Author Topic: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?  (Read 682479 times)

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Offline JoeN

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #75 on: February 11, 2016, 07:14:11 am »
In the US I have never had any issue with customs for small parts.  I buy all the time.  No fees at all.  I bought all my equipment in the country, through.

Just a few items I have bought recently from China that came through without problems, usually in about 2 weeks:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171505067685
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200911914297
http://www.ebay.com/itm/371089057890
http://www.ebay.com/itm/351493804042
http://www.ebay.com/itm/371278122006
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181847022613

Most of these have come in small padded envelopes.  A couple of times I bought a large number of LED displays at a time that came in a big box and no customs that time either.  I don't think anything has ever been opened.  I hope they xrayed a few of them though.  Bought the displays from these guys:

http://www.futurlec.com

A couple dozen of these made for a large box:

http://www.futurlec.com/LED/LEDMVL58R.shtml
« Last Edit: February 11, 2016, 07:19:36 am by JoeN »
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Offline rob77

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #76 on: February 11, 2016, 09:16:15 am »
if you want to have a good and useful stock of parts then be prepared for a investment comparable to the price of the gear on your bench. and actually you'll need 2 "sets" of parts - through hole for quick proof of concept circuits on breadboards or stripboards and then SMDs for the final build - PCB area is expensive for one offs if you're not making your own PCBs.

a good practice is every time you order some parts for a project - order more than you need - especially from the common parts you'll use in another projects. and always watch for sale items... it really pays off (e.g. last month i scored IR half bridge drivers for 25 cents a pop - they're going for approx 1 eur in 100 quantities, this month i scored  some nice power mosfets in DPAK for 7 cents a pop)

where do you buy these? aliexpress? but shipping from china takes a lot, and during this time you may change your mind or your project.

collecting them separately is very hard... I wish there is one way we can use to get all general purpose parts at once.

________

Another topic which is strongly related: CUSTOMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

please tell me how exactly is it in your country? like when you get an oscilloscope or some little parts.

thanks!

i'm buying parts from TME http://www.tme.eu/ - no customs as it's within EU  - it's next day shipping.  raw materials for PCBs from http://pcb-diy.com/ (copper clad, riston, dynamask) - it's a local company - so it's again EU and no customs

i'm buying only some extremely jelly bean parts from china -  with those it's unlikely they'll be fake , and some raw materials from china (UV curable solder mask, solder paste) and here and there some modules (relay modules or DC-DC convereters...etc...)
 

Offline Grzegorz2121

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #77 on: February 11, 2016, 11:27:05 am »
If you want to get few components to start with i recommend to start collecting electro-trash.
These stuff can give you a lot of good components:
-electrolytic capacitors
-power transistors
-huge amount of IC. (regulators, drivers, microcontrolers, logic, opamps)

Now I have good amount of these components from unsoldering!
 

Offline VEGETA

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #78 on: February 11, 2016, 12:25:37 pm »
So there is not way we can get them all together, we have to collect them. However, can anyone lists ALL of these general purpose components so one can revert to his list rather than forgetting half of it xD?

* I bought these:

- PICKit 3.
- PIC16F877A.
- big breadboard.
- resistor set (1280 one).
- cap set (ceramic).
- cap set (elec..).
- 4001-4007 diodes.
- zener diodes.
- PNP and NPN transistors.
- LM358 op-amps.
- 2x16 LCDs (locally).
- breadboard potentiometer set.
- breadboard encoders set.
- jumper wires of all sizes.
- multimeter (cheap uni-t).
- 500 LEDs (5 colors).
- some screw drivers.
- LM317 regulators.
- Shameful retarded soldering iron + solder.


