Alpha 3PDT Source?

[Stomptown]

Does anyone know of a source (other than Small Bear) for the new Alpha 3PDT? I just used one in a build and I like it a lot but $5.25 is a pretty steep price. I was thinking about a group buy down the road if they can be bought in bulk at a decent price...

[hammerheadmusicman]

I have no idea, sorry.

But, Group buy, would deffo be interested!

[stecykmi]

man $5 is not that bad compared to how much footswitches were selling for just a few years ago. the price on the standard blue switch has dropped tremendously in the past couple years.

has anyone tried these switches?

[Stomptown]

I just tried out the alpha 3pdt on my last build and it looks and feels great. The epoxy is grey and looks to be high quality. They also have standoffs on the corners of the switch so a 3pdt PCB can sit above the epoxy.

[RobA]

Mouser is an "authorized distributor" for Alpha. Their price is only $8.95 in quantities of 1. They go all the way down to $5.78 when you buy a 1000 of them. Oh, they've also got a massive zero of them in stock.

I'm guessing the Smallbear price is going to look pretty good on these for a while. Smallbear usually undercuts Mouser on Alpha parts for anything close to reasonable numbers. Maybe see if you can get Tayda to carry them? I've been asking for them to carry Alpha 9mm for some time now. But, maybe they can get these in.

[pickdropper]

I just got some from PPP for $3.50 a switch.  I assume they are the same, but Ive never gotten them from Small Bear before.

[RobA]

So much for my guess. The pics look just the same except for the plastic washer but the data sheet doesn't specify a washer at all.

[Stomptown]

I just got some from PPP for $3.50 a switch.  I assume they are the same, but Ive never gotten them from Small Bear before.

Thanks for the info! That's a really good price! I think you have to buy 1000 of them from small bear to get that kind of deal. I've never used PPP, I guess I'll have to give them a try. I hear great things about their enclosures too...

[irmcdermott]

I just got some from PPP for $3.50 a switch.  I assume they are the same, but Ive never gotten them from Small Bear before.

Thanks for the info! That's a really good price! I think you have to buy 1000 of them from small bear to get that kind of deal. I've never used PPP, I guess I'll have to give them a try. I hear great things about their enclosures too...

PPP is great. Everything they sell is quality.

[davent]

I've only had experience with the  Alpha dpdt's from Small Bear which i really like for their short plunger and compact body. In the pictures it looks like the 3pdt's too have the short plunger but can't tell much about the size of the body, how do the Alpha's body compare to the standard issue 3pdt's that are out there? Overall length?

Thanks
dave

[Stomptown]

The plunger length actually looks the same as the taiwan Blue and body size is the same. I do think it feels better when it engages; not as loud/rough sounding IMO. The epoxy is grey instead of red which looks really cool. Here is a shot of the bottom side (note the standoffs in the corners):



If you are looking for a 3PDT that is more compact, has a short plunger and feels like the 2pdt alpha check out the link below. The only down side of these is it is hard to thread wire through the lugs and spacing of lugs is different so you can't use 3pdt boards with them. Regardless, I think they are really nice - especially for 1590A builds:

http://www.mammothelectronics.com/4SFS3PDT-LS-I-p/800-1006.htm

[davent]

Thanks Jon, they do look rather cool... then there's that rarity of use out there that's always an attractive feature, likely to change as thet become more widely available. Was thinking of trying the PCB lug version once i run out of the big blues i have on hand... looking good.

Take care!
dave