Our Favorite Electronic Components Stores
Where does Bare Conductive buy parts for prototyping? We've put together a handy list
For those that require an additional shield for the Touch Board or a Raspberry Pi for the Pi Cap, there are a few electronic components stores out there. These aren’t so much about consumer electronics as they are about HATs and shields as well as resistors, capacitors, transistors and anything else you need to design your own electronic circuits, or extend the features of the Touch Board or Pi Cap. We have created an overview to help you find some online stores that help you find the right place to buy electronic components.
If you just need components for your circuit
Here are some stores that cater to the maker and tinkerer community, distributing Arduino and Raspberry Pi add-ons.
We have used Cool Components many times in the past. Like us, they are based in the United Kingdom and sell their own kits or parts from Arduino to Raspberry Pi. They also have a whole range of sensors and parts to choose from.
Pimoroni sell loads of Raspberry Pi hardware, they are one of the official Raspberry Pi resellers. Not only do they have a great coloring scheme, but a lot of choice on their website. They make the Picade, which is an awesome retro-inspired, Pi-powered arcade to play games.
The Pi Hut is THE Raspberry Pi supplier: they have all the Raspberry Pi models as well as additional HATs and components. If you need something for your Pi Cap projects, chances are you can find it here.
Relatively new to the scene are OkDo, whose aim is to cater to those who want to focus on single board computers (SIB) and Internet of Things (IoT). They also sell a range of Arduino and Raspberry Pi products and showcase projects for inspiration and guidance.
Across the pond, we have Adafruit, who have a large range of their own printed circuit boards and are based in the United States. They provide helpful tutorials for all of their products and we have used their Feather boards for a couple of in-house projects, we love them!
Sparkfun, which is similar to Adafruit, also sell their own microcontroller development boards and components. They have been around for over 15 years, all their products come with tutorials and they together with Adafruit are large distributors of electronic components in the States.
If you need more than just components for your circuit
Sometimes you need more than just electrical components for your project, like wires, PICs for your own circuit, switches or mechanical hardware. As a rather large electronic components distributor, CPC not only sells Touch Board and Pi Cap add-ons but so also a lot of consumer goods and electronics.
Farnell is a large electronic parts specialist, and if you’re planning larger projects, Farnell sells a lot of large voltage and current electronics, for example like relays, wires, inductors, shielded cables, etc. You name it, they probably have it!
Electrical and electronic projects will always require good mechanical support, either for housing or for stabilisation. RS specialises in mechanical parts, so if you need build a case to integrate your electronic project into, we’d recommend having a look.
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