UK Sources for electronic parts, tools and equipment (24-Jan-2012)
Here I'm going to maintain a list of quality suppliers where you can source your Electronic parts, tools and equipment from. If you have any recommendations for suppliers please let me know so I can include them. Likewise let me know if you see any mistakes or out of date entries.
You should check with each supplier what their delivery charges are as they fluctuate. Some of these companies maintain "trade counters" and if you are lucky enough to have one on your area, you can just walk in off the street and buy over the counter. These trade counters tend to be a small shop area located adjacent to a large warehouse.
It also pays to shop around. You can save a small fortune sometimes just by buying one item from a different supplier.
You should check with each supplier what their delivery charges are as they fluctuate. Some of these companies maintain "trade counters" and if you are lucky enough to have one on your area, you can just walk in off the street and buy over the counter. These trade counters tend to be a small shop area located adjacent to a large warehouse.
It also pays to shop around. You can save a small fortune sometimes just by buying one item from a different supplier.
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Crownhill Associates
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Delivery starts at just £1.50
A good first port of call when looking for PIC micros. They tend to carry a good range and their prices are competitive. They also stock a limited range of other components |
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ESR Electronic Components Ltd
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UK - For small orders you pay 2.50 per delivery. Orders over £100 are free.
Their telephone staff seem quite knowledgeable and if you are having problems locating a part from a supplier they use, they may be able to source the part for you. |
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Farnell
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Delivery options are shown during the order process. There is an option for Saturday delivery.
Another large stockiest that have a vast range of items. Prices tend to be reasonable. |
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Maplin Electronics
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Free if order over £35 else £2.99
Maplin are probably the UK's last remaining high street supplier that cater for the hobby electronics. However, their range of components is getting more limited as they slowly move their focus to consumer electronics. Check and compare their prices very carefully. There have been many reports that their technical information from their staff is not of a high standard, and apparently they frequently may only have a limited number of a particular component value in stock at each branch. |
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Rapid Electronics
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Free if order over £30 else £4.95 (but see below). If you order before 8pm they will usually ship the order the same day. If your order is too big or heavy for 1st class royal mail, they will use a courier and the upshot of this is that you should get your order next working day.
One of the cheapest suppliers I've found in the UK. Always check the price breaks for larger quantities as you may get more items for less money. Their range can be limiting sometimes but they have excellent customer service. They often have datasheets available for their products that you can download. Rapid also have a shop on EBay and the prices often differ than those on their main site. The interesting thing is that small value orders are often cheaper on the delivery than from their main site. |
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RS Electronics
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RS have a huge range, in fact it can be too large sometimes. Doing a simple search for an item can return hundreds of possible hits. They are also known not to be the cheapest suppliers available but if anybody sells something, it's probably these guys. They seem to carry most of the Microchip PIC range and their prices for these parts aren't too bad either.
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