Interesting/useful parts to buy to bulk up baskets for free delivery - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Infraviolet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 12:27:29 am
content: Virtually every component seller of any kind has a price above which one can get free delivery, and often delivery below it can be quite pricey. And sod's law means one almost always comes a little bit under the price threshold when filling ones basket with the things one actually needs. So you end up with a situation where if you can find £1 to £9 of extra stuff to order (depending on exactly how much below you are) you often end up paying a little less than if you bought less stuff and paid for delivery.Any tips on what sort of items can be interesting/fun/useful to get to fill these little price gaps? Either things to generally stock up on, or things like interesting ICs to have a go with and explore their capabilities. Ideas perhaps of using this price gap filling to try out parts one wouldn't otherwise consider getting.Thoughts of amusing things to get from the typical component sellers for this price gap filling are also welcome.Thanks

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 12:58:43 am
content: all I can think of is to start working on decade sets of passive components in different wattage levels. Integrated circuits are gonna lay around till the end of time but passive devices (i.e. having a 1/2 watt, 1 watt, 3w, 5w resistor of weird tolerance) is actually usefulthen you will be the guy with a real resistor in circuit not a network of undersized crapwould I put together a e48 2W resistor network normally? no. but its not a bad goal to aspire to if you need to kill some quotassame thing with zener diodesmetal oxide resistors are quite nice, in the same form factor as old composition resistors you can get 2x the power level (1/2 watt composite = 1w metal oxide size wise). That actually makes for pretty good retrofits in equipment.I would argue that inductors might be the most useless of the passives to try to collect, so do those after your e192 10W resistor set is complete

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 01:18:27 am
content: consumables like drill bits ,nuts and bolts etc are usefull basket fillers.

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 06:14:06 pm
content: If it's Rapid I will scan through the clearance and sale sections, but failing that, test leads/connectors. You can never have too many!

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 07:54:15 pm
content: Little dev/breakout boards, like microcontrollers and peripherals.What I do on Digi-Key is keep a “general wish list” list into which I place things that I find interesting, or things I need (but not urgently), precisely for padding small orders.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 08:00:42 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on October 28, 2022, 07:54:15 pmThat's exactly, or very similar, to what I try and do. Except that the microcontroller boards, have generally either disappeared off the face of the Earth, these days, or become over priced (and still relatively unavailable).

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 08:13:29 pm
content: Honestly, Digi-Key and Mouser continue to have decent selections in stock.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 08:17:43 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on October 28, 2022, 08:13:29 pmI guess it depends what you were aiming for. The individual microcontrollers (especially non-BGA ones) and almost (PICO aside) all raspberry PI boards especially, but also the Microchip ones (low cost versions, I wanted). Have mostly or fully disappeared.Also, the various Microchip/Atmel stuff.There are exceptions, such as the ESP32 and related things, which have generally continued to be freely available, a lot of the time.EDIT: On reflection. Sometimes, or for long periods of time, the low cost versions of the development boards, have been available, but I tended to miss the opportunities to get them, and they went out of stock. The high priced boards, do seem to have remained in stock, throughout, in general.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 08:50:30 pm
content: There also seem to be many STM32 Nucleo boards available. (Not all of them, to be sure, but enough to have fun with.)Indeed, Espressif seems to have done a respectable job of maintaining availability throughout the pandemic. (The RP2040, too.)

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2022, 08:52:35 pm
content: I remember ordering a product from Boots that was £49.99, and the free delivery threshold was £50. I added a 49p pack of cotton wool "ear buds" to it to get free delivery as it was something steep like £7 delivery fee. It was dispatched separately, from a different warehouse, by a different courier. I've heard they're financially struggling now, wasn't me honestly.On the electronics front, I usually add a few reels of solder wick or FluxClene. The latter usually makes it a hazardous package and so it won't go by a standard service, but at least at £10 or so a can it probably makes sense for them to ship it that way.