* What I miss and I think it is necessary:

- analog oscilloscope (this is my biggest problem because shipping is a hell = read: donations are welcome xD).
- inductors set.
- MOSFET set (or IGBT).
- TRIACs...
- opto-isolators (don't know what kind).
- power resistors (really useful?).
- thyristors (necessary?).
- some LCDs of different sizes than 2x16.
- What about SMD stuff?! by this, I must get all above parts but as SMD... not to mention its tools!
- transformers!! what kinds and what sizes?!
- Power supply, as I use a phone charger+7805 for now. I got a DP30V2A module which I think it is great but it needs DC input (transformer+rectifier).
- different types of linear regulators like LT3080 and others.
- shotky diodes, still thinking if they are necessary or not.
- switches...
- push buttons...


* What I miss and I don't think it is a must _NOW_:

- STM32 discovery kit.
- PSoC kit.
- TFT LCDs and their driver chips.
- switching supply ICs like those of LTC and TI for building SMPS.
- good and cheap JTAG programmer.


* What I miss and don't think they are necessary:

- digital ICs like flip-flops or such stuff.


please tell me in details what do you think of my list (which I don't think I mentioned all of it). If you have any recommendations please give it to me... Also, is this set can get me to design and prototype practically anything I want (nearly)?



Offline JoeN

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #79 on: February 12, 2016, 03:35:28 am »
Some small programmable logic.  Then you can make your own "digital ICs", whatever you want, whenever you want.  These are very cheap for that purpose and you can teach yourself an interesting and useful skill.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10PCS-IC-EPM240T100C5N-TQFP100-ALTERA-NEW-/171529814418
http://www.ebay.com/itm/altera-Mini-Usb-Blaster-Cable-For-CPLD-FPGA-NIOS-JTAG-Altera-Programmer-/200943750380 

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Offline eugenenine

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #80 on: February 12, 2016, 04:49:58 pm »

- analog oscilloscope (this is my biggest problem because shipping is a hell = read: donations are welcome xD).


- inductors set.
- MOSFET set (or IGBT).
- TRIACs...
- opto-isolators (don't know what kind).
- power resistors (really useful?).
- thyristors (necessary?).
- some LCDs of different sizes than 2x16.
- What about SMD stuff?! by this, I must get all above parts but as SMD... not to mention its tools!
- transformers!! what kinds and what sizes?!
- Power supply, as I use a phone charger+7805 for now. I got a DP30V2A module which I think it is great but it needs DC input (transformer+rectifier).
- different types of linear regulators like LT3080 and others.
- shotky diodes, still thinking if they are necessary or not.
- switches...
- push buttons...
 

Offline eugenenine

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #81 on: February 12, 2016, 04:55:51 pm »

- analog oscilloscope (this is my biggest problem because shipping is a hell = read: donations are welcome xD).
See if you can find a used one local, you don't need anything fancy to get started.

- inductors set.
I can't recall the last time I used an inductor.  Maybe if you want to build switching power supplies.

- MOSFET set (or IGBT).
- TRIACs...
What are your longer term plans? controlling motors or other big loads? wait until you need them.

- opto-isolators (don't know what kind).
- power resistors (really useful?).
- thyristors (necessary?).
- some LCDs of different sizes than 2x16.
Again what do you want to do, wait until you have a need or want.

- What about SMD stuff?! by this, I must get all above parts but as SMD... not to mention its tools!
Learn to protoboard first then start looking at these when you want to start soldering up something more permanent.

- transformers!! what kinds and what sizes?!
maybe one or two if you want to build a power supply otherwise I never use them.


- Power supply, as I use a phone charger+7805 for now. I got a DP30V2A module which I think it is great but it needs DC input (transformer+rectifier).
If you want to learn to build power supplies or build a nice bench supply otherwise just get a wall wart for the dc input.

- different types of linear regulators like LT3080 and others.

