'One-Stop' Supplier Suggestions?
lardom
Posts: 1,659
I just ordered some supplies from Jameco.com and got almost everything I needed for my current project. I decided to order a few Propellers several 3.3 v regulators just to make sure I didn't run out and discovered the minimum order for 3.3 v regulators was twenty. I only wanted 3 of them. I'm a hobbyist. I order a wide variety of supplies in small amounts.
Are there any hobbyists that do most of their sourcing from Mouser or DigiKey? Do you have a large number of suppliers? Thanks for your input.
Are there any hobbyists that do most of their sourcing from Mouser or DigiKey? Do you have a large number of suppliers? Thanks for your input.
Comments
DigiKey is closer, so I typically prefer them over Mouser. They can get me stuff by First Class or Priority Mail in two days. However, for large purchases, Mouser is sometimes less expensive, so I'l use them instead. It pays to shop around.
-Phil
www.arrow.com
+1 ... except that I tend to start at Mouser or go straight to Findchips.com.
@"Peter Jakacki", I would buy them in 20 lots because I 'will' use them but as you noted, @ $2.09 per regulator and at a minimum of 20 it just wasn't gonna happen.
I had not considered buying supplies a lots to take advantage of price breaks but what you said makes sense so in the future I will keep an eye out for deals on supplies that I know I'll use up.
The perks to using the popular ones (Mouser, DigiKey), besides stability, is that you can build your project under your account and save it, basically having an on order BOM. Occasionally I'll remake a project to sell/gift, and I can just go under my saved projects, select the one and want and the quantity I'm going to build, then add everything on the BOM to cart at once, with the proper quantities.
The only holdoff on the big suppliers is if you're new to the hobby and don't understand component packages, you might mistakenly get some SMD parts when you want breadboardable stuff. If you're unsure, Tayda has the best prices on small quantity stuff, though a small stock, and they have pictures of everything so you know what you're getting. You are ordering from overseas so expect slow delivery, though.
For stocking up, I am just as likely to check for industrial surplus. A whimsical look at eBay is the reason that 20 pieces of P8X32A-Q44 are showing up at my doorstep today. As a hobbyist, though, a partial tray/tube/spool of components from a reputable vendor can be a treasure.
For a commercial project, I would go back to the full-line, steady supply, and traceability of Mouser/FindChips.
While it found me, the individual handling the order was behaving strangely.
Since then my Parallax orders have been direct, to our hosts. Most of the component sales have been local. I've found 95% of the items needed from two stores here in NYC. The other 5% wasn't needed, and still isn't.
As for Digikey, no problems, lead time, between ordering and package arrival seems to be very fast. Mouser on the otherhand is strange. But that's it.