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Quorten Blog 1

First blog for all Quorten's blog-like writings

When finding this random article on putting together a switched-mode power supply system for the Raspberry Pi:

20200727/https://rootsaid.com/diy-voltage-regulator-pi/

I found out about the site’s sponsor, UTSource, another electronics components distributor? Yes, this one is Shenzen-based. Looks like they aim to compete in the same market as Digi-Key. They started out as a small business about 15 years ago, so they say, then they gradually grew bigger to the business they are today. So, definitely not around as long as Digi-Key, but purportedly they grew much faster. Yeah, but really, that sounds quite tongue-and-cheek to say 15 years is “fast,” right? Definitely when compared with software, but the electronics industry operates on a different time scale.

And… wait for it, they also have a PCB Builder service too! When did they get it? Looking at the site history in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, looks like they sprouted it up several months before Digi-Key. However, they only do business with one PCB service aggregator, NextPCB, and therefore their minimum order quantity is 5. So, even though Digi-Key came late to the party with their PCB Builder service, they came out with a competitive offering nonetheless.

20200727/http://www.utsource.net/
20200727/http://www.utsource.net/Home/PCBService
20200727/http://www.utsource.net/AboutUs
20200727/https://web.archive.org/web/20190201000000*/http://www.utsource.net/
20200727/https://web.archive.org/web/20191106162517/http://www.utsource.net/