If your getting started maybe a few 78xx or LM317xx but not too many as there are a lot of newer better ones.  I bought a couple of microchips.
- shotky diodes, still thinking if they are necessary or not.
- switches...
- push buttons...

maybe a handful of pushbottons that can fit the protoboard to srart
 

Offline boffin

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #82 on: February 12, 2016, 06:26:22 pm »
I'm going through this right now.  I agreed to teach a basic electronics course to a bunch of co-workers (all programmers, so heavy on the MCU side), and got them to commit to $10/week for parts for 8 weeks

I then placed thirty-six different orders on Aliexpress for various things (breadboards, ICs, LEDs, resistors, Arduinos, displays etc).

I find that most assortments contain a bunch of stuff I don't need, and not enough of what I do need.   For example, do I need every ten of E12 resistor value?  Probably not, it's more useful to have 30x of every E3 value; can't say I've often gone "damn I don't have a 910k resistor" when I know I have 1Ms in the drawer

But I do echo the sentiment that it would be cool for someone (Franky? Dave?) to sell a beginner component kit that included what you really need.

R:  30ea: 10 Ohm -> 1M Ohm  (E3 series - probably don't even need 30 of 100k+)
C(ceramic):  10ea: 47pF -> 0.047uF (E3 series) + 30* 0.1uF
C(electrolytic): 10ea 1uF -> 100uF , 5ea 220uF -> 2200uF (E3 again)
Semiconductor assortment:  10* of the common stuff 1N4148, 1N4004, 2N7000, 2N4401 (my go-to 3904/2222 replacement),  5* of slightly less used 2N4403, IRLB8721, 7805
...

 

Offline VEGETA

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #83 on: February 13, 2016, 12:04:46 am »

- analog oscilloscope (this is my biggest problem because shipping is a hell = read: donations are welcome xD).
See if you can find a used one local, you don't need anything fancy to get started.


I could not get anyone locally, I tried but no one is interested in this. Even my previous university refused to sell me one.

Quote
- transformers!! what kinds and what sizes?!
maybe one or two if you want to build a power supply otherwise I never use them.


- Power supply, as I use a phone charger+7805 for now. I got a DP30V2A module which I think it is great but it needs DC input (transformer+rectifier).
If you want to learn to build power supplies or build a nice bench supply otherwise just get a wall wart for the dc input.

my plan is to use a transformer + rectifier and connect them to the DP30V2A module to get a basic and good power supply. Actually, the price of this module is great for the features that it has. I will do a review of it once I get it. As you said, no need to get pricey stuff from the start.


Quote
- different types of linear regulators like LT3080 and others.

If your getting started maybe a few 78xx or LM317xx but not too many as there are a lot of newer better ones.  I bought a couple of microchips.
- shotky diodes, still thinking if they are necessary or not.
- switches...
- push buttons...

maybe a handful of pushbottons that can fit the protoboard to srart

I got about 20 of LM317 (i think it is the 1.5A version). I really like these good ICs of TI and LTC in the switching and linear power supply field. These custom ICs are more professional and efficient than the traditional LM317 I guess... and I plan to use them to design a power supply in the future. But for now I will stick with LM317.

About buttons, I want a package (ONE PACKAGE) to contain all types of buttons and knobs in it, cuz then I won't be forced to pick each type alone. Do you know one?



now, what is your parts list? how do you get an idea of a project?
____



Side note: I am about to join a local company that is specialized in fixing industrial electronics like Inverters and PLC cards and stuff like that. Do you think it is a good idea?

what 

Offline egeorgiadis

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #84 on: March 04, 2016, 08:58:26 am »
I just wanted to say how jealus I am :) nice Equipments and nice place...  :-+
 

Offline alexanderbrevigTopic starter

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #85 on: March 04, 2016, 12:12:54 pm »
I've just stumbled upon something that's a nice addition to the 'stockpile' and that is learning a SPICE.

