Funny names, but great places that helped immensely during my search for parts. I must say that the staff of both places is extremely helpful and friendly which made the trips worthwhile, since I ended up walking out of both places without quite the electronic devices I was looking for. Yet, at Fistell’s I did find an amazing boombox for $9.00, which is the one I am using in my final project for this iteration for May 27. From Caboose, I almost bought a $60.00 12 volt DC motor, but just couldn’t surrender to the purchase until I looked around for other options. That is precisely what I did, and that’s when I called Colpar Hobbies. Jim, who answered the phone, told me they had the right motor for $30.00, which was a much more reasonable price for my pocketbook.
A map of the route I took to get to Fistell's and then to Caboose via bicycle. One of the complications which arises from riding a bike to many places when it's also necessary to pick up supplies is having enough room in a pack or on the bike to cart all of the stuff around.
Here is the link for Fistell’s Electronics downtown on 10th and Bannock.
And here is a link to the site for Caboose Hobbies on Broadway.
At Fistell’s, the owner was very helpful in teaching me more about DC motors. He took a look at my 12 volt DC motor, and then told me in a concerned tone of voice that my motor simply wouldn’t work. Apparently, it’s a ‘gear-reduction motor’ meaning the ease of turning is impossible. He then hobbled over to one of the aisles full of supplies and came back to the counter with a 3 volt DC motor. He wanted me to observe how easily the shaft turned on that motor. Then, he got an LED, stuck it in the motor, turned the shaft and the light turned on. However, when I asked him about a 12 volt motor, he said he only had motors around 3 volts, which does me no good.
