[TriLUG] OT: Hobby Parts for Electronics

[Jaimie Livingston]

If you cruise the web for some of the BEAM Robotics websites, you'll find
lots of sources for cheap electronics odd's and end's. You can also salvage
an amazing amount of stuff from junk electronics that you pick up at yard
sales.

I don't really know of anywhere in Ral/Dur/CH that supplies basic
electronics anymore. The preferred place to go was Capital Electronics, but
they've closed up shop.

You could also hook up with the Triangle Amateur Robotics Club. I'm sure
they have a good list of sources. www.triangleamateurrobotics.org

There are some standards online:

All Electronics is the online junk shop for electronics hobbyists. The
quality is sometimes iffy, but this is where I usually start if I need
something cheep. They carry much more than electronics too. It's a pretty
nifty place to just look around.
www.allelectronics.com

Mouser is my favorite. You can generally get most items in lots of 1, but
you'll obviously get better pricing per component if you order more. The
online catalog is in PDF format, so you may want to order a paper catalog.
www.mouser.com

DigiKey is a good source, but may have minimums on some parts. 
www.digikey.com

Newark
I haven't used them in a long time, as I generally find that Mouser or
DigiKey has better prices for small lot orders.
www.newark.com

SolarBotics is a good source for BEAM specific electronics, but can be a bit
pricey.
www.solarbotics.com/

Hobby Engineering is a interesting place to browse, but I've never actually
bought anything from them:
www.hobbyengineering.com/


Jaimie

> -----Original Message-----
> From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org 
> [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On Behalf Of Brian Weaver
> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 5:20 PM
> To: TriLUG
> Subject: [TriLUG] OT: Hobby Parts for Electronics
> 
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> This is off topic, mainly because the project in mind isn't for Linux
> this time. I'm wanting to hobby work with electronics, I did after all
> spend 6 years at NC State, most of it either in a computer lab or
> working on electrical circuits. The problem is I'm looking for a good
> place to find components. I know most basic stuff can be 
> found at Radio
> Shack, but does anyone know of any other local places or good online
> stores? I'm trying to compile a list of good vendors so that 
> I can find
> what I need when I do find time to work on a hardware project.
> 
> Since this is off topic, please reply off list to weave at spellweaver
> dot org. If you are interested in any links that I get from 
> others just
> send me a note and I'll forward along whatever I find out.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> -Weave
> 
>