Setting up Base in Slovenia - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: XaroRSA
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2014, 06:46:05 pm
content: Good day EEV Forum!I am a South African moving to Slovenia in June, and I need some assistance setting up "base" there.I am familiar with all my suppliers in South Africa, and know my way around to get stuff, but in Europe i'm gonna be a bit lost!Can anyone from Slovenia or Europe comment on good suppliers that don't break the bank? and that are reliable and have stock?I will be going into 3D printers, and electronics repairs for a start, and be looking for a job aswel(please pm if you have a lead)I am excited to be part of this forum, and to be part of the EE community in Europe!Regards

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2014, 09:53:20 pm
content: Good luck. Slovenia is a black hole, no-one knows about it anything. I lived next to it, never met someone from there, and I cannot tell 3 facts about it. No-one else can.Any Slovenians out there: this doesnt meant to be an offense, please make some noise!

author: sprocket
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 12:30:48 pm
content: I'm curious. Not that I have any thing against slovenia, but it isnt a country that I would have thought of moving to if I was an english speaking immigrant moving to europe.Any ways. The usual RS, farnell, Mouser and digikey are the main suppliers in europe. there is another company that I use regularly as well, it's a polish company calle TME.EU. Not nearly as big as the old boys club, but they stock a fair amount of doo-hickys and and thingy-ma-jiggy's. And they are usually cheaper then the old boys club. Oh and you can try conrad.de, but I find them rather expensive, and I wouldnt call then a parts suppliers per say, more like selling all sorts of stuff to hobbyists, including some stuff in the EE area.Any ways good luck.

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 12:39:18 pm
content: It must be true love bringing him/her there.As said before I have never met anyone from Slovenia. Plenty of others from 'behind the iron curtain' but not from Slovenia.

author: eurofox
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 01:18:08 pm
content: I joint other members here and wonder why from SA to Slovenia, I have nothing negative about the country, I visited it once on a 2 days business trip, my taxi driver was a university teacher and spoke perfectly French.On the top of that you will have to learn a Slavic language, I spend 5 years managing a factory for a Belgian company in Slovakia.I was there with my family and I had to learn the language to have a "comfortable" life.Learning a Slavic language is not so easy for us even if I was fortunate to be a polyglot and speak the most common western languages.eurofox

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 02:47:48 pm
content: Like others said: Farnell and RS-components are the big ones. There is also Distrilec.I see Slovenia used to be part of Yugoslavia (which used to be a popular destination for going on vacation). If you are close to the Austrian and/or Italian border you might be able to get work from there as well. In most European countries people speak a bit of English.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 03:27:57 pm
content: Quote from: sprocket on April 18, 2014, 12:30:48 pmCareful about Digikey and Mouser - both will ship to Europe, but they are completely US-based (no EU warehouses), so you will get hit with ridiculous shipping charges, import/custom fees and VAT. The customs and VAT varies between countries and it is UPS (or whoever they use to ship) collecting it, so don't be surprised by the total cost of your order doubling easily when the package arrives and the UPS guy hands you the bill!Oh and at least Digikey will often give you trouble with credit cards and various idiotic US export forms to make sure that you are not going to build a ballistic missile with your $0.01 SMD resistors or a PIC ...Distrelec, RadioSpares/RS and Farnell work mostly OK. TME is also OK. Then there are also smaller local distributors in most countries, it is worth to check those out first unless you are starting a big business and can get discount rates from the big names.

author: XaroRSA
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 04:08:55 pm
content: Quote from: Towger on April 18, 2014, 12:39:18 pmNailed it bud

author: XaroRSA
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 04:18:30 pm
content: haha u peeps are funny.Yes the situation is extremely 'unusual', but thats only half of it :OBut I can keep you all informed of what happening there once I have infiltrated this alleged "country" that no one knows about.Thanks for all the replies, I am a bit worried about finding a job there, hopefully I can make it on my own doing some projects and repairs.I don't like buying from RS (well here in SA), cause of the outrages price and min order quantities.Ill keep scouting for some local affordable suppliers there.If anyone from nearby needs a hand with some electronics etc ill be glad to jump in and help!Cheers!

author: Dave
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 04:41:51 pm
content: Guess I'll be the first Slovenian to join the conversation.So far I have had the best experience ordering from Farnell UK. Shipping costs 5€ and the package gets delivered in a single day (provided you order before 5 pm).You can basically order from any country within the European Union and you don't have to pay customs fees.Local suppliers here are a bit of a shame, they will treat you like crap, if you are not planning on spending several thousand euros (avoid IC Elektronika like the plague).Which city are you moving to?

