Newbie questions about component mail order houses

I assume you are in the US. Jameco doesn't mind small orders AFAIK. I don't think I've ever ordered from them, but they send me tons of catalogues. ;-) You might like these:

and is pretty neat for a hobbiest. Huge catalogues, giant inventory. I live in houston, mouser is in dallas, I get stuff the next day usually without paying extra on shipping. I'm not sure where digikey is, but they are good.

I've had good service from Jameco, Goldmine, Allelectronics, & Sciplus. All have limited offerings, though. Never used Hosfelt.

See also:

Above have extensive product offerings, including unusual/hard-to-find items & good web search/ordering systems. All ship quickly if items are in stock; I've had products arrive as quickly as next-day, even without expedited shipping.

JM

Alltronics.com too

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add Ocean State Electronics,

Only place I have found subminiature tube sockets.

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Steven D. Swift, novatech@eskimo.com, http://www.novatech-instr.com
NOVATECH INSTRUMENTS, INC.      P.O. Box 55997
206.301.8986, fax 206.363.4367  Seattle, Washington 98155 USA

Hey, half the fun is looking through all the catalogs! I think you'll like Digi-Key (they're in Minnesota) and B. G. Micro in Dallas. It's impossible for one company to stock absolutely everything. Mouser is great, too.

Try drawing up a list of stuff you may be interested in so you can meet the minimum order; this is how junkboxes grow. :) Transistors; LEDs; resistors; capacitors; sockets; diodes; solder; etc.

Buying in bulk from a mail-order house is far cheaper than Radio Shack in the long run.

Good morning. I'll usually deal with Mouser and DigiKey.

If you need to do the churchmouse routine and order in very small quantities, you may want to stick with Mouser. They have no minimum order. The last time I checked, they would ship as inexpensively as you want, including Parcel Post if you're inclined wring out every penny to wait for snail mail (note: haven't done that in a long time

-- call to check). That's ideal for a weekend warrior hobbyist, as long as you don't really need it by next weekend.

DigiKey charges a $5 premium if your order is less than $25.

Typically, an order will be in the box and out the dock either the same day or the next day with either of the above. After that, it's up to the shipper and shipping method you choose.

Cheers Chris

FWIW, I've been to a place called "Whittier Electronics", which, oddly enough, is in Whittier, CA. ;-) It was like the olden days - they seemed to have every component you could possibly need - the boxes of heatshrink and stuff were just kewl to browse. :-)

And they have a website where you can order stuff, if you're interested:

I found them very personable and helpful, in person. :-)

Hope This Helps! Rich

It's probably cheaper than RS even for a one-off. ;-)

Cheers! Rich