I've now learned LTSpice and it is so nice being able to test things out before deciding what's needed for your particular design. It makes it possible to experiment without having an 'infinite' stockpile. :)
 

Offline BobbyK

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #86 on: March 06, 2016, 06:17:41 pm »
How to stock up on Electronic parts and not waste (too much) money and your girlfriend's goodwill:

1. Buy a resistor kit from eBay. Buy additional 100x of 100Ohm, 1KOhm and 10KOhm resistors. If you ever need more resistors, say 2 for a project, buy 10, unless the value is in the E12 resistor series, then buy 100.
2. Buy a Capacitor Kit from eBay. The electrolytics in these sets should not be used in anything you want to last long. Buy additional 2200uF 50V and 4700 50V caps from Mouser for your power supply needs.
3. Buy a 1W Zener Kit from eBay (about 10 pieces per value)
4. Diodes: get 1N914 and 1N4007 (100 each). Additionally get some 35Amp hard core bridges (5 e.g.) for power stuff. Everything else should be bought from DigiKey or mouser in 10 quantities)
5. LEDs (buy 100-200 packs from eBay. They are dirt cheap.)
6. Buy TO-220 Regulators. 3.3, 5, 9 Volts. Buy 10 of each from a reputable source. Also buy a bunch 10 of LM317 and 337s. Also get a few  low droputs like LD1117V33 (goes from 5V to 3.3 nicely).
7. For transistors buy a transistor kit from ebay (you will mainly need 3904, 3906 and 2222s. Any other transistor you will need, buy in 10 packages from mouser. I always buy 100, and I always end up with lots of leftovers - and leftovers take up space. Remember, Space is what you will run out of long before you run out of money.
8. Pots - you will need Lots, from good manufacturers. You will either reuse pots all the time in different projects, in which case you want them to last, or you will build them into a device you will use for a long time, again, they need to last. 10 turns are expensive but worth-while. Lots of 3/4 turns one (larger ones). same with trimmers, buy good quality from Mouser or Digikey.
9. Buy a bunch of dev boards, and LCD displays that fit the dev board. I bought about 10 MEGA2560 boards that get swapped around for different projects, but MSP432 will do just as well. eBay has them for cheap.
10. Battery holders for 2, 4 and 6 batteries. + 9V battery leads (or make them from old 9V Batteries)
11. Pin headers. I got about half a kilo of these at a surplus sale two years ago, and I have used up about half of that already. Buy different styles, though straight are best, and can be bent if they are long enough.
12. Solder - buy thin 60-40 in a half kilo roll. More than that, and it will get old before you are done.
13. Lots of stripboard, veroboard, prototyping board, thin pcb, single and double sided. PCB is to an EE as paper is to a painter. You need different types and lots of each.
14. Buy a good side cutter. I got a Knipex, and it has served me well.
15. If you don't already have one, buy a good drill and some carbide bits for different screw sizes!
16. A USB isolator is great. Adafruit has a 20$ one.
17. pushbutton switches. Something with nice long pins that is big enough for a "manly" finger!
18. ICs - only get them from reputable distributers:
4N35 optoisolators x 10
TL072 x 25
TL431 voltage reference x 5
LM386N (for those times you need to "hear" a signal!) x 5
Low voltage (3~5 volt) Rail to Rail OpAmps (anything you can get for cheap) x 10
Get a few microcontrollers that are through hole. ATMega328Ps are fine x 5.
Crystals: 4, 8, 10, 16 MHz crystals. 5 of each from eBay - or a few bags of crystal kits from eBay.

19. Cool Parts that you should have at least one of:
high power IR LEDs.
high Power RGB LEDs.
High Speed or High Resolution ADCs and DACs.
wide frequency range VCO e.g. MAX260X series
ARM microcontroller dev board
Precision opamp
Precision Voltage source
Digital Switch
Digital Pot
Encoder Switch


20. Anything else is really not worth while stockpiling. I have a ton of "Jellybean" parts that I will probably never use, simply because they are the lowest common denominator. Just buy a few extra whenever you need them for a specific reason. And don't forget, you should probably simulate a circuits, and reading all the datasheets and looking at similar circuits (what part have others used in this role or setting) before e.g. buying 5 different parts to test out for yourself.
Remember when making orders from Mouser, DigiKey, Farnell, etc. Don't pad out your purchase (e.g. for free shipping) with "more of the same" resistors, transistors, etc. Instead, buy a cool part that you have never used before (e.g. Hall Effect sensors, MEMS Gyros, etc. etc.) There is a lot of learning value and fun to be had in playing with more those parts.

