Sources for difficult to obtain parts

[Arthur P.]

Thought it might be a good idea to start a general thread identifying alternate sources or solutions for difficult to obtain parts so I kept the title genral.

My current problem is less general. I can't finish my ArduPilot Mega / Oilpan combo as the 3 row 90 degree header pins, are out of stock in all shops (the AeroQuad shop actually does have 1x 16 and 2x 8, but will be out then and would cost me USD 15+ dollars for mailing from US to EU) and resupply seems to be taking quite a bit of time. Anyone aware of other sources for these connectors in different areas or using other solutions?

[Hamburg]

Sources for electronics (in common) and Arduino related for Germany/EU are:

www.reichelt.de
www.conrad.de
www.voltmaster.de
www.lipoly.de
www.watterott.com
www.tinkersoup.de

[fguichard]

Sources for electronics (in common) and Arduino related for France/EU are:

- http://www.lextronic.fr/R2386-modules-arduino.html , http://www.lextronic.fr/R986-capteurs-divers.html
- http://www.flashrc.com/

regards

fred

[Arthur P.]

Thanks for those. But do any of them have the 3 row 90 degree headers ? I had already tried to find them in the Conrad online catalogue but they didn't pop up. Same with that Farnell in the UK.

[jpkh]

3 row 90 degrees are really difficult to find. I have been discussing with one factory in China. Might start ordering those but minimum quantity is 5000 pcs :P

[mlebret]

There is a factory in Italy:

http://www.kontek-comatel.com/vedit/...na=1312&area=1

MLB

[Arthur P.]

3 row 90 degrees are really difficult to find. I have been discussing with one factory in China. Might start ordering those but minimum quantity is 5000 pcs :P

The alternative is to use a small PCB with one (or two) rows of straight pins and one (or two) rows of 90 degree pins which are relatively easy to come by. This works nicely if the top rows would be GND and power as you then only need one wire soldered accross those rows and to an appropriate hole on the APM. That How I-ve e.g. wired up 9x 3 row connection on the side of an Arduino Mini Pro to drive multiple ESCs or servos over PPM (or I2C, the 9th connector). The single (or double) row of 90 degree pins will still give a solid 90 degree mount. I use the version in the attached pics for testing PPM or TWI ESCs using a simple Processing GUI and the USB-FTDI cable (no need to mess with the APM or MK-FC if it can be done with a cheaper circuit). It just looks a little bit less nice and there is a somewhat higher likelihood that the pins come loose in a bad crash (but that's not necessarilly a bad thing if it saves the APM itsself). And with the APM sadly the top row is the signal row so it would require a separate wire soldered to each separate top row pin in addition to a single wire to the middle row (but you could potentially isolate the ESCs from the 5V output by not connecting those).

[Arthur P.]

Now we-re talking ! Who might best connect with them to get info about minimum orders ? Is this something best left to the person(s) running the ArduCopter shop, the AeroQuad shop, PhiFun, Sparkfun, CoolComponents (or agreed between the different shops selling AeroQuad/ArduCopter Mega parts so as to distribute the cost and the rewards)? Or shall I just give it a try ?

There is a factory in Italy:

http://www.kontek-comatel.com/vedit/...na=1312&area=1

MLB

[mlebret]

Now we-re talking ! Who might best connect with them to get info about minimum orders ? Is this something best left to the person(s) running the ArduCopter shop, the AeroQuad shop, PhiFun, Sparkfun, CoolComponents (or agreed between the different shops selling AeroQuad/ArduCopter Mega parts so as to distribute the cost and the rewards)? Or shall I just give it a try ?

I posted an info request to Kontek Comatel, with a copy to PhiFun. As soon as I have a response, I relay on the forum.

MLB

[xarxi]

Hello,

Same problem with ArduPilot Megaand and the 3 row 90 degree header pins. Well i have found http://www.gradconn.com/ where you can request a sample (free airpost) for this 3 row 90 degree pins. Also i in the next days will try to put a sample request .
Regards.