Thoughts on buying electronic components
Almost nine months after first getting involved again in electronics and the components needed to do some of the projects on these pages, I’m still somewhat befuddled and betwixt by the world of buying components.
Back in the day when I was last interested in this stuff (think 1967), you could walk into a Radio Shack store, go to the guy at the counter, ask for a resistor or a capacitor and he’d hand you one; they cost a penny or a nickle.
Now you go into a Radio Shack store and ask for a resistor and they try to sell you a cell phone or satellite TV. They do have a rack with lots of drawers and many components, but the clerks don’t know anything about electronics. And when they do sell you something, it’s usually way overpriced (the grab bags offer good value, but always seem to be missing the precise component you need).
For example: Radio Shack sells a bridge rectifier (it’s overkill, but it’s the only small one carried) for $1.59 each. I have had some success with buying components through a store on eBay — a bag of 25 bridge rectifiers used in most of the projects on these pages is about $12 when shipping is included, or less than 50 cents each.
The big electronic parts on-line stores like Jameco and Mouser, sell a similar rectifier at a similar price, but small-quantity handling fees and shipping can drive component prices up. If you’re buying a lot of pieces, these work out well. Similarly, you can visit my friends at Parts Express on Amazon.com (where they send me a tiny portion of your purchase) to get some components, but again, there are small-quantity handling fees and shipping.
Short and long of it: Go to Radio Shack only for those last-minute purchases (like when you wire an axial-lead capacitor the wrong way and watch it smoke); search Parts Express, eBay and the big on-line stores for the rest (but be prepared to wait — sometimes it takes two weeks to get delivery).
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