This shop used protective packaging for everything. Even for the knobs. Can’t complain about this either!
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thats good its protected but it seems like more stuff like knobs can / should be rapped in recycled paper a bit more environmentally friendly .
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You are right! Fortunately, in this case, there was no waste as I used the excess packaging of this order to store the CMOS ICs that were only wrapped in aluminium foil in that previous order.
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just got me one of these today myself too
Useful for me as i have myopia strong enough my correction interferes with my ability to focus for detail work. I need to remove my glasses for SMD stuff, but it’s not an option the days i’m wearing contacts.
Tried it out to remove useless 0805 i added by mistake to this design. Seems it will be easy to learn the skill to use this thing.
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Ahh, I have been looking at one of these! I am far-sighted, so anything up close requires googles/magnifying lense over my glasses, which is heavy on the nose. And it seems to be getting worse as I age, which does not bode well for my day job (I repair industrial tech that often involves fiddling with SMD components). Hmm, maybe I can get my employer to pick up the bill on this one 
I was worried about the “disconnect” between eyes and hands via the screen, but it sounds like one could develop the coordination after a couple uses, no?
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I am about to send out orders to Tayda and Digi-Key, and I am not going to forget anything. Also I am going to win the lottery.
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I am thinking about doing all of my future boards with the SMD soldering service simply because of how bad I am at sourcing stuff… like I need a single 40106 right now. I can pay 30$ in shipping and 20$ in taxes for a $0.40 chip, or wait until I need more of everything.
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I have been there. Fortunately, sometimes, a local shop will have the odd part that you might urgently need (capacitor, diode, an IC). Even if it comes at double/triple the online price it will save you the wait and shipping charges.
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I don’t think any of those shops exist anymore… seems like they all went out of business or turned into cell phone accessory stores (not that I really blame them).
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There’s one in the Syracuse, NY area, a really funky out of the way space in what looks like a warehouse. Chaotic mess of stuff inside and a counter where you can ask “Do you have xxxx?” and they say “Let me take a look” and they disappear into the back and return with it. I bought a couple of nonpolarized electrolytic caps there once when I had just that situation, I’d overlooked it in my mail order and it was all I needed. Odd vibe to the place, not sure what to think of it; it’s the one time I’ve been there.
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Indeed there used to be more twenty years ago. I too noticed that these days most have switched to selling alarms, satellite dishes, or mobile phone gadgets. Fortunately, there a few around here that cater to people with niche hobbies: audiophiles, radio amateurs, vintage computers and arcade games enthusiasts, but also to younger people who learn with arduinos and 555s.
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Ah! Sir Terry Pratchett would use the term, “one of those shops!”
In the 90s an area of Hong Kong called Mong Kok where i used to shop for pc and electronic parts. Whole streets filled with plastic baskets full of parts. All gone now. : (
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Still breaks my heart that the only one left in my area closed earlier this year. There used to be a nice collection of passives, semiconductors and ic’s.
There were often bags and take-away food boxes of random parts for €5 or less.
Also a stash of salvaged and NOS parts that i went to check every 2 weeks or so. I’ve gotten some very nice quality parts like rotary switches, precision pots and transformers for only cents a piece.
Now i just order most parts from China and sometimes suppliers like Conrad if it’s urgent.
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Picked up a second hand NDLR. Let’s see whether I’ll like this thing. I’m thinking to pair it with a midi-to-cv and a cv-to-midi module, to get full cv in and out capabilities. I think it will pair nicely with the modular, plus my argon 8 (and the behringer solina I’ll inevitably end up buying).
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When Maplin in the UK folded in 2018 that was it 
TBF I hardly ever went to our local except to waste time browsing at tat with the kids. Once or twice I bought something. They were a retailer that went from pure electronics not Kids drones… The business re-launched with a vastly cut product line.
I have just visited their site and somehow got a redirect to “Switch Electronics” which i buy from on ebay quite a few times… So Switch and maplin are the same , Who Knew!
Prior to Maplin arriving in town we had nothing since Tandy “Radio shack” Closed in ~2001…
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I used to work next door to a Maplins, would wander about in there on my lunch sometimes and day dream. Bought my first soldering iron and dremel from them to mod my boss ds1. That was back in 2008-ish.
Had no idea they became switch on eBay, just bought an enclosure from them.
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So, I’ve gotten a few things in the past week! The first is the practical one–a Hakko soldering iron to replace my TS-80P, which was a little underpowered for heavy soldering work.
The second is this! A Behringer RD-8! I’m really looking forward to playing with this one.
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Kassutronics Slope PCBs and panel, and a new and very upside down version of my power display.
Also last week: AliExpress, Tayda, DigiKey. Still waiting: AliExpress. To come: AliExpress, AliExpress, DigiKey.
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I can’t fully vouch for their quality yet but these Aliexpress Thonkiconn clones seem good, only way to get them at a fair price in my country since Brexit (<€0.30 per)
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