Resources

Where to find parts, components and supplies

Electronics

Barter

The LVL1 community is a great resource for finding components in a pinch. Members often have libraries of components they frequently use. Post what you're looking for on our Google Group. A LVL1 member may have what you're looking for and you can work out a deal. Bartering is encouraged.

Local Suppliers

Radioshack - 796 Eastern Parkway

• Eh, Radioshack is not what it used to be of course. There's a small cabinet near the back of the store with a limited stock of passive components, switches, etc. Expect to pay 1500% markup on these though. This store actually still stocks Ferric Chloride for making your own PCBs. There are various prototyping supplies and cleaners. Expect to hear at least 5 cell phone sales pitches while you're in there. -Christopher

Peerless Electronics - 1815 South 7th Street

• This place is more of a business part supplier than a retail outlet. However, they do have a small retail storefront with high-quality Hakko and Weller tools and supplies (soldering irons, tips, etc). There's also an NTE wire kiosk. It's a good place to visit if you want a high-quality soldering iron immediately. -Christopher

Master Distributors - 842 South 7th Street

• Again this is more of a supplier for businesses. They do not have a print or online catalog because their inventory fluctuates quite a bit. But if you're looking for something, just call them up! They have a limited retail section up front. Lots of connectors, switches, tools that have obviously been there for a long time. They have a good colorful selection of NTE wire. -Christopher

Aggregators

Find Chips - http://www.findchips.com/

• A search engine which crawls, among others, Digikey, Jameco, Mouser, Newark AvNet Express and Arrow. Good place to compare prices and availability for common parts. -Brad

Octopart - http://octopart.com/

• The Google of parts searching. They tend to be more up-to-date, and easier to browse than Find Chips, but they crawl fewer sites. Also, since they're more high-profile, a few like Digikey block their catalog spiders. -Brad

Online Suppliers

Electronic Goldmine - http://www.goldmine-elec.com/

• The best online source for things you never knew you needed! This is a US surplus electronics online store with a fluid inventory. 'New' surplus inventory and special bargains change monthly. It's not always helpful if you are looking for a very specific component. But cool items like pager motors, super bright LEDs, missile gyros, etc can often be found at bargain prices. -Christopher

All Electronics - http://www.allelectronics.com/

• Another great surplus electronics online store. The inventory is very complete so you can probably find anything you need. -Christopher

Mouser - http://www.mouser.com

• Huge and overwhelming selection of modern components and tools. Their searchable online catalog is great, although there is somewhat of a learning curve to whittle down the selection. You'll definitely need to know exactly what you are looking for. You can save full project BOM to easily order the exact number of parts for a big run of devices. Lots of features. -Christopher

Jameco - http://www.jameco.com

• Another good selection of modern components and tools. The selection isn't as huge as other online sources, which actually helps if you're easily overwhelmed by options. Jameco is the best place to purchase power supplies. -Christopher

Digi-key - http://www.digikey.com/

• Huge selection of high-quality modern components. Best place to find very specific high-quality components that aren't carried anywhere else. -Christopher

Futurlec - http://www.futurlec.com/

• These guys are located in Australia, and have some great prices on some otherwise difficult to find items (Like 68K stuff). They've also got some very interesting microcontroller breakout and experiment boards. Good prices on some "basics," as well. They ship most of their stuff from Austrialia, though, so don't expect it to arrive in a hurry. -Brad

American Science & Surplus - http://www.sciplus.com/

• General oddities. These guys have lots of electrical/electronic parts and devices, optics, Pyrex/glassware, as well as take-outs and assemblies from all sorts of devices, many of which are great for brainstorming projects around or salvaging parts for other projects with. Much of it is quite reasonably priced, while some other stuff has a bit of Harbor Freight cheapiness to it. -Philip