perhaps @jon can help us with a Hobby King order, I think he gets good prices there. My preference is to build as designed, I think I will use all acrylic as I don’t want to look around for 3mm wood.
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Doesn’t seem to be much of a discount offered on those, they’re still over 7$/servo. They seem well spec’d - not sure what we can safely skimp on and what we shouldn’t.
What timeline are we thinking on this? as the frame needs to be lasercut, I’m assuming that this won’t happen until the new space/ new year?
I can take on the hobbyking side of the group buy.
There are 3 members at VHS with laser cutters. Cutting the case shouldn't be what holds up this process. I would think that getting the parts will be the delay.
I'm excited!
I’m adding parts for everyone to the Digikey order. Since we have 20 pcbs coming I’ll buy enough for 20 sets. Prices will be at cost of course. I’ll wear any extras.
I’ve left out all the basic headers as there are lots in the VHS set and I also have tons from China that are like 5% of the prices on Digikey.
If someone does a sparkfun order, please consider ordering thumbwheel pots for everyone (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11173), there is no matching part in stock that I can find on Digikey.
I’m not sure what to do about the hardware. It is ridiculous that they list so many suppliers for this thing, the hardware is listed from the UK and the rest from the US. Perhaps they are Australian, miles from everywhere…
We can get the hardware locally from Pacific Fasteners, I can organise this once we get closer.
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@TomKeddie If you would like some help I can run the laser part of this workshop. Showing people how to take files from the internet, clean them up and laser cut them.
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Lemme know if I can help out in any way…
What’s the ETA on the PCBs?
A month.
When you put in the servo order, can you get enough for 15 piccolos? I want 2 sets and I believe @packetbob wants 2, so I think we are at 14 confirmed sets. I will pick up the extra servos if they don’t get spoken for.
I’ll start putting together the servo order together after Christmas.
I’ll be collecting money up front. (>$300 worth of servos is more than I want to be fronting…) so it won’t be a problem figuring out how many to order.
OK, thanks. I wasn’t sure how fast HobbyKing delivers, but I guess we have lots of time. I forgot to mention I would be willing to order half of them to avoid one person paying for the whole thing, but collecting up front works too.
Anyway, thanks for doing that.
PCBs were shipped on the 10th. Usually take 3 weeks, will be longer due to xmas etc me thinks.
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Thank you for handling the order, Tom!
I would like a set of servos for my piccolo build as well.
Servo Order!
After doing the usual exercise in frustration to figure out optimal hobbyking shipping configurations:
It appears the shipped cost for three servos is between[1] $28 and $32 CAD[2], depending on the exact number we’re ordering.
If we’re ordering ~20 of the thumbwheel pots from sparkfun, It’s ~$30 CAD after shipping to Canada, so I might as well handle that too.
Based on prior experience, I’d like to collect $35 per set (3 servos, 1 thumbwheel pot) - any integer dollars extra will be refunded, loose change amounts fed to donatio. I’ll put the order in no earlier than January 1st.
As an experiment, I’d like to collect money by Interac E-transfer. (I’m open to alternatives if this doesn’t work for you - I’m trying to find something better than paypal to use for future workshops, and it seems a reasonable option that all the banks I could think of support - just let me know if you need an alternative…)
My email is [now redacted]. Please put Your NAME and Forum ID as a message on the payment, so I know who sent it. For the pre-shared payment password you can use “VHS-piccolo” or PM/email me a password of your choice.
Is anyone willing to step up to bulk order the arduinos?
[1] optimal quantity is between 20 and 39 servos - it’s better to do two orders of 30 than one order of 60…
[2]~1.2 CAD to USD used for approximation.
PS: to set off “someone mentioned you” triggers for people who put themselves down for a PCB:
@TomKeddie, @RandyNW, @wander, @3bien, @lukecyca, @Jarrett, @mkobie , @jon_slaco, @Janet, @sIGNgUY, @packetbob
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Jon when do you need the funds for the servos and the pots?
@sIGNgUY: I’ll wait until at least January 1st to put in the order, and I need to be receive the funds before I put in the order.
I think @funvill was also on the list.
I can order the Arduino’s. I just got 5 from AliExpress that arrived safe and sound (actually I haven’t powered any up yet though) so if I get 10 more we should be good. I’ll just keep the extras if there are any. They seem to be ~ 9$ each, so if that’s OK (or less if I can find some cheaper).
I won’t order until after the weekend, so if there are any comments or suggestions, feel free to make them.
PCBs are on the way, should be here in plenty of time.
Merry “seasonal expectations fulfilled and surpassed” to all!