New Product Post Friday Giveaway!

For the first time, we're giving away free stuff to our loyal product post video fans!

Yes, this is the first week (hopefully of many to come) where we will offer small giveaways to our loyal followers. We've been doing the new product post videos for awhile now, and the actual new product post for even longer. It's about time we give away some free stuff to the loyal viewers who've suffered through them. I'll let the video explain the giveaway.

So, after doing a dozen or so of these videos for the year, a trend became apparent. Basically, I saw myself saying the same handy phrases over and over. Neat. The first 5 people to successfully guess how many times I've said 'neat', 'handy', and 'basically' in all of the product videos for this year (including the video above) will get a prize pack consisting of an AVC t-shirt, poster, and whatever other swag I feel like including from around my office.

Email us with your guess and we'll announce it next week in the product post. Let's see the products for this week.

I've always been a big fan of Hakko. They make fantastic tools and their soldering irons are some of the best out there. We realize that most hobbyists and weekend tinkerers might not have the need for anything fancy, but if you are a serious hacker and want a 'top-shelf' soldering iron, check out the new Hakko FX888. With a comfortable and cool handle, sturdy metal cradle, adjustable temperature and quick temperature recovery, the FX888 is worth every penny. It also takes up much less room on your workbench.

Looking for a memento from this year's AVC? We now have all the t-shirts and poster from AVC 2011 for sale! We will have them for a limited time (until they sell out). Get them while they last!

We are in the process of beefing up our hardware category. We've now added new 10 packs nuts and screws with 4-40 thread. We have nylon insert lock nuts and regular nuts as well as 1/2", 3/4" and 1" screws, all packaged in packs of 10. Attach some to your next order, you know you'll need them.

The world of electronics can be confusing at times. It's especially hard just jump right in and get going with your first project. Thankfully, we have a couple of books that can help. First up, Make: Arduino Bots  and Gadgets is a great book for people looking to design projects based around the Arduino. It is more geared towards robots and embedded gadgets.

And if you're looking for a more in-depth read, check out the Arduino Cookbook. This book is a comprehensive look at the Arduino and will teach you just about everything you need to know. It covers everything from installing the software to creating custom libraries and using wireless and Ethernet networks for communication.

And lastly, we have a new BNC connector. This one is a through-hole right-angle type. It comes with a lock washer and nut so you can secure it to the panel of your enclosure.

There you have it, another new product post. I'm curious to see how long it takes to get 5 winners for the contest. Send in your guess and we'll send you some free stuff if you're one of the first 5! As always, thanks for reading and we'll see you again next week.