of discovery will be (in my experience) is that looking
in a junk pile takes more time than ordering the parts online.
(Neglecting courier time.)
D from BC

Filing them away in little drawers or whatever is a *big* waste of
time. When the project is completed I just throw the leftovers into a
box with the prototype and file the whole mess unless they look *very*
likely to be used again.

Maybe being retired he doesn't think his time is valuable, but seems
to me that it's a supply and demand thing, the value should go up.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Another moment of discovery will be (in my experience) is that looking
in a junk pile takes more time than ordering the parts online.
(Neglecting courier time.)

It depends on how you organize your "JUNK". I sorted everything out
in 1970, using 50 drawer parts cabinets. I have added more parts over
the years, and more cabinets, but the system has worked VERY well. I
don't use self adhesive labels on the drawers. I print up a liner that
you can read through the drawer. I'll post a sample in ABSE.

I can find most small parts in a couple minutes with most of that
time being spent getting to and back from the parts room. The parts are
in a room in the garage, and the shop is in the house.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[D from BC]

It depends on how you organize your "JUNK". I sorted everything out
in 1970, using 50 drawer parts cabinets. I have added more parts over
the years, and more cabinets, but the system has worked VERY well. I
don't use self adhesive labels on the drawers. I print up a liner that
you can read through the drawer. I'll post a sample in ABSE.

I can find most small parts in a couple minutes with most of that
time being spent getting to and back from the parts room. The parts are
in a room in the garage, and the shop is in the house.

I put my leftover parts in a shoe box.
I make use of the original digikey bags and labels for my lazy system.
In the event I actually feel like looking for a part,
....I just flip through and read the digikey labels off the bags.
2 sections...passive and active

Often I forget what's in my junk collection so I just order parts
anyways...even though I might have it in stock!
I pay Digikey to be my stock room.
The costs are not significant enough for me to track, catalog,
organize or even look at my junk box.

I like to put more time into design work and less time maintaining a
mini stock room.
D from BC

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

I put my leftover parts in a shoe box.
I make use of the original digikey bags and labels for my lazy system.
In the event I actually feel like looking for a part,
...I just flip through and read the digikey labels off the bags.
2 sections...passive and active.

Often I forget what's in my junk collection so I just order parts
anyways...even though I might have it in stock!
I pay Digikey to be my stock room.
The costs are not significant enough for me to track, catalog,
organize or even look at my junk box.

I like to put more time into design work and less time maintaining a
mini stock room.

How long do you think it takes to look at cabinets full of labeled
drawers, opposed to searching online for a part? Don't you ever get an
idea in the middle of the night and have a working prototype by dawn? I
play the odds. Say I need six of a part but the break is at ten, and
ten are cheaper than six? Do you order just the six, or all ten? I buy
the ten, and put the free parts into a labeled drawer. I had a computer
database of my inventory, but the software won't run on a PC. One of
these days I'll write a conversion program to export the data in a comma
delimited format, and write it to a PC formatted floppy. I would keep a
clipboard next to the parts cabinets and make a note of anything used
that week, then update the database every Saturday. I printed out the
inventory every 90 days and left it in the same clipboard.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[D from BC]

How long do you think it takes to look at cabinets full of labeled
drawers, opposed to searching online for a part? Don't you ever get an
idea in the middle of the night and have a working prototype by dawn? I
play the odds. Say I need six of a part but the break is at ten, and
ten are cheaper than six? Do you order just the six, or all ten? I buy
the ten, and put the free parts into a labeled drawer. I had a computer
database of my inventory, but the software won't run on a PC. One of
these days I'll write a conversion program to export the data in a comma
delimited format, and write it to a PC formatted floppy. I would keep a
clipboard next to the parts cabinets and make a note of anything used
that week, then update the database every Saturday. I printed out the
inventory every 90 days and left it in the same clipboard.

When I have a BOM with say 50 parts..That's 50 places to look in a
filing system and who knows if it'll be there.. The time adds up.

I'd rather just order everything online.
I might check the junk box first if it's a part over $10.00.

On Digikey, I've noticed that I often just purchase what I need. No
more.. However, I do get hit with min order quantities and get left
overs for the junk box.

I don't construct circuits at night.. I often make schematic
improvements up until the parts arrive.
I have to order parts for the core design and guessed parts for the
design changes.

My junk box is mostly used when:
1) I burned out all my ordered parts
2) I forgot to order something
3) Parts for destructive testing

D from BC

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

When I have a BOM with say 50 parts..That's 50 places to look in a
filing system and who knows if it'll be there.. The time adds up.

I'd rather just order everything online.
I might check the junk box first if it's a part over $10.00.

On Digikey, I've noticed that I often just purchase what I need. No
more.. However, I do get hit with min order quantities and get left
overs for the junk box.

I don't construct circuits at night.. I often make schematic
improvements up until the parts arrive.
I have to order parts for the core design and guessed parts for the
design changes.

My junk box is mostly used when:
1) I burned out all my ordered parts
2) I forgot to order something
3) Parts for destructive testing

D from BC

My goal is to not spend a penny more than I have to, to finish any
project. Parts are sorted by category, then part number. It only takes
a few seconds to see if I have each part. Both my military and
manufacturing backgrounds scream WASTE! when I see how you do things. I
also have some expensive surplus parts like gold plated glass piston
trimmer capacitors and teflon insulated microwave piston trimmers.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[MooseFET]

The most valuable thing i have ever bought is a device programmer (and a UV
"EPROM" eraser). It made possible lots of project that were otherwise
impossible. Discrete logic is fine, but i need CPLD's and FPGA's more
often now (too much to do, too little board space to do it in).

Today a JAM/STAPL player and a download cable is needed. Most CPLDs
can be had as ISP parts.

Parts like the 22V10 can be had as reprogramable parts too.

Today, I don't think I would design in a micro that didn't have ISP
ability.

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Today a JAM/STAPL player and a download cable is needed. Most CPLDs
can be had as ISP parts.

Parts like the 22V10 can be had as reprogramable parts too.

Today, I don't think I would design in a micro that didn't have ISP
ability.

ICD is even better, for micro development, but I don't think even ISP
functionality is a shoo-in for all production situations.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany