I found this how-to today on the great Popular Science web site.

Now that I’ve read through the article - I am amazed that I’ve never seen these instructions written up before.

Theodore Gray, who authors their popular “Gray Matter” column, gives the full scoop on the basic materials used to construct LEDS and provides the basic instructions needed to see just how LEDS work.

OK, it is not so easy to find some synthetic silicon carbide (carborundum) laying around, but surely everyone could get their hands on some sandpaper, needles, a 9V battery and a snap. Follow his instructions, and VOILA…you’ve recreated the basic principles behind the creation of LEDS.

This one’s a keeper.

I am always looking for the next best gadget to add to my life. Today, I stumbled across the SodaStream and I wondered why I hadn’t heard of this before!

The premise behind the SodaStream is that it takes ordinary tap water and turns it into soda water (or flavored soda) in a few seconds. Not only it is good for the environment (no cans, 2 liter soda bottles, C02 cartridges are recycled, etc), it’s also kind on your wallet. You can make a quart of flavored soda for about $0.41/quart.

Of course the main attraction for me is the convenience. I am not a HUGE soda drinker but when I want some, I never seem to  have it handy. So that would be pretty amazing to be able to create a batch of soda within a few seconds!

I have found it for under $80 (delivered) on the internet. I am sure if I wait a little while longer it will come down in price a little more. Still, at $80 I think it’s a great deal. What could be better than soda on demand - especially if it’s good for the environment AND my wallet. SOLD!

Just a few short years ago, the only way to transfer old VHS tapes to DVD was to use a service - usually starting at about $35.00 per one hour worth of tape. The price slowly dropped as new technology was introduced. Consumers could purchase DVD-recorders, connect them to their TVs and transfer tape that way. The process was not always simple and many rejected discs later, most consumers gave up.

Fast-forward a few years, and now for about $200, Sony’s DVDirect® DVD Recorder MC6, model #VRD-MC6 can take the task of transferring your old home movies from just about any camcorder format, and turn them into a nice little pile of DVD discs. The VRD-MC6 will connect with virtually any camcorder, VCR or DVR, and it even accepts four of the most common memory cards (MemoryStick® Pro, MemoryStick Pro Duo, Secure Digital (SD/SDHC), or xD). You can record high definition AVCHD video from Sony HDD or Memory Stick® Handycam® camcorders to DVD, playable in Blu-ray Disc compatible devices. Naturally, as a Sony product, it will natively work best with Sony camcorders.

The major downside would be that it copies to disc in real-time so that a 1 hour VCR tape takes 1 hour to transfer. To me, that’s a small price to pay to have my precious home videos and digital pictures safely - and easily - transferred to disc.

For more information and specs, go to the Sony product page.

So you need to buy a replacement cell phone midway through your contract period. You check out the replacement cost and are shocked to find that the phone will cost you hundreds more than you paid to begin with. The truth is, the cost of electronic components used to build your portable electronics is a pretty high percentage of the gadget price. While the increased availability of surface mount electronic components has kept the prices in check overall, there are still some necessary components that have kept the prices of these electronics elevated.

Here’s a breakdown of retail price vs the cost of the  components used to build some popular electronic items:

Phones

Google Nexus One

Retail price: Starting at $179
Cost of components: $174

The retail price is for a Nexus One through T-Mobile with a 2 year contract.  Without a contract, expect to pay over $500 for this phone.

Motorola Droid

Retail price: Starting at $199
Cost of components: $185

Heavilly promoted as the ‘anti-iPhone’, the Droid is another smart phone that is made up of an expensive list of electronic parts. If you purchase the phone without a contract, it will cost you nearly $600; a Motorola Droid with a 2 year Verizon Wireless contract is just under $200.

Apple iPhone 3GS

Retail price: Starting at $199
Cost of components: $179.16

In general, the cost of new generation electronics usually decreases with each new round. The iPhone 3GS is an exception due to the price of the included memory which has not declined as much as in the past. In the case of the iPhone, the new version actually costs about $5 more to produce than its predecessor.

