I actually live a fair distance from any large urban center, so when the significant other says that she would like to do a trip into the city for some shopping, it usually isn't too hard to convince me to come along.
To me a trip into the city usually means one thing...
A stop at the Surplus Store!
I don't usually have anything particular in mind that I need to get when I go, so I treat the visit as an adventure - you just don't know what you will find.
Often ideas for potential projects usually pop up during the course of one of these trips (as you'll see in a moment)
Most time I'll take the opportunity to top up on the essentials for my electronic parts bin such as LED's and perforated circuit boards. Some times I fine odd stuff that is really cheap and mght be useful at some point (for example a large scrolling LED sign for 10 bucks)
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| That's a lot of LED's for the price |
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| Parts Galore |
Sometimes you find things that make you wonder why anyone would need that - cases of civilian gas masks anyone?
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| I suppose they would be perfect for the next baked bean night |
But the real payoff is when you find that "thing" that you realize that you need to make your current project better. In my case in particular, I came across a skid of very cheap USB powered fans. As you may have read in one of my previous posts, I was working on a eco fan for my wood stove, but I was not very satisfied with the amount of air it was moving - mainly due to poor fan design.
The answer to that problem was literally in my hands
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| The perfect thing for my wood stove fan |
Of course I bought 3 of them.
In all, another successful trip - now to work on that wood stove eco fan again.
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