Your latest purchase

For the first time I wanted a slide pot for a project and didn't have them. Have all sorts of pots, but they are not convenient as a UI control, more of an adjust and forget control. They ended up being cheaper than I expected. Got real nice ones for about 70 cents each. VERY NICE quality, actually. 10K, one is linear, the other is log.

Also got some mercury switches from a Chinese vendor.

Hmmm, this thread is still going on. I was trolling through etsy a few days ago, when I saw an Australian selling wooden momentary contact buttons, and I thought cool. So I just ordered it, but I haven't gotten it yet. I ordered 6 buttons, and the price with upgraded shipping was about $35 US. http://www.etsy.com/listing/160141860/qty-6-custom-order-michael-meissner?ref=col_view

AWOL:
Is it even legal to send mercury through the post?

I started a thread about that subject in General Electronics when I ordered these. There are several international and domestic sellers of these switches on eBay. No one seems to be getting busted. The consensus is that it is legal but you have to declare it as hazardous, which was not done in this case. Even very reactive chemicals can be shipped if they are declared and the hazardous shipment is paid for, check what this guy wants to ship alkali metals:

Policy: Metallium, Inc: Rare, Exotic Metals and Elements for Sale - Hazmat Shipping

I have gotten metallic sodium from eBay vendors for far less than him. I don't think everyone declares hazardous materials properly. This guy has reasonable shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sodium-Metal-Element-Sample-1oz-Ingot-In-Sealed-Foil-Pack-99-8-Pure-/221260753471

I got a chunk of about a pound or 500 grams for this price years ago.

AWOL:
Is it even legal to send mercury through the post?

In the U.S., no...

http://about.usps.com/posters/pos138/pos138_hazard_009.htm

Mercury, mercury-containing items (thermometer, etc.) ... Mercury and items containing mercury are always prohibited.

Just to be clear, it can be sent by UPS and FedEx, they just charge through the nose for the hazardous materials tag.

This memo makes it extraordinarily clear that the shipment I received was actually illegal. It came China Post / USPS. Thank you.

When I read the original question I read "the post" as being any major delivery service. Reading it as the USPS only (when in the United States) is probably the more proper way to read that word.

JoeN:
I have gotten metallic sodium from eBay vendors for far less than him. I don't think everyone declares hazardous materials properly. This guy has reasonable shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sodium-Metal-Element-Sample-1oz-Ingot-In-Sealed-Foil-Pack-99-8-Pure-/221260753471

I got a chunk of about a pound or 500 grams for this price years ago.

I read the listing, and I saw the line, great for the collector or lab. Lab I can understand, and I would expect to be them to be the primary buyers of Sodium. Assuming I remember what sodium does from high school chemistry, I can people wanting to see what kind of trouble they can get into with reactive metals. Chemistry teachers I can see. I just didn't think that there were people who collected each of the elements, and didn't actually intend to use them. Must be interesting by the time you get to the transuranic elements.

There is at least one reactor that uses molten sodium as the fluid in the heat exchanger. That's a LOT of sodium BTW.

GoForSmoke:
There is at least one reactor that uses molten sodium as the fluid in the heat exchanger. That's a LOT of sodium BTW.

It will be a bad day when a new reactor operator tries to top the reactor off with water. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

The sodium is inside sealed pipes. IIRC the reactor is or was at CERN. They're smart people, not like the cost-cutting for profit and fix-later-forever job security GE management and engineers that built nuke plants in east central USA.

AWOL:

Must be interesting by the time you get to the transuranic elements.

Just hope the delivery time is shorter than the half-life!

Yeah, the last time I ordered a gram of astatine the guy swore it was there when he mailed it. I guess he had a point. :frowning:

JoeN:

AWOL:

Must be interesting by the time you get to the transuranic elements.

Just hope the delivery time is shorter than the half-life!

Yeah, the last time I ordered a gram of astatine the guy swore it was there when he mailed it. I guess he had a point. :frowning:

It'd make a great base for a "holistic medicine" being self-diluting as it is. That stuff would get more "valuable" with time.

Latest purchase:

Mega 2560 (chinese clone)
W5100 Ethernet shield
2 x Dual H Bridge motor driver boards
50 x RGB common anode LEDs
20 x Infrared universal receivers

All for different projects, though I'll have a go at putting them all in a project together

Can't find the post in this thread, but am appreciative of the Tayda suggestion. Order arrived in 8 days, very well packed. Highly recommended.

Switches, with blue leds in them. Toggle, rocker and push button latching. And some with a faux carbon cover - the missile launcher ones. I am a sucker for a switch with a blue led in it. And carbon fiber. Also got some ON/OFF/ON temporary rocker switches.

For anyone who didn't know: Tayda's Facebook page has bi-monthly discount codes netting you 15% off. I didn't know about it for my recent order with them, but will be using it for my next order with them. Well worth checking their page.

Radio Shack seems to be having a "Closeout" sale of some of the less popular (?) Arduino/Sparkfun/etc boards.
I picked up a MEGA ADK ($20) and a motor shield ($5)
I am running out of excuses for not diving into the USB host world :slight_smile:

westfw:
Radio Shack seems to be having a "Closeout" sale of some of the less popular (?) Arduino/Sparkfun/etc boards.
I picked up a MEGA ADK ($20) and a motor shield ($5)
I am running out of excuses for not diving into the USB host world :slight_smile:

Questions:

  1. does it have to hook up to an Android?
  2. can it support a 4-port hub?
  3. can you hang a quadram board on it?

aarondc:
Can't find the post in this thread, but am appreciative of the Tayda suggestion. Order arrived in 8 days, very well packed. Highly recommended.

I've placed more than a dozen orders with them now and never had a problem. They quote fairly long shipping times but most of my shipments have come from Colorado and take no more than a week, max. They are a good company to buy from.

Also, my own personal AED

Too many people in my circles have been dropping dead, and since an acquaintance pointed out that anyone can buy these now, it became untenable to perhaps not have one when it was needed. Sigh.

westfw:
Also, my own personal AED

Too many people in my circles have been dropping dead, and since an acquaintance pointed out that anyone can buy these now, it became untenable to perhaps not have one when it was needed. Sigh.

Why post a marketing pic and not a pic of your actual unit?

I ordered a Rugged Circuits QuadRam board for $25 + ship, $28-something.
http://ruggedcircuits.com/html/quadram.html

That board is on deep discount and when they sell the last in stock, the price goes up.

I gave them a wish list item though. I want banks of memory-mapped I/O and the SRAM if it can work, that would be pin multipliers!