Research In Motion BlackBerry Storm

Retail price: $249 (before rebate)
Cost of components: $202.89

Also hailed as an ‘iPhone-killer’, the newest Blackberry smart phone is an expensive piece of equipment to produce. The most surprising thing is the cost of the wireless chip that’s included: $35 for just the wireless chip in this phone.

Other Devices

Amazon Kindle 2

Retail price: $359
Cost of components: $185.49

More than half of the cost of materials for the latest version of the Kindle comes from the cost of the display ($60) and the included wireless chip ($39.50). Interestingly, the battery for the Kindle costs $7.50 according to the tear-down report done by iSuppli.

Apple iPod Shuffle

Retail price: $49 (4GB)
Cost of components: $21.77

The bulk of the cost of components for the Shuffle is about $10 for two chips: a flash memory chip to store the music and a chip for the control functions of the unit. Including packaging, the Shuffle costs less than $22 to produce.

Apple iPad

Retail price: Starting at $499
Cost of components: $219.35 to $334.95

The recently introduced Apple iPads are produced in both 3G and non-3G models. Apple hopes you will buy their 3G models as those are the most profitable for them.  Either way, the cost of electronic components for the iPad averages less than 50% of the retail price.

Just in time for Super Bowl weekend….West Florida Components has a free shipping offer!

Here’s the ‘catch’: US shipments only. Good now through Sunday, February 7th, 2010, 11:59PM. Minimum order: $15.00. Use code: SUPERBOWL during the checkout process to get free shipping on your electronic components, parts and supplies.

The best part is that we don’t care if you’re rooting for the New Orleans Saints or if you’re an Indianapolis Colts fan….EVERYONE gets the free shipping discount. (Even New York Jets fans!)

A new project from Steve of VacuumTubeArt…

Steve says…

I just built this phono pre amplifier for my own personal stereo to go with the big purple power amp.  This is hardest amplifier to make correctly.  The phono pre amp is the green unit.  The lower chassis is the power supply and the upper unit with the volume control knob is the actual phono pre amp with the RIAA correction built into it.

They are built on separate chassis to keep unwanted noise from the power supply portion from reaching the very sensitive phono stage as hum or buzz.  Even though the video was taken with my digital camera, you can still hear the detail in the music.  Just listen to the guitar, you’ll not only can hear every note clearly, but you can hear the decay of the guitar strings.  This kind of transparency can only be achieved with a vacuum tube based system.  Transistors are switches and cannot do this,  where tubes are valves, so there is only a constant flow of electrons, much like a water fall, it just flows….

The song is Shakin’ All Over by a Canadian band called the Guess Who recorded back in 1965. Since this recording is prior to 1969, it would have been originally  recorded with vacuum tube based equipment, making this a really good recording to demonstrate just how wonderful vacuum tubes sound over solid state gear. I hope you enjoy it!

As always, we do, Steve! Thanks for the video of your newest project!

West Florida Components has compiled a list of ways to contribute to the relief efforts being organized due to the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Through the travel industry:

AIRLINES:
American Airlines: Through 2/26/10, when you donate a minimum of $50, you’ll earn 250 bonus miles (or get 500 bonus miles for your $100 donation).
Delta: Use their Skywish Charities page to donate your miles to the American Red Cross. The miles will be used for their transportation requirements.
United: United Airlines Foundation will match up to $50,000 for donations originating through their site. You can also donate your miles for the American Red Cross’ transportation needs.
US Airways: You can contribute to the American Red Cross by donating your miles.

