SMD at Bitsbox!,there are now adaptor boards and some F.E.T,s at Bitsbox.Reasonable prices good for us in U.K

[myron tataryn]

[Beaker]

Wow, thanks for the heads up Myron!

http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=255_313&products_id=2759

14 pence each for these adapter boards sounds pretty good to me.

 They are also stocking SOT-23 MMBF 5457 at 34 pence each, MMBF 5458 at 26 pence each and MMBF J310 at 14 pence each.

Just need to ask them to stock the surface mount J201 and we will be sorted for most builds.

[Beaker]

I'v just ordered 25 boards and 25 MMBF 5457 for starters.

[Beaker]

I emailed bob at Bitsbox - SMD J201 should be in stock and available to buy, before the end of the week!

Happy days!

[Adam_MD]

Supernoob question time.  Why would you use a smd j201 over a 3 pin j201?  Answers on a postcard please or I guess you could just post in the thread.

[IvIark]

Because TO92 J201s and other JFETs are becoming as rare as hens teeth and the quality and/or authenticity of the ones you do see is a matter of much debate.  The SMD ones are current production, available in large quantities and the price will only come down as more are manufactured and sold.  Many people have also found they are much more consistent than through hole JFETs and a closer match in characteristics making them a much better choice for phasers.  

[Beaker]

What Mark says.

90 pence each for 2N5457 from Bitsbox, against 48 pence for a surface mount version + board.
So that's nearly half price for just a little more work.

There are now so many dodgy or outright fake Jfets on the market, that finding a consistent supply of the real deal is becoming harder, with the prices for good ones creeping steadily upward all the time.

The SMD versions are cheap and getting cheaper, and they are supposed to be much more consistent, and produced to a much tighter tolerance in terms of gain.

[Adam_MD]

Ah thanks for the info I've only used J201s once and bought them from Bitsbox so had no idea they were getting hard to find.  Is it any harder to solder smt components?  I've not used any yet.

[Beaker]

Neither have I.

SOT-23 are the largest form of surface mount components and therefore the easiest to solder.

Appaently the trick is to find some way to hold the component in place, then solder one leg (middle one?). Once that is is done the other two legs are supposed to be easy. I've got a pair of haemostats which hopefully will do the job.

[Ciaran Haslett]

Hi Beaker...let us know how you get on with the adapter boards when you get a chance.  I got a couple hundred MMBF5457 and MMBFJ201 for RS Components a while back.  

They don't stock SOT-23 specific boards so I've been dead bugging (I can't begin to describe how much you really have to hate yourself to go through that process.  Actually I can.  Moyes.  You have to hate yourself more than you hate David Moyes).

Do you intend to place the boards on straight pins or angled ones so they stand up?

[Beaker]

Seeing as they are in the post so I've not seen them yet, I really don't know yet how I'm going to arrange them. I guess it will depend on the build - some might work better horizontally mounted, anf some might be better vertically.

I will let you know how I get on, when I get a chance to use them though.

More than David Moyes? That must be a lot.