Author Topic: Building a lab. Essential components?  (Read 12393 times)

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Offline sleemanj

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Re: Building a lab. Essential components?
« Reply #25 on: October 16, 2013, 03:38:40 pm »
SMD kits are, in my opinion, pointles

That's nice, but I can't imagine I'm the only one who disagrees, and here's a few reasons...

Draw schema, design PCB, print, etch, and solder on components, idea to prototype in an afternoon, and it's not  fragile mess of wires on a breadboard.

It's a good idea to prototype with the same form of parts that you will use in the end design, if you use THT to prototype and then use SMD when you make a PCB... you might have more unanticipated issues.

You can keep ridiculous quantities of SMD components in a small space, in two small pill organisers I have enough resistors to last me half a lifetime of tinkering.

If you want to you can use them on a breadboard simply by soldering legs on them (or to a 2 pin 2.54mm header).

The larger SMD components have their values printed on them, no need to futz with colour codes.

SMD components are generally a lot cheaper.

Lots of interesting stuff only comes in SMD.

You have to get used to SMD eventually.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any THT parts, of course you should have some, but SMD kits are certainly not as "pointless" as you think they are.
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Offline edavid

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Re: Building a lab. Essential components?
« Reply #26 on: October 16, 2013, 04:29:16 pm »
If you are buying lots of basic parts, Tayda Electronics is really cheap, and has better reviews than Futurlec. I believe they are located in China (India possibly?), so shipping takes a long time, but they have most of the basic parts you will need for cheap. I would recommend getting common parts here, like resistors, capacitors, etc. I haven't ordered from them personally, so I can't really comment on quality or anything.

Thailand as mentioned, but shipping to the US only takes about a week.  Quality is usually OK, but I don't think I would buy ICs or expensive items from them, because their "satisfaction guarantee" is worthless.
 

Offline JohnnyGringo

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Re: Building a lab. Essential components?
« Reply #27 on: October 16, 2013, 07:34:33 pm »
Quote
Does anyone know where they ship from in the US?   I saw that NY was their US headquaters, but it said no stock at loction.    Just curious on delivery time.

I don't know where their warehouse is; however, if you need these parts urgently, DON'T order from Futurlec! Shipping is very slow; they sometimes take several weeks just to post the parcel in the mail in the first place.

NY is just a mail-drop, (not even a phone number) along with many other "online" companies. When I ordered/cancelled from them, it was in Australian Dollars (plus International Money Transaction Fee).  They are just a front man for front men in China.  They have no stock, everything is shipped from the factory on a per-order basis. Sometimes you have to wait for a production run (@factory), hence the long lead times.

I tried emailing them about an order/status/tracking with NO response.  I finally told my credit-card company to NOT pay them. Only then, did I get a email from them stating that my order had been canceled.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2013, 07:38:31 pm by JohnnyGringo »
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Offline Grobalo

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Re: Building a lab. Essential components?
« Reply #28 on: October 22, 2013, 01:19:24 pm »
Someone on the forum recommended this address: http://futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml

It's really cheap, and shipping cost are affordable too. I just bought 50$ of mixed components, only 5$ shipping to Europe.

I'd suggest googleing "Futurlec complaints".  I've had problems ordering from these mysterious folks.

Update: I've just got my components today. The package was sent fom Singapore.

I ordered on Oct. 4, they sent the package on Oct. 7 and got it on Oct. 22. That's acceptable if you simply want to restock components.

The packaging is OK but they don't use anti static bags.
 

Offline JohnnyGringo

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Re: Building a lab. Essential components?
« Reply #29 on: October 22, 2013, 03:01:33 pm »
Someone on the forum recommended this address: http://futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml

It's really cheap, and shipping cost are affordable too. I just bought 50$ of mixed components, only 5$ shipping to Europe.

I'd suggest googleing "Futurlec complaints".  I've had problems ordering from these mysterious folks.

Update: I've just got my components today. The package was sent fom Singapore.

I ordered on Oct. 4, they sent the package on Oct. 7 and got it on Oct. 22. That's acceptable if you simply want to restock components.

The packaging is OK but they don't use anti static bags.

Oh! That's great!  Do you also live in Singapore? :-//

On a more serious note... what all did you order? Just curious.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2013, 03:08:42 pm by JohnnyGringo »
"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein
 

Offline Grobalo

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Re: Building a lab. Essential components?
« Reply #30 on: October 22, 2013, 03:38:24 pm »
Update: I've just got my components today. The package was sent fom Singapore.

I ordered on Oct. 4, they sent the package on Oct. 7 and got it on Oct. 22. That's acceptable if you simply want to restock components.

The packaging is OK but they don't use anti static bags.

Oh! That's great!  Do you also live in Singapore? :-//

On a more serious note... what all did you order? Just curious.

I've ordered one piece of each component "value pack": http://futurlec.com/ValuePacks.shtml

Didn't take the sockets/connectors.
 


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