On Sunday, August 17, 2014 7:30:47 AM UTC-7, Robert Macy wrote:

Wow, I posted a question on buying caps and received several Digikey
recommendations. These caps at $.18 ea for 5 quantity. Yeah, that's good,
thank you. BUT!!!

for ten test leads to cost $100 seems a bit high!
for a solder sucker to cost $18.60 seems a bit high! where the same unit
at BG Micro was around the reasonable price of $6.23

DigiKey, like Mouser, Allied, and Newark, is OK for components like
resistors, capacitors, transistors, and ICs but expensive for about
everything else. Jameco, B.G. Micro, Circuit Specialists, and
Marlin P. Jones can be good for other stuff. MCM Electronics is
owned by the same company as Newark but is more oriented toward
repair and carries a lot of parts and tools for that.


I've bought test leads twice, and both times, several had bad
continuity, so check their resistance before use.

Don't buy Harbor Freight soldering irons or anything not UL
listed. If the iron's barrel turns blue, it's a bad design
that will probably burn out in a few months or make your hand
uncomfortably hot. Radio Shack irons and suckers are OK, but
sometimes MCM and Marlin P. Jones have cheaper ones with
more features, like power adjustment or temperature regulation.
BTW Radio Shack has a 45W iron that also sucks solder, about
$15. It works really well on single-sided boards, OK on
double-sided ones, but it doesn't quite have enough power for
more layers than that.