My second batch or parts is in and a lot quicker then the first I must say. This time we have lots and lots of: Delay chips, knobs, jacks, and 9volt connectors. Brilliant! The knobs that I've ordered are for split shaft pots, and for those who have no idea what that is take a look at the second item in the second image. There is an actual cut down the middle of the shaft. All of my pots are not split shaft, so I decided to try modding one to see if it could become one. Indeed they work great, and if my cut was straiter it would've been a perfect jobber. The last image is something that I was particularly proud of. A 10 pound box of switches attatched to 3.5mm switching headphone jacks aquired through eBay for $4.75. Ah yes. For those interested a reader pointed out to me that there is a
huge box of resistors for sale on eBay in Canada, currently sitting at $13 US. Another reader expressed their conserns about the quality of the Chinese parts. So far I can't really give a good review, but they all seem sturdy and in perfect working order. I also think that most of the catalogs get parts from China anyways so cutting out the middle-man is always a plus for the consumer.
My second batch or parts is in and a lot quicker then the first I must say. This time we have lots and lots of: Delay chips, knobs, jacks, and 9volt connectors. Brilliant! The knobs that I've ordered are for split shaft pots, and for those who have no idea what that is take a look at the second item in the second image. There is an actual cut down the middle of the shaft. All of my pots are not split shaft, so I decided to try modding one to see if it could become one. Indeed they work great, and if my cut was straiter it would've been a perfect jobber. The last image is something that I was particularly proud of. A 10 pound box of switches attatched to 3.5mm switching headphone jacks aquired through eBay for $4.75. Ah yes. For those interested a reader pointed out to me that there is a huge box of resistors for sale on eBay in Canada, currently sitting at $13 US. Another reader expressed their conserns about the quality of the Chinese parts. So far I can't really give a good review, but they all seem sturdy and in perfect working order. I also think that most of the catalogs get parts from China anyways so cutting out the middle-man is always a plus for the consumer.
4 Comments:
At 11/15/2005 05:40:48 AM, josh said…
more comments on chinese parts:
i haven't had any problems with toggle switches, in fact they seem pretty sturdy. this is the only thing i've bought from hongkongsupersellr thus far.
as for other stuff, the cheaper pushbuttons, like the ones they sell at radio shack for $4/4, if you aren't careful mounting them they will break clean in half. i've also had a few where the base of the button snapped internally and the button fell out. i've sworn off of these kind now and bought into large quantities of better quality stuff from alcoswitch and grayhill.
i recently purchased a large quantity of panel mount rca jacks and connectors for a patch system. i got them from futurlec.com, a straight from china distributor. the verdict is; the price WAS to good to be true, as i had feared. the panel jacks have a tendancy to snap in half during mounting and the bodies of the connectors are made of plastic so flimsy that they don't stay screwed together. you can literally pull them apart.
mind you, this is all electromechanical stuff, and i've had no problem whatsoever with passive components etc.
At 11/15/2005 12:27:52 PM, erik.. said…
Is there really such a big difference? I haven't experienced any broken parts, maybe that's because I usually buy far too expensive parts (have no car, no travel card for the tube, and there's only one electronic parts store in central stockholm, and they charge way too much). I bet most of the parts are identical, probably same manufacturer even.. I mean, everything is made in china..
At 11/15/2005 04:46:23 PM, josh said…
generally speaking, at a reputable electronics supplier the old "you get what you pay for" addage really rings true. yes, lots of stuff is made in china, especially electronics, but there is definately a quality difference between the cheapo stuff and the expensive stuff.
case in point: i'm working through a box of alcoswitch mspf-101C momentary pushbuttons. these things are amazingly sturdy, no sense of cheapness from them at all. mouser price on these is $4-5 US a piece depending on quantity ( didn't pay this much). the radio shack 4-pack, these have plastic and white-metal (or tin) bodies and use lightweight plastic buttons. when you compare them side-by-side, you can immediately tell the alco's are much higher quality.
switchcraft rca jacks, are far superior to the junk i was referring to earlier. better quality metal that wont crumble. unfortunately, they cost about $1 a piece at their cheapest (if you're buying 100, less if you want a 1000 but what am i going to do with 1000?).
At 11/15/2005 10:34:11 PM, James said…
what are you going to do with those delay chips? sound neat. are they easy to use? huh... h.u.h. ...
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