V G wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> I'm planning to have some PCBs made, but for that to be economical, I nee=
d
> to minimize board space and use surface mount parts. Yes, only 1-3 boards=
 of
> each design will be made, but I could save a few square inches for sure b=
y
> placing smaller components and avoiding through hole resistors, capacitor=
s,
> and ICs. I don't want to go SUPER tiny, but just all surface mount. But t=
he
> problem with surface mount is, they're all sold in the 1000s quantity. Wh=
ere
> can I get a single surface mount resistor or capacitor or crystal, for
> example? Who sells them in small quantities?
It depends, if it's a small quantity of each one but as part of a=20
reasonable sized overall order then any of the major prototyping parts=20
vendors (e.g. farnell/RS/mouser for eurpeans, mouser/digikey/newark for=20
americans) will be fine. The more expensive parts such as ICs and large=20
capacitors can usually be bought individually. The small cheap=20
components (small capacitors and resistors) will usually have a minimum=20
order quanitity but it's usually not too onerous.

One thing I will say with small surface mount components is that you=20
should ALWAYs get some spares. In my experiance they will go flying=20
sometimes and your chances of finding them again when they do is pretty=20
slim.

P.S. Note that for parts that come from the manufacturer on tape and=20
reel digikey have a seperate product entry for each "packaging option".=20
For small quantities you almost certainly want the "cut tape" option.=20
The "tape and reel" requires you to order in full manufacturers reels=20
and the "digi-reel" option while maybe useful for those operating some=20
types of SMT placement equipment is a pointless extra cost when doing=20
stuff by hand.

--=20
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