It is quite possible to do electronics as a hobby anywhere.

Rule 1:  Never order less than 200 resistors, or less than 10 more of
anything that you need.

Rule 2: Get good at desoldering stuff.  Rob a few caps from old VCRs

Rule 3.  Keep a big, well organized junk box with lots of littlle labeled
drawers.  Avoid the H*** Box syndrome.  "Aw H*** I will just throw it all
in a box.

Rule 4:  Jameco is your friend.  Mouser and Digikey are nearly your
friends.

Rule 5.  Grab bags, assortments, and so on are good.

Rule 6:  Round out those onesies orders to $25 by adding a few NIMH
batteries each time.  You know you will need them.

Rule 7: Yes, radio shark stinks.  I still give them a lot of business
because there is no alternative locally.  They *DID* have a USB:RS232
adapter in stock when Circuit City didn't.  They *DO* have many types of
obsolate cables and such, and the store near me still stocks some
components.  All of the shops here that catered to real hobbyist went out
of business.  Radio Shark got the message and sold stuff that makes them a
profit.   I don't blame them.


-- Lawrence Lile





Robert Rolf <Robert.Rolf@UALBERTA.CA>
Sent by: pic microcontroller discussion list <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
06/15/2004 04:51 PM
Please respond to pic microcontroller discussion list


        To:     PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
        cc:
        Subject:        Re: [OT:] RadioShack Canada Sucks


Jason S wrote:
>
> What if you only need a few dollars or even a few cents worth of parts?
> You're still looking at at least $6 in shipping costs.

Yep.

>
> I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that without a local retail parts
> store, it's simply impossible to do electronics work as a hobby.

Yep.

Unfortunately I got used to driving by Active on my way to work
to pick up whatever I needed that day. With the change in ownership
there is so little useful inventory that I now just order my stuff
from Digikey, pay the shipping and be done with it (my time is worth
quite a lot, unlike a hobbyist). It's still on my desk the next day.

Part of the problem with doing 'hobby' design is that you often
don't always know what you need until AFTER you've sent in your order.
So you either have to plan better, accounting for all likely needs,
or live with the minimum purchase and shipping costs.

I always order a few extra of whatever I purchase so that my 'junk'
draw is pretty well stocked, so I need to order much less often now.
One always needs IC sockets, capacitors, connectors, etc. etc.
so ordering 'just enough' has its shortcoming, particularly if
ordering 10 of something makes the extra 2 pieces 'free' because
of a price break.

The big killer for hobbyists, as I see it, is the MOQ (minimum order
quantity) that most distributors now have. If I only need 25 molex
connectors, why the bleep do I have to place a factory order for 500?
For SMT IC's it's even crazier. 500pc on some things where you need
only 30 (so sampling won't get you what you need).
It is stupid that one of my criteria for designing in a part must now
include whether I can get it in small production quantities (10's or
100s).

Robert

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