Page on where to buy hardware

[Pete Yandell]

I've whacked a page up on the wiki with some info on good places to
buy Arduino gear, components, and tools:

http://groups.google.com/group/connected-community-hackerspace/web/hardware-resources

I figure this'll be handy for folks wanting to get started with this
stuff, and also for group members to recommend resources to one
another.

Can somebody with more experience of ordering components online throw
a few links into that section?

Cheers,

Pete.

[Will R]

I've added futurlec into the online retailers section here, I've dealt
with them a couple of times and they've been really accommodating and
friendly.

--Will

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/connected-community-hackerspace/web/hardware-resources
- or copy & paste it into your browser's address bar if that doesn't
work.

[Jcee]

Hi all, A couple of online places I've found some useful components
are http://australia.rs-online.com/web/ and http://au.farnell.com/
--Jane

[Luke Weston]

Personally, I don't think Dick Smith is worth bothering with at all
these days in terms of electronics components, they've cleaned out
that stock just about entirely from their stores, and they've just
become like another Harvey Norman, selling plasma TVs or whatever,
with the technologically literate staff being few and far between.

Anyway:

DonTronics: http://www.dontronics-shop.com/

Australian based, they sell a lot of interesting goodies including
XBee RF comms modules, FTDI chips and cables, little OLED screens,
amongst other things.

Altronics: http://www.altronics.com.au/

Similar to Jaycar, wide range of things, they sell a few interesting
things Jaycar doesn't, but their physical stores are fewer and further
between.

Oatley Electronics: http://secure.oatleyelectronics.com//index.php

Ocassionally they stock a few interesting odds and ends, they sell
industry surplus stuff mostly, so they have a constantly evolving
range of stock.

[Pete Yandell]

Thanks, Luke. I've added your comments to the wiki page:

http://groups.google.com/group/connected-community-hackerspace/web/hardware-resource

[Dohzer]

Rockby (http://www.rockby.com.au/) are a "surplus store" in Clayton
that have many random components.

[Marc]

Just added some starter information on getting free parts samples for
your project, more coming.

Cheers,
Marc

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/connected-community-hackerspace/web/hardware-resources?hl=en

[Pete Yandell]

I've added links to findchips.com and octopart.com to the Hardware
Resources page. They're both great resources for finding suppliers for
parts.

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/connected-community-hackerspace/web/hardware-resources

[Nic Jones]

Shamelessly added Ocean Controls in Arduino hardware suppliers.
Covered my shame by adding DonTronics and Toysdownunder, too.

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/connected-community-hackerspace/web/hardware-resources?hl=en

[andyg (@geekscape)]

hi All,

Until today, all recommendations on this page were by CCHS members who
had actually purchased from the company they recommended and had a
good experience as a result. As, *clearly stated* at the top of the
page ...

"Under each section are some recommendations from the group members
for good value basic bits to get you started."

Today was the first time that a vendor altered the page to include
their own organization (and others) ... and a CCHS group member had
probably not ordered the parts mentioned. It was pure advertising,
not a trusted recommendation. And, so this page would no longer be
what it claimed to be (recommendations by members, for members).

I've temporarily removed the edit, because I'd like us to discuss as a
group how we'd like to manage *our pages*, before they become open
slather for every hardware distributor on the planet.

I'm not opposed to any particular option or approach. However, I'd
like it to be clear to members the intent of a given page (advertising
or not) and the origin of the content (member or third-party with
vested interest and bias). Also, if a third-party is benefiting from
the existence of our group and it's communications mechanisms, then
I'd also like the group to benefit in some reasonable and appropriate
fashion.

I think it is possible to come to some reasonable arrangement with
third-party hardware distributors (and software vendors and book
publishers) in some mutually beneficial and trustworthy manner. Let's
decide how.

It would be a pity for our web-site, our content and our valuable
attention to become abused.

cheers andyg (@geekscape)

[Mitch Davis]

Added my (v limited) experience with Little Bird Electronics.

