Maker Pro
Maker Pro

Radio shack sux

R

R.Spinks

Jan 1, 1970
0
I went to radio shack to pick up some parts and they have like NOTHING now.
And they wanted over $1.20 for a single 22uF cap (get real!). They are like
pennies (at least as SMDs). Where is a good place to buy discrete
components? (like ICs, caps, etc.)
 
B

Bullwinkle Jones

Jan 1, 1970
0
R.Spinks said:
I went to radio shack to pick up some parts and they have like
NOTHING now. And they wanted over $1.20 for a single 22uF cap (get
real!). They are like pennies (at least as SMDs). Where is a good
place to buy discrete components? (like ICs, caps, etc.)

DigiKey
Mouser

You can request catalogs online, too
I think they're prices include shipping?
 
R

Robert Monsen

Jan 1, 1970
0
R.Spinks said:
I went to radio shack to pick up some parts and they have like NOTHING now.
And they wanted over $1.20 for a single 22uF cap (get real!). They are like
pennies (at least as SMDs). Where is a good place to buy discrete
components? (like ICs, caps, etc.)

Online surplus is your friend. Try searching for electronics surplus. My
favorite in the US is electronics goldmine. Also, there may be local
surplus places. Here in the SF bay area, there are several good ones
within an hour drive of my house, not to mention Frys (which also has
expensive shrink-wrapped stuff at 10x prices)

Regards,
Bob Monsen
 
R

Robert Monsen

Jan 1, 1970
0
R.Spinks said:
I went to radio shack to pick up some parts and they have like NOTHING now.
And they wanted over $1.20 for a single 22uF cap (get real!). They are like
pennies (at least as SMDs). Where is a good place to buy discrete
components? (like ICs, caps, etc.)

Oh, the other thing to understand when you are first getting into
electronics is that chip mfgs will ship ICs and transistors in small
numbers as 'samples' to almost anybody. This is more of a promotional
thing for them than anything else. Not all manufacturers will do this
unless you are really working on something that'll make them money.

The other thing to realize is that your house is full of junk which has
this stuff in it. If you go to yard sales, you can pick up old
non-working VCRs and TVs that have lots of goodies in them, if you are
willing to desolder them from the boards. The older the better, because
newer stuff uses surface mount components which are pretty much useless
for hobby use.

As a final note, ebay has lots of offers of components in their
electronics components section. Watch out for the shipping charges.

Regards,
Bob Monsen
 
R

Rylos

Jan 1, 1970
0
That pretty much sums it up, but remember that Radioshack embeds the cost of
shipping/handling and staffing into the price of their components. Online is
the way to go but you have to buy a fair quantity to make it worth your
while otherwise you'll be paying more than $1.20 for a single capacitor most
likely. Jameco is my favorite and you can request first class which is much
cheaper than UPS which is the standard and you'll probably get it sooner
anyway.

The thing that irritates me the most about Radioshack is the relentless push
of cellular phones and/or sattelite TV. You can go in everyday to the point
these guys know you and they will still ask you everytime, and everytime I
say NO.

Next time they ask you if would like to buy a cell phone make up some techno
babble BS like the following:

Salesman: Would like to buy 3 cell phones and sattelite TV today?

Customer:
No. But I do need a 950 nanometer, 38 kilohertz infrared detection module.
I'm going to be pulse code modulating the output using a 32 level quantizer
and would like your recommendation on an RC time constant for my envelope
detection device, assuming of course an ideal bandpass reconstruction
filter. The sampled output has to be greater than the Nyquist rate, and I
can't afford to lose any spectral content less than three times the total
transmission bandwidth. The final output is to be used as a reference input
to a Langrangian robotic arm control system using a closed loop transfer
function with a feedback path gain signal to noise ratio of 20 decibels, any
suggestions?

Maybe then they'll leave you alone. Cheers.

-Dave
 
W

Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\

Jan 1, 1970
0
Robert Monsen said:
Online surplus is your friend. Try searching for electronics surplus. My
favorite in the US is electronics goldmine. Also, there may be local
surplus places. Here in the SF bay area, there are several good ones
within an hour drive of my house, not to mention Frys (which also has
expensive shrink-wrapped stuff at 10x prices)
Regards,
Bob Monsen

Change that to 'Ebay is your friend'.

