11.01 - Function F(x) Fundraiser Announcement

[pickdropper]

That'd be great, Paul! If it's not too much trouble... no rush, of course.
If you are set up to receive paypal monies, just charge a few De Molen Hels on me (tried some this spring in Amsterdam, that was damn fine!)...

No problem at all, just glad I can help. I'll contact Rockhorst (He's Dutch as well), maybe we can do something for the three of us. If other Euros want to join the SMT/SMD parts buy, we might want to set up a group buy. I'll give it some thought and get back to you this coming week. Still scares the crap out of me, resistors small enough to snort..... Or is that me being Dutch? 

Paul

Paul, this is a good idea.  The pricing for these caps generally comes way down with quantity, so a group buy could save everybody some money, even with a bit of postage in there.

[DutchMF]

resistors small enough to snort..... Or is that me being Dutch? 

Guess thats ok as long as theyre leadfree;)

***

I could join in some european smd group buy as well. Mouser offer free shipping if order exceeds 70 EURO (or there about), right?

Cheers

LOL! Yeah, I guess so. I'll get this organized this week, as I guess a lot of euro's are struggling to get the right parts without paying some enormous shipping costs. Right now, I see two possibilities, Mouser and Farnell. I'll check at work tomorrow, we have a department that regularly orders at Farnell, I might be able to sneak this in there and skip shipping all together. Now why the hell didn't I think of that before! *smashes head on table*

Paul

[muddyfox]

Or is that me being Dutch? 

Well an old friend (I don't think I've seen him in the last 15 years, maybe even 20) once told me that "you ain't much if you ain't Dutch".
I guess the shoe fits with you.. 
Thanks for the offer, let me know what I need to do. I'll be building all three boards, I think I have most parts but if there's a group buy for parts other than the caps I'd still be in.

[twin1965]

Didn't think it was going to be that difficult to get these parts on this side of the pond! I've looked at all my usual UK and EU sources and no luck

A group buy would be good.

[culturejam]

^^^ I'm really surprised by that. I know European companies use surface-mount parts. Somebody over there has to be supplying them.

[pickdropper]

I'm surprised as well.  It's not like the parts are all that obscure.  I would be every part on that BOM is produced in larger quantities than most through-hole parts.

[pickdropper]

OK guys, I recorded a quick and dirty sound clip today.  Surprisingly, it picked up a bit of my strumming of the strings, even with the amp on.  I guess I stood too close to the mic.  Anyway, it should still give you an idea of what it sounds like.

https://soundcloud.com/pickdropper/facebender-demo

I may do a better take when I get a chance.

[muddyfox]

^^^ I'm really surprised by that. I know European companies use surface-mount parts. Somebody over there has to be supplying them.

I'm sure there is but noone that I've found that caters to the <10000pcs crowd and doesn't pull a daylight robbery on me unless I live in the UK.
I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong here... 

[rullywowr]

Seriously guys if you don't have any SMD parts, you can get a starter kit for around $10 on ebay. They are all over the site. The same goes for larger cap sizes...you can get 50 or 100 pcs for about what mouser charges for 10pcs. Then you can build up your smd collection for future builds!  Link to just one 0805 resistor/capacitor kit:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/2300pcs-SMD-0805-0-10M-50value-Resistor-2-2pf-1uf-40value-Capacitor-Kit-Set-/110941312626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d49e1672

Most importantly you want to get some tweezers (I prefer curved), some flux, some desoldering braid (#2 is good). The coolest part about smd to me is using liquid solder paste and a reflow skillet (just get a hot plate skillet).  Check out Sparkfun's reflow skillet tutorial.  Basically you put paste on all the pads, put your parts on with tweezers, and bake for about 4minutes on the skillet. Done!

LINK to reflow skillet:
https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/59

[muddyfox]

Rully, I got my kits off ebay. 0805 resistors, 0603 resistors, 0805 caps, other smd bits and pieces as well.
The kit on your link doesn't state the resistor tolerance, there are 5% and 1% available so one needs to pay attention (been known to buy a few duds myself when I got careless  ). I'm pretty well set for quite a few projects now. But there are a few parts that no kit contains and those aren't readily available, even on ebay. Hence all the commotion.

That skillet looks fun but I need this to take time so that I can unwind. That's my main purpose for doing this dance in the first place...

[Rockhorst]

@DutchMF: I'm probably in, maybe we should check if Conrad stocks it?

[alanp]

Well, I'm from NZ, not Europe, but if anyone's doing a group order for parts for SMD fuzz for  F(x), I'd like to be in

[kothoma]

These 0805 caps are ceramic?

[muddyfox]

The ones in the kit? Yeah...
I think I have this one or the same one from a different seller

http://www.ebay.com/itm/57-Value-0805-SMD-Ceramic-capacitor-MLCC-SMT-KIT-1140PCS-/260854044143?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cbc1cd5ef

[twin1965]

Here are some links to Conrad SMD parts. They have everything except the 1206 47uF capacitors:

Multilayer capacitors: http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/overview/0206860/SMD-Multilayer-Capacitors?filterType=0805&filterContent~~pc(s)=1

Ceramic capacitors: http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/overview/0206810/SMD-Ceramic-Capacitors?filterType=0805&sort=Title-asc

Transistors: http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/overview/5104045/Transistors?filterCasing=SOT+23&sort=Title-asc&page=3

Thick film resistors: http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/overview/0241250/SMD-Thick-Film-Resistors?filterBrand=Vishay&sort=Price-asc

Bourns trimmers: http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/Search.html?search=bourns+3362&sort=Price-asc&page=2

Standard delivery to the UK from £6.99 delivered in 2 to 3 working days

I'm new to SMT so trying to find this stuff and deciphering the different package types was a bit of a learning experience!

I haven't used Conrad yet but I like the fact I can order SMD parts in small quantities as opposed to in the hundreds or thousands.

I hope these links are of use to everyone who, like myself, are taking their first steps in SMT