Your latest purchase

Maybe they are hoping for large amounts of business, or there is some sort of joint shipping company that everyone uses that is cheap, or government run and free

My motors/drivers arrived yesterday - they are a lot smaller than what I imagined; now I am trying to think up how I will make the CNC frame (thinking Micro-Ax - that, or 1 inch 80/20)...anyway, it's a future project.

Last night, I ordered some more darts/belts for my Nerf Vulcan, 200 plastic gears from another Chinese supplier, and a copy of Mondo 2000 issue #16...

:slight_smile:

Give me a link to "USB ASP Programmer -- a dollar shipped" Master El-cheapo! Is it a USB ISP programmer? I really want one.

Parts in China are quite cheap to start with. Then if you are in ShenZhen, a boom town next to Hongkong, you walk your packages to Hongkong post. The free port ships cheaply. It's the USPS or UPS etc that charge too much for shipping. They need to pay tax too since entire US is not a tax free country. See this:

https://secure.dipmicro.com/store/TACT3

They get their parts mostly from China, where all of these parts are cranked out at amazing speed and quantity.

This one on the other hand:

Must have been made by Chinese royalty or coated with thick gold $). If all you see here is SPE type of price, then ebay is a shocking experience. I do think the ebayers make money, even when they sell 100 of something for $1 including shipping. The Chinese has an old saying about selling with little profit to make more sales. There is also a huge salary difference. You have to double the price in the US to cover basic costs, salary to be the lion's share. Over there, a $600/month salary is not too bad for a college student just starting out. You can hire someone that reads and writes English to post/sell on ebay. Over here, you need maybe $3,000 to find someone with a high school degree.

I got a usbisp for like 6$, couldn't find cheaper than that, you musta got lucky on a bid lol

liudr:
This one on the other hand:

Mini Pushbutton Switch - COM-00097 - SparkFun Electronics

The thing I like about SparkFun, though (being that I live in Arizona) - is that it's a hop/skip away; if they have a part that I can't get locally (or don't already have) - and I need it quick (and/or "new"), then SparkFun is fast - I can generally order on a Wednesday morning and get it by Friday. The only thing faster is surplus from Electronic Goldmine (just across the valley - unfortunately, they don't have a walk-in store!). Of course, I do most of my shopping at Apache Reclamation, Goodwill, and Fry's Electronics - and I have a large stock of junk, so I rarely need to shop for things, and don't mind waiting on stuff from China in most cases...

You don't have digi-key in your backyard like I do (2-4 hours away is back yardish for shipping). XD

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300663960094?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_1748wt_922

Generic USB ISP programmer... A buck shipped.

Now the thing is, hunting for this type of deal takes time, and you have to be willing to put things away for when you need them, not buy them when you need them. Bottom feeding really leaves you at the mercy of the supplier, who may not consider the loss leader their highest priority.. Though I almost never get screwed over..

You have to remember sometimes I have to kill hours at a time in the middle of the night, best with some kind of mindless thing. If I save five bucks on parts, but it has taken three hours to get there in terms of searches and bids, its not really practical.. Especially since the volumes you buy are hobbyist levels at best.. It's a one off or a promo to get a deal like that...

Thanks! The list of processors has no 328 so is it working with 328? Thanks!

MacOSX "Lion."
None of my old PPC apps work now :frowning:
Does anyone know of a reasonably priced draw/paint package that will read Corel Photopaint 11 .cpt files?

I'll find out when it arrives in a few weeks.. but since it does list 168's, I can't imagine that it would have a problem with ATMEGA328. hadn't even noticed that it wasn't on the list. It's ISP, so I would imagine if it fits the specifications for one, it would fit for all.

Canon a3000 to run chdk...
Pink pogo plug. Will it talk to an Arduino?

A Lada Niva, to charge a big dry batt driving by an Arduino.

Note; the Niva will be drive by me 'cause it's too simple for Ardiuno...

What's a lady niva?

I didn't want to ask that, to be honest ...

Looks like its a car:

You know, a russian "Lada" - one of the biggest POS cars this side of a Yugo; to be honest, I don't really know that for sure; in fact, I would say that every car has a bad reputation, and just the other week I saw a nice Yugo putting down the street - shocked me to see it, TBH - but no smoke, no strange noises, and it looked to be in great condition.

Lada's are probably the same. They just likely have a "bad reputation" because they are a mass-production on-the-cheap get-me-from-point-a-to-b kind of car. Nothing to impress people with, just does the job. You know - what a sane person drives (instead of something to impress others with for one reason or another).

Then again, they might really be POS...

:smiley:

EDIT: Hmm - looking at the wiki article again, it looks like this Lada is a better vehicle than your "standard" Lada - off road capability, 4WD - heck, now I want one (that and a Unimog); it looks to be quite fun! :slight_smile:

A Lada Niva is a no frills 4x4 as you found out. Very low tech but they can be a lot of fun.
And Mercede Unimog that's a whole different league, I think they are the best "off the shelf" offroad vehicle available. I want one as well since I was a kid.

THIS is a no-frills 4x4...

That Lada Niva is a Cadillac by comparison.

Transformers the complete series. Got a deal on this $99 series:

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Transformers-More-Than-Meets-Eye-Comp-Series/e/826663125368?r=1&cm_mmca2=pla&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-DVD-_-Q000000633-_-826663125368

$49 :slight_smile:

liudr:
Transformers the complete series. Got a deal on this $99 series:

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Transformers-More-Than-Meets-Eye-Comp-Series/e/826663125368?r=1&cm_mmca2=pla&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-DVD-_-Q000000633-_-826663125368

$49 :slight_smile:

Howdja pull that off?! Nice set, though! I want that kind of deal on the GI Joe complete set (at $150.00, I can't see myself spending that kind of money on cartoons from my youth)...

:smiley:

1 full reel (5000 pcs) of 1k 0603 resistors - ebay of course. I don't know if I will use all of them during my lifetime, but it was almost cheaper than getting 100 pcs locally.

Speaking of ebay and electronic components...

The same seller also has 100nF ceramic capacitors of the kind I use in my projects, only the date-code on the reel is something like 1993. I figured that old age doesn't matter with resistors, but what about ceramic caps? I certainly wouldn't buy electrolytic caps that are from the last century.