"Dropping" resistors ??

[tom cloud]

>	Honda used to use the same type resistors as well as the Porsche 914's
>with L-Jetronic Fuel Injection.  Those might be sources for you, but
>even simpler might be Radio Shack.  They have some 8ohm 50watt ballast
>resistors that we've used in the past for a similar app.  They work fine
>and dissipate plenty of heat.  They have a few other ratings close to
>this but that one might be the best and cheapest alternative.
>
>Todd Knighton
>Protomotive Engineering
>Email: knighton at net-quest.com
>
>

Todd, et al

A word of caution:   Beware of Radio Shack!!  I buy parts (and occasionally
a piece
of equipment) there -- but, I feel I know enough to judge whether it's
really what
I want or not.

It's like buying a hammer out of the $1.99 bin at a store rather than a good
$20.00 job.  If you really know about hammers, then the 99 cent one might be
just
what you want -- but the neophyte buying the same hammer might try to do
a "real" job with it.  An example:  you can't get a good soldering iron for
$5.99.
I have a box full of Radio Shack soldering irons discarded by students that
didn't
heed my advice, only to learn through their own experience.

Try Digi-Key for good parts at fair prices -- especially resistors, caps, semis.
Try Mouser for more mechanical type things, e.g. rotary switches, cabinets,
transformers, etc.  (though the quality of some of their products is also
poor).  Try Active Electronics for more specialized I.C.'s, etc.  Obviously,
places like Pioneer, Newark, Allied (recently owned and raped by Radio Shack /
Tandy), who are suppliers to industrial OEM's, will have top-of-the-line parts
but their prices are high.

A rule-of-thumb: if they make a catalog, their prices are higher.  Most
"industrial"
vendors do not have catalogs, only "line sheets".  The exception to this
rule are
the "mail-order" types (Digi-Key, Mouser, etc.) that specialize in supplying
parts
in small quantities to the small business and hobbyist.

Sorry for the excess verbage -- it's just that, after all that work, why
would you
want to put a part in your project that has a high probability of being
substandard
-- AND COSTS MORE ??  The advantage of Radio Shack to me is that they are there,
they are open on Saturday, and I don't have to wait several days to get what I
want.  If I can wait -- I shop somewhere else.

Hope this helps,
tom cloud