New Products at Parallax

Publison

There were two new product announcements:

LSM9DS1 9-axis motion UMU sensor module,
https://www.parallax.com/product/28065
This is the same unit used on the ELEV-8 Flight Controller board, so there is SPIN and C code available. It is also supported in BlocklyProp:
http://learn.parallax.com/ab-blocks/lsm9ds1

and

DS1302 Real-Time Clock Module,
https://www.parallax.com/product/29125

MikeDYur

These are some must have products. And great prices, the DS1302 RTC board is a crazy low price of $4. Around here I would pay that for two batterys. Who's logo is that?

Courtney Jacobs

The #29125 DS1302 is a Waveshare product.

Publison

Same Logo on the OLED board:

https://www.parallax.com/product/28087

Parallax must like them.

DavidZemon

Hey Parallax, have you considered offering cheaper shipping for small purchases? I'd love to buy just one or two of the DS-1302 modules, and it seems like you ought to be able to pop them in an anti-static bag, put the bag in a standard envelope, and slap a single $0.49 stamp on it. Add another $1 for the "handling" part of "shipping and handling" and call it $1.50 shipping for small orders. I can't justify $8 in shipping for $4 in parts just so I can toy around with an RTC.

I've heard rumors from my seniors that you used to be able to go to RadioShack for this kind of thing, and bypass shipping altogether. And folks living in bigger cities have the likes of Fry's or whatnot. But in 2017, someone in living in Omaha, NE or Rolla, MO has a really hard time getting their hands on little parts like this.

tonyp12

Not that easy to get first class envelope pricing, U.S postal rule is max 1/4" (6.3mm) height
And then they have the rule of ridged material inside too.
So cheapest you can ship legally "non-paper" is First-Class Mail Parcel at $2.67 for 4oz

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Yup, $2.67 is about the cheapest you're gonna get. But that's still way less than either UPS Ground or FedEx Ground.

-Phil

DavidZemon

Thank you both - that explains a lot. I always wondered why no one ever sent little packets like I order in a standard envelope.

And yes - $2.67 would be a lot better than the $7.50 Parallax currently offer via USPS. But perhaps they are already using this cheap method, but consider the cost of "handling" much higher than I originally thought?

tonyp12

They use priority mail.
Once you start getting over 1lbs, priority mail is just a dollar more and goes faster and comes with tracking and you get free supply boxes.

DavidZemon

tonyp12 wrote: »

They use priority mail.
Once you start getting over 1lbs, priority mail is just a dollar more and goes faster and comes with tracking and you get free supply boxes.

1lb is an awful lot of DS1302s though.

The_Master

I can't believe what great prices these are. Is parallax making an effort to put out inexpensive accessories now, or have they always been a good deal?

Please also consider ability to fit in a mailbox. When I ordered an arduino it came in a 3oz box not much bigger than a deck of cards. Prolly charged me $4.

I think Parallax is good about package size, but if they would go even smaller it would be guaranteed to fit in mailbox. I think a lot of new places now are being built with community mailboxes.

jmg

The_Master wrote: »

Please also consider ability to fit in a mailbox. When I ordered an arduino it came in a 3oz box not much bigger than a deck of cards. Prolly charged me $4.

I think Parallax is good about package size, but if they would go even smaller it would be guaranteed to fit in mailbox. I think a lot of new places now are being built with community mailboxes.

Mailboxes come in many sizes...



or do you mean more like this.. ?


that still looks able to take most any PCB module, provided the shipper avoided cube-boxes.

amalfiCoast

Picked up a 9-axis IMU and a GPS module today =D Hoping to finally be able to learn how to make my own library to get sensor data from the gyroscope and accelerometer. I plan to use the Parallax library as a guide.

David