SUrplus sucks, too. You get used parts. What more can I say!
 
W

Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\

Jan 1, 1970
0
Rylos said:
That pretty much sums it up, but remember that Radioshack embeds the cost of
shipping/handling and staffing into the price of their components. Online is
the way to go but you have to buy a fair quantity to make it worth your
while otherwise you'll be paying more than $1.20 for a single capacitor most
likely. Jameco is my favorite and you can request first class which is much
cheaper than UPS which is the standard and you'll probably get it sooner
anyway.

The thing that irritates me the most about Radioshack is the relentless push
of cellular phones and/or sattelite TV. You can go in everyday to the point
these guys know you and they will still ask you everytime, and everytime I
say NO.

Next time they ask you if would like to buy a cell phone make up some techno
babble BS like the following:

Salesman: Would like to buy 3 cell phones and sattelite TV today?

Customer:
No. But I do need a 950 nanometer, 38 kilohertz infrared detection module.
I'm going to be pulse code modulating the output using a 32 level quantizer
and would like your recommendation on an RC time constant for my envelope
detection device, assuming of course an ideal bandpass reconstruction
filter. The sampled output has to be greater than the Nyquist rate, and I
can't afford to lose any spectral content less than three times the total
transmission bandwidth. The final output is to be used as a reference input
to a Langrangian robotic arm control system using a closed loop transfer
function with a feedback path gain signal to noise ratio of 20 decibels, any
suggestions?

Maybe then they'll leave you alone. Cheers.

OOf! That's a good one. All you'll get is a blank, dazed stare as the
salesdroid picks his chin up from the floor!

But I wouldn't waste my time with them. GO somewhere else, where you'll
get what you need.
 
R

Roger Johansson

Jan 1, 1970
0
SUrplus sucks, too. You get used parts. What more can I say!


Surplus is not used material, it is material which never got used.

I have bought a lot of surplus over the years and it is usually
components which were meant to be used in some production but never came
to be used, so it was sold as surplus instead, often because the
production company went bankrupt and was liquidated.

Sometimes surplus is sold by companies which also sell stuff from
scrapped equipment.
 
R

R.Spinks

Jan 1, 1970
0
Heh -- I just asked the guy if he had any Schmitt triggers and he gave me
the blank stare.
 
S

Si Ballenger

Jan 1, 1970
0
That pretty much sums it up, but remember that Radioshack embeds the cost of
shipping/handling and staffing into the price of their components. Online is
the way to go but you have to buy a fair quantity to make it worth your
while otherwise you'll be paying more than $1.20 for a single capacitor most
likely. Jameco is my favorite and you can request first class which is much
cheaper than UPS which is the standard and you'll probably get it sooner
anyway.

The thing that irritates me the most about Radioshack is the relentless push
of cellular phones and/or sattelite TV. You can go in everyday to the point
these guys know you and they will still ask you everytime, and everytime I
say NO.

Next time they ask you if would like to buy a cell phone make up some techno
babble BS like the following:

Salesman: Would like to buy 3 cell phones and sattelite TV today?

Customer:
No. But I do need a 950 nanometer, 38 kilohertz infrared detection module.
I'm going to be pulse code modulating the output using a 32 level quantizer
and would like your recommendation on an RC time constant for my envelope
detection device, assuming of course an ideal bandpass reconstruction
filter. The sampled output has to be greater than the Nyquist rate, and I
can't afford to lose any spectral content less than three times the total
transmission bandwidth. The final output is to be used as a reference input
to a Langrangian robotic arm control system using a closed loop transfer
function with a feedback path gain signal to noise ratio of 20 decibels, any
suggestions?

Maybe then they'll leave you alone. Cheers.

They will probably smile and suggest you get out of the house
more, may try getting a date too! ;-)
 
R

Rylos

Jan 1, 1970
0
I don't think the girlfriend would like that too much, might be fun for me
though. LOL
 
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