author: XaroRSA
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 04:59:23 pm
content: Quote from: Dave on April 18, 2014, 04:41:51 pmHi Dave.Im moving nearby Celje.Any advise on what to lookup there?

author: Dave
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2014, 08:07:30 pm
content: I'm from Nova Gorica and I'm currently staying in Ljubljana during the week (studying at UNI). I'm afraid I don't know much about Celje.Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

author: XaroRSA
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 10:33:30 am
content: Finally arrived, what a beautiful place.Still haven't found anything remotely technological out here, but its still nice.Anyone into agricultural monitoring?

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 12:44:02 pm
content: Start a bed&breakfast and advertise in the country you came from.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 01:49:20 pm
content: Quote from: XaroRSA on June 10, 2014, 10:33:30 amIt might be worth looking into-----I used to live in the WA Wheatbelt,& it was a fairly big deal there.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 02:57:01 pm
content: According to google Slovania is an awesome place:https://www.google.com/search?q=slovenia&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch

author: lovro
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 05:45:31 pm
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on April 17, 2014, 09:53:20 pmwell this guy is from Slovenia and he has a really nice/interesting blog ..http://www.tablix.org/~avian/blog/archives/2014/06/testing_vesnas_power_supply/

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 06:51:21 pm
content: Quote from: edavid on June 10, 2014, 01:42:43 pmDon't forget to visit the future site for the brand new state of the art vacuum tube factory that they will build.It should be finished in a bout 5 years (they need to pay off some more politicians first to get some permits)caves -> coal mining -> vacuum tubes ... it fits. they surely are going hard there in slovenia.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 06:59:40 pm
content: Quote from: lovro on June 10, 2014, 05:45:31 pmwith such mesmerising article as- vacuum tube collectionhttp://www.tablix.org/~avian/blog/articles/tubes/- water cooled 486http://www.tablix.org/~avian/blog/articles/waterblock/- Z80 disassemblerhttp://www.tablix.org/~avian/blog/articles/z80dasm/welcome to 'state-of-the-art' (at least in slovenia).When i grew up we had to memorize the countries of the European union. There were 12. ( the twelve stars on the european flag )Now there are 28 (with 24 different languages )

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 07:30:08 pm
content: Quote from: free_electron on June 10, 2014, 06:51:21 pmI think you are confusing Slovenia with Slovakia

author: XaroRSA
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 07:42:24 pm
content: Yeah im looking into a few open-source monitoring devices.Not too sure what the key measurements are in agriculture? I assume things like temperature,light and water levels are important.Yeah, awesome place otherwise, need to set up my workshop and get building asap!Quote from: vk6zgo on June 10, 2014, 01:49:20 pm

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 08:04:08 pm
content: Quote from: free_electron on June 10, 2014, 06:51:21 pmSouth Africa GDP per capita: $7,096. Slovena's $23,702. That's an x3. Can't be that bad.

author: rob77
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 08:25:11 pm
content: for parts checkout T.M.Ehttp://www.tme.eu/en/- they're in Poland , but they shipping to all European countries via DHL (it's 4.9Eur - next business day to Slovakia - should be very similar to Slovenia ).p.s. i'm from Slovakia - that's a different country - but the names and also flags are very similar

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 09:06:38 pm
content: I love chicken souvlaki.

author: M4trix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 09:27:25 pm
content: This thread is hilarious. Ok, I understand those from 'merica. Most of them don't know where to pinpoint Europe on the map. But most shocking is that guys in Europe don't have a slightest clue about this part of Europe. Some facts, Yugoslavia is dead almost 25 years (thank God) and we have never been behind the iron curtain or had any relationship with the Soviets since 1948.Just my two cents.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 09:30:12 pm
content: Quote from: XaroRSA on June 10, 2014, 07:42:24 pmMost of the gear seemed to be to control the quantity of seed,fertiliser,etc which was being applied.All that stuff is expensive,& farmers try to get "the biggest bang for their buck!"Probably worth having a bit of a chat with some farmers,& maybe look at some agricultural publications.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 10, 2014, 11:24:34 pm
content: Quote from: M4trix on June 10, 2014, 09:27:25 pmYou are probably right but to me former Yugoslavia still has a stigma of being a war zone.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2014, 04:14:52 am
content: Quote from: Shock on June 10, 2014, 09:06:38 pmThat's a French dish, Slovenia is known for its pasta.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2014, 05:01:58 am
content: Quote from: zapta on June 11, 2014, 04:14:52 amWhen in Rome do as the Irish do.