« Last Edit: March 06, 2016, 06:27:17 pm by BobbyK »
 

Offline eugenenine

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #87 on: March 07, 2016, 12:06:45 pm »
I can never understand why so many people on the forum buy small parts from ebay.  I gave up on them a long time ago when it got to be more time and effort sorting out the one non scammer from the 25 scammers for each product.  If your buying parts from digikey and mouser anyway just buy some assortment kits from them at the same time as well.
 

Offline BobbyK

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #88 on: March 07, 2016, 04:15:02 pm »
I went back and looked at my eBay purchases. I have purchased about 200 items in the past year. Out of all of those, there were two items that had issues.

1. item never arrived from china. Seller kept delaying tactics. Eventually gave me a refund. Item was about 12 bucks.
2. item was supposed to be used, but was dead on arrival. Checked inside, and all caps had been blown. Basically, I had paid 10 Euros for a CD player/Radio, and I only got two (albeit good Panasonic) speakers out of the deal, so no big loss.

Overall that gives me a 1% failure rate when shopping on eBay. Just make sure you never buy very specialized items at too-good-to-be-true prices. I recently saw a listing for 40 Euros, for a Virtex-5 FPGA dev board, where the item picture was taken from the internet  :palm:. Did I buy it? You bet I didn't!

To OP: make sure you don't start mixing items you use for prototyping (generic, ebay, etc.) with items you want to use in a product that you plan to keep (e.g. an Amplifier, Power supply, etc.) or sell. After getting something to work using cheap throwaway stuff, calculate/simulate temperature ratings, and buy the appropriate parts from a proper vendor, if you want your stuff to last.

BTW. One thing I would not cheap out on either is Leads and Breadboards. Proper alligator leads, etc. of good quality will last you many years, and not being able to trust your testing equipment/leads/Breadboards basically makes those things useless.



 

Offline inteljoe

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #89 on: March 14, 2016, 06:09:53 pm »
While I agree and disagree with various statements made in this thread, for whatever my opinion is worth, I will say that few things are more frustrating then having to order a part and waiting days or weeks for it to show up. Especially when I only need something that costs a few cents, for example a single resistor, capacitor, diode, etc.

I am guilty of buying components and equipment I will likely never use, and simply buying too many of any given component, or at least that is what my girl gives me guilt trips over. I will post a picture or two of my component drawers sometime... But that aside, I like being prepared, I like having options when designing and building a project. I like to experiment and learn how components work and they interact with each other. Theory only takes me so far, I'm more of a physical hands-on guy.

So, if that requires a stock pile or "going overboard" (aka overkill), so be it. But to each their own.

I would also like to note that I have no realistic options locally for sourcing components or equipment (aside from the lack of overpriced selection at my local Fry's & Radio Shack), I can't run out to my local electronics shop and buy something anytime I need it. Aside from the occasional Craigslist deal, everything I buy is online, it takes time to ship and I have to account for the cost of shipping. It's better to buy in bulk then waste money shipping a few dollars worth of components.
 

Offline BobsURuncle

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #90 on: March 26, 2016, 08:53:12 pm »
After getting your basic passive components and some EBay grab bags you might consider the parts list inside the book Learning The Art of Electronics, by Thomas C. Hayes and Paul Horowitz.  This lab focused book covers a wide range of analog and digital electronics exercises that require well over a hundred different components which could be a good way to stock a general electronics lab.  The link below has spreadsheets with all the parts.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/learning-the-art-of-electronics-parts-bom/msg904674/#msg904674
 

Offline zal42

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #91 on: March 26, 2016, 10:21:17 pm »
I don't really stockpile as such, but when I need to buy parts, I always buy a few more than I need. If I can afford enough more to get a price break, I buy that much, otherwise I usually just go with 5 extra. Originally, it was to allow for part-destroying mistakes, but really what it means is that I always have a small supply of the parts I'm most likely to use, and I don't have boxes full of things "I might need someday" but never seem to.
 

