Lurker wondering about FV-1s

[sentriesband]

Hey all, newb here
Moving to Vancouver, Canada in a month or so and don't want to get any supplies until then, since I don't have an address yet. I have moderate soldering experience with THT and some with SMD as I did some IT work with my dad. Starting simple with the Acapulco Gold clone, but I'd like to work my way up to the Organizer, Arpanoid, and Rainbow Machine clones. Since it seems like FV-1 chips are hard to come by these days, wondering if I should strike while the iron's hot and get 3 or at least 1 of them from amplifiedparts? Also, as a side note, I'd love to get to know you all, as I think I'll be spending a lot of time on this forum soon.

 

[sentriesband]

Ended up getting 3, got paid today so I feel fine about it. Worse comes to worst I'll just resell them for what I bought them for

 

[Nostradoomus]

If you offload em let me know, I’m in Victoria!

 

[sentriesband]

If you offload em let me know, I’m in Victoria!

Will do!

 

[finebyfine]

Howdy and welcome!

Not sure if I’m misreading your smd experience but I typed this before I realized I might have misread you, lol.

I was nervous about smd soldering because my hands aren’t super steady and I could do it three beers deep now. A good iron and plenty of flux does most of the work. I dipped my toe into smd with transistors and op amps but the thing I never saw people talk about was how much easier bigger footprints are because they’re easy to get in place.

I use a thin piece of masking tape or a thin coil of blue tack to hold larger smd stuff in place for the initial joints. I forget who recommended this on these forums.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

You're gonna need more FV-1s. You'll be wanting a hydra and an octagon when you finish those.

 

[Preverb]

Ended up getting 3, got paid today so I feel fine about it. Worse comes to worst I'll just resell them for what I bought them for

I might be moving to BC myself but it will be from Australia. I've been out of Canada for a long time. Do you end up getting scammed on GST and duty on all items from the states even if they are less than $50? That's been one good thing about Australia until recently (no "brokerage" fees or duty on most items if less than 1000). But now they are making online sales overseas collect GST. I find it infuriating that they can collect tax on used items as well.

 

[SYLV9ST9R]

I might be moving to BC myself but it will be from Australia. I've been out of Canada for a long time. Do you end up getting scammed on GST and duty on all items from the states even if they are less than $50? That's been one good thing about Australia until recently (no "brokerage" fees or duty on most items if less than 1000). But now they are making online sales overseas collect GST. I find it infuriating that they can collect tax on used items as well.

Depends. I find the worst fees is with courier services (Fed Ex, UPS, DHL). I bought and sent items greater than 50$ and never had any brokerage fees with Canada Post/USPS. Well, sales tax on online sales do make sense in my opinion, even on used items. You're using highly subsidized infrastructures (i.e. Postal Service; roads, etc.) to make a profit, so to pay a little share of that shouldn't be infuriating. What is infuriating IMO is big corporations not paying their share while receiving insane amounts of services and tax breaks.

 

[Nostradoomus]

The brokerage threshold into Canada is 20 dollars. It’s ridiculous.

 

[Preverb]

The brokerage threshold into Canada is 20 dollars. It’s ridiculous.

Shipping / postage and mobile phones are 2 things I have come to realize are a complete scam in Canada after living in Australia for over 10 years. I actually can't believe the cell phone data costs there. It is insane. (And Australia isn't exactly known as a cheap country to live in).

What is infuriating IMO is big corporations not paying their share while receiving insane amounts of services and tax breaks.

It happens here too. The government is really aggressive in chasing citizens for overclaiming a few $ in expenses. But have a corporation and you can pay nothing at tax time.

 

[sentriesband]

I might be moving to BC myself but it will be from Australia. I've been out of Canada for a long time. Do you end up getting scammed on GST and duty on all items from the states even if they are less than $50? That's been one good thing about Australia until recently (no "brokerage" fees or duty on most items if less than 1000). But now they are making online sales overseas collect GST. I find it infuriating that they can collect tax on used items as well.

Yeah I don't know for sure about any of that but currently I live in Alberta, where we only pay GST. In BC (at least on things you buy in a store) you pay GST and PST which sucks but there's little to no music scene in Alberta and I have a couple of friends who wanna join my band out in Vancouver so that's the move I guess haha. Best of luck to you, in my experience Canadians adore Australians lol