Late to Start Express and Mouser Backordered until mid-January

[fredhag]

I know I got into this late and since I missed any coops for this year, I tried to order directly through Mouser.  I just got a message that a handful of the parts for the Express and DMX-USB dongle are backordered for several weeks.  I imagine the only alternative is to spec out the parts with another vendor and try them, and I assume people have gone with Mouser because of the simple project ordering tool and prices.  Any ideas, please?

Thanks.

[sirwesley]

Yeah unfortunately that is the case right now with Mouser.  Apparently, there are lots of people trying to build these Express's and such last minute, that they are eating up Mouser's supply. 

This thread might be of some help to you though: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
As I had to find alternate vendors to order from, but I paid an extra buck for it.  Order what you can from Mouser, and pick up the other parts else where. Good Luck!

-Wesley

[dmaccole]

Fred:

Yes, Mouser has good ease-of-use and it has a much larger variety of parts than the other suppliers.

First, though, you should check to see if Mouser itself has parts in stock that substitute well -- I was getting all frustrated by out-of-stock 1-watt resistors the other day when RJ posted a list of Mouser substitutes and the light bulb went off: spec out the part and then check Mouser first for substitutes (remember: capacitors can be of *higher* voltage and work fine, you just can't go lower -- but also be certain the dimensions work OK too).

Anyway, should Mouser come up a cropper, most people go with either Jameco or Digi-Key as a secondary place to order. I buy a lot of stuff from Jameco because it has a will-call window and is a 30-minute drive from my house (was there yesterday) and some items are cheaper there (resistors, except they don't carry 1-watters, darnit).

There's also Allied and Newark, but I haven't used them.

Hope this helps.

\dmc