[Mitch Davis]

On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 4:50 PM, andyg (@geekscape) <geek...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Until today, all recommendations on this page were by CCHS members who
> had actually purchased from the company they recommended and had a
> good experience as a result.  As, *clearly stated* at the top of the
> page ...
>
>  "Under each section are some recommendations from the group members
> for good value basic bits to get you started."

This is just my 5c opinion; I hope we can have a lively discussion
about this and hear all the points of view.

I'm not debating whether those companies warrant a recommendation,
just the source of such a recommendation. However convenient to have
those links there. as Andy has said, that page as it stands is solely
for recommendations by members.

I would rather buy locally than overseas. For this to happen, it's in
our best interests that local vendors are supported. But it's also in
their best interests to support groups like ours in order to grow
their market. Andy, I like your idea of finding a solution where we
all win.

Some possible ideas are:

Special treatment (say, a front page mention) in return for some
kind of sponsorship or donation.
A separate page for vendors to put whatever they like on it, with a
disclaimer on it to say so.
Written rules to clarify what is and isn't acceptable.

Mitch.

[Nic Jones]

My sincere apologies.

It was not my intention to join the mailing list as a representative
of the company I work for, nor to advertise things it sells. My
actions aren't sanctioned by the company, or even known to anyone else
there. I found CCHS following a bunch of twitter links (I think the
process was me adding parduino, then jonoxer adding me, then me
following a link or tweet to Andy, then the link to the group, but I'm
not too sure. I wasn't keeping a detailed log, just randomly surfing)

It's only really from my experience and interest that I can draw from,
and I can only assure members (with no good proof, I appreciate) that
it was personal interest that prompted me to join the community and
has driven my actions, not mercurial interest or desire to promote a
company I work for. If I weren't interested in this stuff I wouldn't
be working there. I appreciate the potential for a conflict of
interest and have tried to never hide anything from the members of the
group.

I felt I could recommend the companies I added links for. I've
personally had good experiences with DonTronics and purchased CNC
equipment from Ocean Controls before I was an employee. I haven't ever
purchased from Toysdownunder. I added the link to them because adding
all Australian SparkFun distributors but one felt underhanded and
might be taken as dodgy. I can see now that editing the page at all
has given that impression. Again, I apologise.

Nic Jones

[Pete Yandell]

Let's keep it simple:

"This page is for independent recommendations. No vested interests are
allowed here! If you work for a supplier, then you can't plug them.

If you do want to plug your business, come talk to us. We're happy to
support friendly businesses, especially if they're happy to support
us."

I reckon we should take any business that approaches us and really
hassle them to become sponsors, even if it's only in a small way (e.g.
donating a bit of equipment.) Having a couple of small sponsors on
board will make it easier to approach larger sponsors later.

- Pete

[Luke Weston]

Speaking as someone who is entirely independant of the company, I've
never bought something from Ocean Controls before, but they do look
like an interesting local company that supplies interesting and useful
stuff locally.

Furthermore, they are a small local Australian company that does in-
house electronic engineering, design and small scale manufacturing...
and there isn't a whole lot of that in Australia, and I like to
encourage its continued existence where possible.

I'm tempted to find an excuse to buy stuff from them... and then add
them to the page myself if I am happy with their business.

However... I agree that as a general rule, we shouldn't allow
commercial interests to self-promote.

That's not to just chastise Nic of course... the same policy should be
applied fairly to anybody... but we've never thought about
implementing such rules until now.

[Luke Weston]

I was out at Altronics today... they're a good joint, and certainly
under-appreciated.

They have 0.1" (2.54 mm) header pins and sockets, in all eight
possible combinations of male or female, single-row or double-row, and
vertical or right-angle, whereas the only ones Jaycar sell are the
vertical straight male header pins.

They also have a very good range of surface mount components...
resistors in 0603, 0805, or 1206, diodes, transistors, surface mount
capacitors in the different package sizes, surface mount
electrolytics, LEDs, you name it.

They also sell surface mount components in packs of 10, which is very
useful... sure, there is a bit of anti economy of scale there when
you're paying $1.00 for 10 resistors, but if you don't often use SMD
it's better than buying an expensive set you'll never use all of, and
the SMD LEDs and stuff are very handy.