Hardware Hacking 117mechanical surplus shops that enthralled me from childhood, the web has
become the medina of the misplaced and unwanted. Add “+price” to the search
field after anything you desire -- plugs, Piezo disks, tape heads, tilt-switches --
and you’ll soon find a place to buy it. Since you’re not mass-manufacturing
missiles or airbags, you’ll need to find a source that will sell to the common man
(or woman.) For ICs, resistors, capacitors, and other small components a
straightforward electronic retailer is probably the best bet -- as of the time of
writing these are a few good sources that stock a wide range of parts:
Digikey: http://www.digikey.com
Jameco: http://www.jameco.com
But for hackable gizmos, used equipment, pots, jacks, boxes and inspiration you
should try the “surplus” outlets. Here are a few reputable sources that have
been around for a while selling cool stuff:
All Electronics: http://www.allelectronics.com
Marlin P. Jones: http://www.mpja.com
Electronic Goldmine: http://www.goldmine-elec.com
Paia is a longstanding manufacturer of kits for building everything from
modular synthesizers to an electronic wind-chimes: http://www.paia.com
Velman and a few other companies (mostly European) make kits for a wide
range of circuits, from amplifiers to zappers-of-bugs. A convenient source in
North America is Quality Kits in Kingston, Ontario: http://www.qkits.com. Another
useful kit outlet is http://www.Ramseykits.com.
The web knows no national boundaries, but the Post Office does. The above US
sources will charge a premium for shipping abroad. In England Maplin
(www.maplin.co.uk) carries a wide range of components In Germany Conrad is
a good bet (and they have retails shops in Berlin, and a few other cities):
http://www.conrad.de. RS Components delivers across Europe: http://rswww.com.
For impulse shopping in Yourtown, USA there’s always Radio Shack
(www.radioshack.com), but always remember the First Rule of Hacking, lest its
meaning become too self-evident.