Information for an Electronic Age..........

Section 2. Optoelectronics.

Section 3. Integrated Circuits and Logic.

Suppliers of Parts, Tools and Other Requisites

Maplin are the biggest UK chain of electronic retailers, supplying components, modules, tools, enclosures etc across the spectrum of electronic endeavour. Their component range is sometimes lacking in certain areas, but word has it that they are set to re-expand it. They have a question and answer forum which is very useful and to which I regularly contribute.

Mindsetsonline is a mail-order business formerly known as Middlesex University Teaching Resources or MUTR. It's full of stuff from components to materials and is a mine of resources for D&T and Physics teachers. Some of the latest materials that you can't get anywhere else are here.

Rapid are based in Colchester and do a wide range of components but they have no shops. Farnell tend to supply high-quality components to designers but again have no shops. They are based in Leeds. Both have a local trade counter.

NR Bardwell have a mail order business and a shop in Sheffield. It stocks a wide range of electrical, electromechanical and electronic requisites and the shop is worth a visit just for the quality of the service you get.

Much the same as the above can be said of Bowood, which is in Chesterfield. Mainly internet orders but trade is welcome Monday to Friday in office hours.

Oomlout is the definitive site for those of you who wish to master the Arduino system for microprocessors.

ATV are aerial installers in Sheffield. I've never bought anything from them or been to their shop, but I've made their logo so large because their website is without doubt (as well as being highly informative) the funniest thing I have ever read on the internet. Even if you have no interest whatsoever in RF engineering, I urge you to go and read it. Especially the bits about Royal Mail!

Proto-Pic have a breathtakingly large array of bits for sale. Good for Arduino, standalone, and just about anything else. Some real goodies on here.

RF Solutions of Lewes in Sussex sell a range of receivers, transmitters and transceivers for just about any application you can think of. I'm particularly impressed by the ZULU range (which is expensive) but overwhelmed by the range of small, low power radio modules that are brilliant for short-range work and take data from microcontrollers and throw it over the ether. Absolutely the first choice for low-cost modules for inexpensive remote control from the Arduino or other systems.

The first step in electronics
for many people today is no longer the traditional radio sets but the fairly new science of cybernetics (the building and controlling of robots). To that end the very best site for components is
robotbits.co.uk and if you click on their picture of a robot warehouseman above it takes you to their site. I like their site very much just for the pictures they've drawn, the products they stock are excellent too. Everthing mechanical and electronic you'll need to build your bots including the Rover 5 chassis at a very reasonable price.

Kitronic are based in Nottingham and supply loads of stuff from components to tools to modules, quite a lot of which they make themselves. Their website is a gold-mine if you are a teacher of Design and Technology (look at the resources bit) and they sell posters to stick up in your classrooms at a reasonable price. Highly recommended if you work in education.

There's cartoons on it!

Or if you prefer the more direct approach ianlangelectronics@gmail.com

This site has been written in response to the third and final assessment for BTEC Advanced Certificate Level 3.
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