Half the battle when getting started with Netduino and other
.NET Micro Framework devices, is finding out what's out there.
Sadly, for many of us, the local full-service electronics shop is
no longer (or is so watered down with normal consumer fluff, that
they have no room for geek bits). Here's my list of on-line stores
I frequent when looking for new project electronics for my .NET
Micro Framework work.
In no particular order, here are some of the sites I've found
useful.
Spark Fun Electronics http://sparkfun.com/
Spark Fun has a ton of neat stuff, including a fair number of
arcade-type buttons and joysticks, Zune and iPod breakout boards,
and much more. You can spend a fair bit of time browsing through
this store, filling your shopping cart.
Robot Shop http://robotshop.com
This is a great place for servo and stepper control, motors,
sensors and all things robotic. They have super high-end robots and
tiny little robot kits. If your focus is robots and/or motion
control, you'll want to check this place out.
DF Robot http://www.dfrobot.com
Another place with lots of components. While also robot-centric,
you'll find plenty here to keep your microcontroller busy for other
projects.
Makershed http://makershed.com
The first site I went to. Make magazine (subscribe if you don't
already get it) is the classic, and this site is the associated
retail outlet. You'll find a good bit of stuff here, especially
when it comes to odd kits. This is one of the places where the
Netduino is sold.
TinyCLR http://tinyclr.com
This is the FEZ site by GHI electronics. GHI creates a bunch of really
nice .NET MF boards ranging from mini and arduino-compatible
boards all the way up to super capable boards with 12mb memory,
codecs and more. You'll also find a bunch of add-ons, sensors,
shields and more on their site.
Mouser http://mouser.com
This is the place where I buy all my discrete
components and connectors. Their on-line catalog is really good
(hey, the enhanced catalog was even written with Silverlight). I
order more through here than any other store. However, I don't
order Netduino/Arduino shields or robot parts from them. For those
things, I have the other stores to turn to.
Digikey is an alternative to Mouser. However, I really dislike
their web site, so I never really do any business there.
There are, of course, tons of other places. I've ordered things
like LCDs in one-off orders on sites I've long since forgotten
about. In addition, this list is very North America-centric. Please
your own recommendations in the comments below.