author: avian
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 11, 2014, 08:34:37 am
content: Hi XaroRSA,welcome to Slovenia! I'm the author of the blog Lovro linked.Regarding where to buy electronics:There are two general electronic component shops in Ljubljana that will sell small quantities to individuals. They both also send orders by mail. As Dave said, neither will want to bother with you too much unless you are spending a lot of money with them. Expect to have to come back the next day for your order if you're buying more than a few items. But they serve their purpose well enough when you need an odd resistor in a hurry.http://www.ic-elect.si/- typically better stocked in semiconductors.http://www.hte.si/- good to call them before hand and check if they have your item. Their inventory tracking is kind of buggy.There's alsohttp://www.conrad.si/(they have a physical shop as well in Ljubljana), but as Sprocket said, it's typically more expensive.You can also find other shops that are specialized in cetain items (batteries -http://ebax.si, etc.), but often you will have to specifically ask them to sell to an individual.When these are not enough, Farnell Slovenia (http://si.farnell.com/) is your best bet for internet ordering. Note that when buying things on the internet from outside of EU you might have to pay tax and import duties. Also, our customs might take a week or two to process your shipment. You will find that internet shops sometimes won't ship to Slovenia eventhough they say they ship to Europe.Other places to check outhttps://www.kiberpipa.org/- Kiberpipa is Ljubljana's oldest hackerspace. It's a bit messy right now after moving to a new location, but they just got a new 3D printer. There are regular talks and meetups and there are a few of us there that are into electronics.http://hekovnik.si/- Something between hackerspace and a start-up incubator. Sometimes also a nice place to hang out even if you're not in the start-up scene and has an occasional hardware-related event.http://www.elektronik.si/- A quite popular Slovenian forum about electronics. I don't find their community particularly inviting, but YMMV.I'm working at Jožef Stefan Institute on wireless sensor networks (http://sensorlab.ijs.si/). I'm not involved in any project about agricultural monitoring, but we have had a few of those in the past. If you'll visit Ljubljana I would be happy to buy you a beer and chat about it.Have fun!Tomaž

author: XaroRSA
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 10:39:09 am
content: Hi Tomaz!Thank you for the relevant and helpful post!I will be sure to take you up on that beer when I'm in Ljubljana.Will send you a pm or e-mail when the time comes.For now I will browse those suppliers and start preparing a few projects.Quote from: avian on June 11, 2014, 08:34:37 am

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 11:15:12 am
content: QuoteFortunately, America doesn't yet have a monopoly on morons.They come in all shape, form and nationality.

author: jpb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 12:51:27 pm
content: Quote from: M4trix on June 10, 2014, 09:27:25 pmYou're right of course but a little harsh. Yugoslavia under Tito was a communist state and bordered the communist states of the Soviet Union so conflating them is understandable. Similarly, to some of us 25 years is not a long time.

author: jpb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 12:55:43 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on April 18, 2014, 03:27:57 pmI just ordered from Mouser a few days ago, they added VAT but as my order exceeded £40 there was no shipping and it arrived the next day. Very similar to Farnell except Farnell have a lower limit for getting free shipping.I am in the UK so you may be referring to the rest of Europe. (We are still in the EU despite the rise of UKIP!)

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 12, 2014, 02:37:59 pm
content: Quote from: jpb on June 12, 2014, 12:51:27 pmGoing further off topic..... I remember being dragged to an ethnic restaurant around about that time and my grandfather (an ex SS NCO) getting into a mildly testy argument with the owner who by then was pretending that his restaurant wasn't Yugoslav, due to the shit storm overseas, as he explained it. I think my grandfather got shitty with people denying their national identity, as he saw it.The only thing on the menu that looked remotely pleasing to my eyes back then was "hamburger". I wasn't much of a hamburger fan though and I didn't really like beef too much by then either. I remember hoping that this hamburger won't have too much of a patty in stuffed into it. Well what I got was a medium sized plate sporting a single freaking ~200mm diameter, ~ 30mm thick rissole. WTF? There was a slice of tomato and a little parsley on the side for garnish. I ate that.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2014, 09:06:54 pm
content: Quote from: GK on June 12, 2014, 02:37:59 pmIt's understandable that Yugoslavs and ex SS people do not get along ;-)http://www.historynet.com/invasion-of-yugoslavia-waffen-ss-captain-fritz-klingenberg-and-the-capture-of-belgrade-during-world-war-ii.htm

