Transistors in a BEAM robot?

Question

I am trying to get the parts to build a BEAM robot. For any of you out there who know a lot about this specific field: is there ANY substitute (other than the TC-54) for a 1381 transistor in these robots? They're SOOO hard to get!

But is there a SUBSTITUTE for a 1381? I know I can get those on solarbotics.com. pagermotors.com, mouser.com, digikey.com....But is there not another kind of transistor (other than the European TC-54) that I can use instead? I've already got everything I need; it seems kind of redundant to have to order this one part from some website when I can salvage something...

okay- maybe scratch the part where I said they're too hard to get :/

Answer 1

the problem is that matsushita has disconntinued making the 1381, so all that is available is the stock some people are hoarding.
notice that solarbotics usually uses the 1381c (the c specifies 2v) for the single solar panel charged BEAM robots. the 1381c is almost nowhere, including digikey.
if you use a 1381 with a higher voltage trigger (d, e, etc) it takes a little longer to charge the capacitor before you get motor motion.
if you are building your own beam robot from scratch and can specify the charge activated voltage then you'll have better luck getting 1381 with diff voltage values.

Answer 2

Get them here or maybe use another type of engine with it.