PicAxe and PicLog

[valterra]

I've been spending some time on TheBackShed, reading about their piclog project.  

http://www.thebackshed.com/windmill/articles/PicAxe.asp

My brain usually shuts down when I look at schematics, but this looks almost ridiculously easy.  Maybe even a dumb-dumb like ME can do it.  

So - where do I buy the darned parts for the project?  I am in the U.S. and have only been finding UK sites, like www.techsupplies.co.uk and http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/picaxe/ which are cheap!  (Couple pounds sterling for a kit).  But shipping across the pond surely can't be better than buying locally.

Also, the project calls for voltage regulator (7805) and and N Channel MOSFET.  Those are available at Radio Shack.

Then it calls for a PC817 (or any optocoupler).  I have no idea where to get that.  And I'm assuming some parts house that carries chips and optocouplers might also carry the voltage regulators and MOSFETs for cheaper also?

Where do you guys get your chips, Fire-Emiting-Transformers, and other stuff like that, here in the US?

[tecker]

I bought some stuff from these guys and the shipping was ok

http://www.phanderson.com/picaxe/index.html

[ETech]

In the USA, try www.digikey.com for electronic parts.

They sell small to large quantities of just about any kind of electronic parts.

Fast turn around, reasonable prices. I've use the them on and off for 20+ years.

There are others that have the same items but usually have a minimun buy amount.

Some others for price comparisions:

Newark.com, Mouser.com, Future Electronics, Avnet.

ETech

[kenl]

Got mine on ebay. pretty cheap as I recall. The software is available online. Easy to program and even an idiot like me can write a program in a couple of minutes.

kenny

seemed like a good idea at the time

[esc]

I just ordered some from this place.  Shipping was cheap, but I have not received my order yet (don't expect it for a couple more days), so I can't say much other than they sell the stuff and are in U.S..

https://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8308

[valterra]

Thank You.  I checked out Digi-Key and then Newark to verify prices.  Newark is about 1/2 price on some stuff, but didn't have everything I needed!

[valterra]

I ended up getting my picaxe chips (lot of 3) from a guy who is a picaxe distributor on eBay.  My wife was teasing me when I hesitated because I could have saved 22 cents ordering them directly from England.  lol.  This should be faster.  He only charges $1.99 for shipping regardless of how many items you buy.

For the electronics components, I ended up going with Mouser.  Thank you for that suggestion!  They were significantly cheaper than any of the other places.