author: XaroRSA
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 04:50:26 pm
content: Hi Peeps, soz to resurrect this thread, but quick question to the slovenians again.Where is the best/cheapest places to buy hardware basics, such as nuts,bolts, washers and rods?I know of Bauhaus, but I doubt they the cheapest around.Regards

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 05:04:52 pm
content: Quote from: zapta on June 11, 2014, 04:14:52 amFrench ? FRENCH ? Souvlaki is greek !

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 05:09:12 pm
content: Quote from: M4trix on June 10, 2014, 09:27:25 pmI was born and raised in europe. When i left school in 1989 none of these countries existed. Estland Letland Lithuania, Slovenia , Croatia ,Tshechia. I would not be able to point to them on a mapPortugal, spain,france,germany,england,ireland,belgium,the netherlands,poland , sweden,norway , italy,switzerland and finland i can show you. Anything else is in the 'red zone' (in the early 80's those were colored red because they were communist.Every fart that is released over there wants to be an independent state. Yet they all want to belong to the unified europe. What an oxymoron...

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2014, 05:28:50 pm
content: Exactly. There was just a big area called the USSR.Actually we had a Hungarian in our class at school. Don't know how they got out, but I think his father was an IT expert.

author: Dave
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2014, 12:01:08 am
content: Quote from: zapta on June 13, 2014, 09:06:54 pmYou would think that. Not long ago the right wing party erected a statue for the 32 fallenSlovene Home Guardmembers (national traitors and Nazi collaborators) inGrahovo.It might be worth mentioning that the current leader of the biggest right wing party was found guilty of accepting bribes and gotsentenced to 2 years in prison. People stupid enough to support this guy (and there are many) are going to escort him on his way to prison this Friday.Germany condemned the use of any Nazi related symbols (even the rock band Kiss has to usea different logo whenthey have gigs in Germany, because the two S-es intheir original logolook similar to theSS logo). Using Nazi symbols in Germany is not just frowned upon, it'sillegal. Slovenians erect statues for these people.This is my first and last political rant, promise.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2014, 05:51:11 am
content: Quote from: free_electron on June 16, 2014, 05:04:52 pmYes, it's Greek, and you can find good one over the hill at Vasilis @ Santa Cruz. We go there often.

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2014, 03:19:03 pm
content: Quote from: Dave on June 17, 2014, 12:01:08 amWell, it was the anti-fascists that forced the Yugoslav government to abandon its pact with Nazi Germany, giving Hitler cause to invade the "treasonous" nation in 1941. The Nazi’s never really had a great deal of trouble finding sympathetic support amongst fascists of nearly any flavor, or other ideologues with whom they shared a common enemy – enemies such as communists and Jews.For example the virulently Catholic Ustaše which based much of its ideology on contemporary Nazism whilst maintaining strong ties to the Vatican, with attendant clerical support. The Ustaše were even strange bedfellows with the Bosnian Muslims, due to their shared hatred of Jews and principally Orthodox Christian Serbs. From memory I think the number of Christian Serbs killed by their collaboration in 1941 is estimated at 600,000 or thereabouts. The Bosnian MuslimsMujoswere promptly canalized into the Waffen-SS. Even as late as 1943, ~20,000Mujoswere formed into the SSHandscharDivision, to assist with Nazi activities in the former Yugoslavia.There was some degree of falling out between the Nazis and the Ustaše towards the end though, as the Ustaše wasn’t sufficiently committed to the extermination of Jews, sparing some that pledged to convert to Catholicism.You can’t really compare modern Germany with the current state of the former “Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes”. The former, being a strategic barrier to the spread of Soviet communism, was neutered by the Allies and essentially forced to reform itself. The latter was neglected and left to rot. The genocide of 1941 of course was the precursor to the “ethnic cleansing” of the relatively recent Kosovo war – but that time ‘round fascist Christians killing Muslims. Hatreds, divisions and decades-old sympathies for defunct and morally bankrupt ideologies will continue to simmer away in that backwards part of the world for a while yet.