Hi Folks, Just thought I'd drop a quick note for a recent discovery I made for the DIYers out there. Mini Circuits components are now being distributed through Mouser! On Mini Circuits, a lot of the stuff may be cheap, but usually comes with a minimum order quantity of 10 or 20 items. On Mouser you can place single item orders. The flipside of this though is the per unit cost is higher on Mouser, but totally worth it if you only need one or two of something and don't want to eat the cost for ordering 20.
This could be a huge plus for microwave and other satellite projects. A lot (maybe all?) of the W1GHZ transverter designs are based around Mini Circuits components. There was some discussion on this list a while back about DIY VHF/UHF preamps and I piped up about a PGA-103 based design that I like. On Mini Circuits, one amp is $1.99, but again you'd have to buy 20 (so minimum cost of $40). On Mouser same amp is $3.12 for 1. Much more reasonable if you only need one or two.
I haven't checked every component that might be of interest, and I'm mostly looking for SMT components at the moment. So far amps and baluns seem to be cross listed, though a number of mixers are listed but 'out of stock' on Mouser.....still that might just be stock ramp up delays if this is relatively new for Mouser.
Just thought I'd let folks know. Keep your eye out for the 'buy on mouser' link if your searching around on Mini Circuits page. Spread the word to your microwave friends! If this is old news, sorry for that, I got excited when I found it!
-Zach, KJ4QLP
-- Research Associate Aerospace & Ocean Systems Lab Ted & Karyn Hume Center for National Security & Technology Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University Work Phone: 540-231-4174 Cell Phone: 540-808-6305