HOTELS:
Best Western: Donate 5,000 BW Rewards Points and BW will make a $20 donation.
Starwood: Contribute your Starpoints as a donation, starting at a $50 contribution in exchange for 4,000 Starpoints.
HHonors Hilton: Donate 10,000 points and Hilton will send a $25 contribution to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Choice Hotels: On an ongoing basis, you can donate your Choice Points to one of three charities which includes the American Red Cross.
OTHER TRAVEL SITES:
Trekaroo: Trekaroo will donate $10 to Compassion International when you write a travel review on their site.
Expedia & Orbitz: Make a donation to the American Red Cross from their site.
THROUGH YOUR CELL PHONE:
Text the word “YELE” to 501501 and $5 will be donated to Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund. The $5.00 will be added to your cell phone bill.
Text the word “HAITI” to 90999 and you will have contributed $10 to the American Red Cross. The $10 will be added to your cell phone bill.
Text the word “HAITI” to 25383 and you will have contributed $5 to the International Rescue Committee. The $5 will be added to your cell phone bill.
Sending your money to the American Red Cross is a guarantee that your donation will help the relief efforts in Haiti.

There are many other organizations soliciting donations for the relief effort in Haiti. Some people want to know how to know if the group they are donating to is an official group.

To make sure, the Better Business Bureau suggests you:

• Be cautious when giving donations online.
• Rely on expert opinion when it comes to evaluating a charity.
• Be wary of claims that 100 percent of donations will assist relief victims.

We get lots of strange electronic components and parts in here. Some are easy to identify; others not so much. It takes us lot of research time to identify unmarked electronic components and even more time to unearth the datasheet for them. Sometimes, they stay a mystery forever.

Whenever possible we try to identify the manufacturer first to give us a lead on the electronic part. Over the years, we’ve discovered a treasure trove of information about the various manufacturers of semiconductor devices. The one thing that is constant in the semiconductor industry is change. And that means manufacturers being bought out or taken over by other manufacturers, large established companies changing their name and branding, and lots of obsolete parts.

If you are in the same boat as us, feel free to use some of our resources that we have located. Some, like this chart of semiconductor manufacturer logos are hosted on our site; others we bookmark and refer to.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some of the best resources we have found on the internet. Please feel free to contact us if you have one you’d like to share and we’ll highlight it on our blog.

Are you doing the whole Facebook thing? How about Twitter?

Well, we are….and we’re also on StumbleUpon, Digg, Delicious and a whole bunch more.

Why should you care? Because we give away a lot of discounts to our Facebook Fans and Twitter Followers! And our Facebook Fans and Twitter Followers are the first to know about newly discounted electronic components, parts and supplies.

We never overload our customers with too much communication but we like to keep in touch. The social media sites have given us a wonderful platform to connect with our customers.

So the next time your on Facebook, don’t forget to add our Fan Page to your list….we’re the same name over there as we are here: WestFloridaComponents (no spaces):
West Florida Components on Facebook

And here’s our Twitter user ID: westfloridacomp (had to be shortened because of their site):
West Florida Components on Twitter

So next time you feel like socializing, come on over and introduce yourself! We’d be thrilled to meet you.

Don’t you wish you could save some money heating your house? Here’s a super deal you won’t want to pass up.

If you’ve been waiting to start building a solar energy system, you’re in luck. We are offering our 50W Mono-Crystalline Solar Panels at a outrageously low price of $299.99. We only have 6 4 left, so don’t delay! We expect the 50W solar panels to sell out quickly at this price. We’re trying to get more, but we can not be sure we will be able to.

Multiple 50W Solar panels can be connected in series for more voltage, or in parallel for more current. Use these to in part to build complete on grid and off grid solar power generating systems. Excellent for use with deep cycle battery banks and solar charge controller regulator.

Added benefit: Our solar panels are made of Monocrystalline silicon. Mono-crystalline has been proven to be the best and most efficient raw material used in PV cells. Use Mono-Crystalline panels to capture the most energy from solar power.

Solar energy is a small investment that delivers big benefits. Once you are harnessing the power of the sun’s rays, you’ll wonder why you waited so long!