Offline TheAmmoniacal

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #92 on: March 26, 2016, 10:32:07 pm »
I've been stocking up on generic parts (mostly SMT) by buying assortment kits like these:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Electronic-component-kit/506373_500791312.html
 

Offline epiflow

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #93 on: March 30, 2016, 12:00:11 am »
I wouldn't recommend trying. You will either have too many of things you will never use or not enough for the next project. They will take up space and time in organising them or even more time if you don't organise them.
Get a resistor and capacitor kit for breadboarding. Buy a few extra parts of stuff you are using. Either they will suit as spares or they fit the circuits you are interested in.

Have a couple of projects in mind and you can order parts for the next one whilst working on the current one.

The real problem is not having enough parts, it is having too many. How much is too much? If you can't carry it to the rubbish bin in one trip you have too much.

THIS
 

Offline FrankE

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #94 on: April 07, 2016, 11:31:37 am »
I don't want to live somewhere resembling a digikey warehouse and I have enough with tools kicking about.

Next day isn't long. I stack whatever it is that needs the part, write up the notes and get on with the many other things that I need to do.
I'll get a 5 or 10 pack if it's good value and I'll use it within a year but to heck with tying my money up in speculative stock.
 

Offline neslekkim

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #95 on: April 30, 2016, 09:38:03 pm »
Stock-piling is so last century. Just order what you need for a project...
I order my stuff on ebay - cheap but long wait - or at Farnel - not so cheap but only a couple of days away (no shipping cost).

In Norway you need to be an company to order from Farnell..
 

Offline JoeN

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #96 on: May 01, 2016, 05:47:53 am »
Stock-piling is so last century. Just order what you need for a project...
I order my stuff on ebay - cheap but long wait - or at Farnel - not so cheap but only a couple of days away (no shipping cost).

In Norway you need to be an company to order from Farnell..

Why?  Stupid law of some sort?
Have You Been Triggered Today?
 

Offline rqsall

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #97 on: May 01, 2016, 06:05:42 am »
Stock-piling is so last century. Just order what you need for a project...
I order my stuff on ebay - cheap but long wait - or at Farnel - not so cheap but only a couple of days away (no shipping cost).

In Norway you need to be an company to order from Farnell..

Why?  Stupid law of some sort?

No, Farnell doesn't want to deal with small orders. They have a fixed price contract with their shipping company and offer free shipping on any order, also small ones. Companies however usually order larger amounts so it works out for the shipping company and farnell.

In The Netherlands, farnell will sell to private people but only for orders of 50 euro or more and then you get free shipping.
 

Offline neslekkim

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #98 on: May 01, 2016, 11:19:59 am »
In The Netherlands, farnell will sell to private people but only for orders of 50 euro or more and then you get free shipping.

The free shipping part is not the big problem. It's access to components that is, beeing able to order from them.
Farnell have a Norwegian department and norwegian prices, so one doesn't get extra taxes as you get with Mouser, Digikey, RS etc.. (And the extra fee from the company collecting the tax.. )
 

Offline Cliff Matthews

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Re: From no parts to decent stockpile, best approach?
« Reply #99 on: June 29, 2016, 12:55:46 pm »
FWIW: Ebay buying experience and ratings list by GreenPhotons keeps getting better:
http://www.sciencetronics.com/greenphotons/?page_id=855
It's a linked list of sellers. Think of it as "the good, the bad, and the ugly" list  :-+
 
The following users thanked this post: alexanderbrevig, ez24


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