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Component suppliers

Component suppliers

KrisBlueNZ

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(*steve*)

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Excellent!
 

(*steve*)

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Add RS (free shipping in Australia), also Altronics, Rockby and maybe Oatley.
 

Arouse1973

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What about CPC UK, Mouser UK and Digikey UK. If people live in the UK they might not even go on the website thinking it was just USA.

http://cpc.farnell.com/
http://uk.mouser.com/
http://www.digikey.co.uk/

Some others for UK.
http://www.anglia.com/
http://www.arroweurope.com/
https://www.microchipdirect.com/
http://www.toby.co.uk/

Most of the big suppliers will take your order over the phone if they don't have online ordering, you may have to pay the postage cost if there are any.

Thanks
Adam
 

KrisBlueNZ

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Thanks Steve, Adam and Dan. I've added all of your suggestions.

Can you guys provide comments about any of the suppliers you've used? For example, the type of components the specialise in (if any), the size of their range, or anything else relevant to people deciding who to use?

Adam, what's the difference between cpc.farnell.com and farnell.co.uk? They both have separate web sites but they both have Farnell in the name.
 

Supercap2F

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KrisBlueNZ said:
Can you guys provide comments about any of the suppliers you've used?

Sure, in fact I was just about to say something about that. :)

  • Jameco - Really big selection of components. Great catalog. Super great service.
  • Electronics Goldmine - Really neat stuff, A lot of hard to find components.
  • MPJA - They have a lot of tools for the trade. Great service.
  • BG Micro - They have a lot of oddball stuff, and they ship your order super fast.
  • Solarbotics - Great selection of motors and sensors.

Regards

Dan
 

Arouse1973

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Thanks Steve, Adam and Dan. I've added all of your suggestions.

Can you guys provide comments about any of the suppliers you've used? For example, the type of components the specialise in (if any), the size of their range, or anything else relevant to people deciding who to use?

Adam, what's the difference between cpc.farnell.com and farnell.co.uk? They both have separate web sites but they both have Farnell in the name.

CPC used to be like a big Maplin years ago and then they got bought out by Farnell. But they still stock all the Maplin type of things. They also used to do spares for TVs but not sure anymore. They are still a good supplier to have because I always say, "if all else fails try Digikey or CPC" :)
Adam
 

KrisBlueNZ

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Thanks guys. I've updated the resource.
 

Supercap2F

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Looks great Kris! I found out about some suppliers that I didn't know about before! :)

Dan
 

(*steve*)

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Digikey have free shipping for orders over $200 (this may be an occasional thing). I just took part in a group buy of parts with some colleagues to take advantage of this. I'm not a regular Digikey purchaser so I'm not certain if this was a special or is routine.
 

KJ6EAD

Aug 13, 2011
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More US sources:

All Electronics

http://www.allelectronics.com/

Surplus electronic parts and hobbyist supplies.

Proto Advantage

http://www.proto-advantage.com/

Supplies an extensive line of SMT to DIP adapter boards.

Sparkfun

https://www.sparkfun.com/

Arduino and other microcontrollers and their accessories primarily aimed at the hobbyist and student market. Also has Lilypad and other artistic electronic supplies.

Adafruit

http://www.adafruit.com/

Arduino and other microcontrollers and accessories.

Circuit Specialists

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/

Professional and hobby electronic supplies. Notable as a source of excellent Syntax prototyping PCBs. PC401 for example: http://www.circuitspecialists.com/pc401.html

The Fiber Optic Store

http://thefiberopticstore.com/

Plastic optical fiber products for art.
 
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JoeM

Sep 5, 2014
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I don't have the ability to start a new thread, so this is the best place I could post this.

if you are like me, you get parts in a lot of different ways. Some parts you pay top dollar for and get first quality parts from major distributors. Then other parts come from some of the hobby surplus sites, and some come in the form of a bulk grab bag purchase. We all hope to get some rare gems when we do that, and most times we are met with disappointment when we get a bag of junk. I have another habit that yields some valuable parts, and sometimes they are house numbers, or simply not marked.
I do have a couple of LCR meters, the new one being the top end Agilent hand held, and it works very well to show all kinds of data up to 100 kHz. I compared it to the cheaper model I have, and for most readings it was very close.
This brings me to the testing device I got from China via Ebay. I paid $25 for it, and it runs on the Arduino chip, and a 9vdc battery. It tests caps, resistors, diodes, transistors, MOSET'ss and much more.
 

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KrisBlueNZ

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Looks like it's a jazzed-up version of the one I just got: http://www.ebay.com/itm/281235252022. It uses an ATMEGA328. Designed by a guy in Germany who specifically says it's free for non-commercial use... which is why folks are selling it on eBay at a profit!

Do you have any suggestions for changes or additions to the resource?
 

JoeM

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Looks like it's a jazzed-up version of the one I just got: http://www.ebay.com/itm/281235252022. It uses an ATMEGA328. Designed by a guy in Germany who specifically says it's free for non-commercial use... which is why folks are selling it on eBay at a profit!

Do you have any suggestions for changes or additions to the resource?

I don’t know what I would want to change, other than to build a case with integral power supply. It does eat through a battery if you use it a lot. No doubt because of the big backlighted display it uses. One part that it had trouble with, actually, not trouble, it flat out can’t do it, is a 10 uf tantalum capacitor. It read down in the pf range. The Agilent read 9.5 uf, and the Extech read 9.4 uf. Maybe you know why that would happen, I have no clue. The rest of my capacitor tests were very good. The programming header was unpopulated, but labeled with pin out info, and on the bottom, So adding a header to it would be problematic.
 

KrisBlueNZ

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I don't know why that would be a problem. Mine works OK with tantalums over 10 µF.

I was meaning, do you have any suggestions for changes to the "component suppliers" resource?
 

JoeM

Sep 5, 2014
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I don't know why that would be a problem. Mine works OK with tantalums over 10 µF.

I was meaning, do you have any suggestions for changes to the "component suppliers" resource?

While I have used many of the suppliers already listed, and I like a lot of Electronic Goldmine sends to me in email, I find that most of it can be bought cheaper on Ebay. If I put an order together for a total of $25.00, the shipping will be $8.00, or even more if it contains transformers, and other heavy items. I do not buy many small quantities of anything, I buy things in 50, 100, or more. I share with my friends, and I never worry about destroying parts while playing around, there are more where they came from.
Most of the suppliers in the US are at a disadvantage when it comes to shipping. Marlin P. Jones is pretty close to me, but even their prices are steep compared to Ebay. The postman can't tell me why someone in China can sell me a part for $3.00, and ship it for free, and for me to send the part back, it cost $4.50, or even $8.00 for heavier parts. So if there is ever a problem, they know this and they tell me to keep the parts and refund my money. That is rare though, most parts are very good.
 
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