Common Componenets

[ciikucli]

What components do you tend to keep around for prototyping purposes?

I keep 555 timer, lm354,atmega328, lm 317s, and  1N4001s, 1N4744,1N4742,1N4734 diodes, 2N3904 and 2N3906 transistors, TIP127, TIP122, TIP110 darlington transistors, 2N7000, 2N7002  IRL2703, IRFZ48V, IRF644N, IRLMS2002, IRF2804, RFP30N06LE and IRF1407 MOSFETs, random potentiometers, capacitors, and E12 resistors.

What do you guys use/run out of most often? If this thread has already been made, I must have missed it, and apologize.

[ConnorGames]

Possibly some shift registers(for some reason, I ALWAYS run out of IO's), some common connectors, maybe some A->D or D->A converters, but I think you've covered the basics nicely!

[Alana]

I'd add some basic TTL and CMOS logic, ULN2008/2808, some LEDs of different colours, maybe 2x16 LCD or some 7seg LED displays.

[nanofrog]

Maybe some 74 series Logic IC's.

[smugtronix]

Dual and quad op amps (either LM324s or TL074s for quads, and good old 4558s for duals).

[Short Circuit]

Regulators; 7805/L05/12, LM317/337, SimpleSwitchers.
Bridgerectifiers to add to power imput of circuits (so polarity does not matter anymore),
Various fuses and holders.
Wire! Lots of wire!
Connectors; SubD, 3.5mm, banana, BNC, male & female header strips

[poptones]

Why do you use 4558s rather than 5532s? I'm curious because 4558s have poorer specs and are five times the price of 5532s.

[smugtronix]

Why do you use 4558s rather than 5532s? I'm curious because 4558s have poorer specs and are five times the price of 5532s.

Because I'm not thinking! I was under the impression that 5532s are more expensive than 4558s. Also, when I think "generic dual op amp", I think 4558. I actually prefer CA3260s and LM833s in the stuff I build, but to each his own.

[T4P]

You must have been from diystompboxes.

[ju1ce]

You hardly ever need any 4000 or 74 series logic ICs if you're into microcontrollers. If you need one in a year for repairing something you can just buy it in your local electronics store.

[AndyC_772]

Resistors and caps, wire, switches, LEDs, 0.1" pin headers, small NPN, PNP and N-channel transistors, rail-to-rail I-O op amps.

Also, one PIC development board and one FPGA development board, which between them can do anything that any 74 series logic and 555 timers can do.

[PSR B1257]

1N4001s

Are not so good, because there are only rated for 50V.
I only got the 1N4007-type in stock. They are suitable for almost every conceivable application.

What do you guys use/run out of most often?

1k and 10k resistors and 100nF ceramic capacitors, therefore I got a couple dozens of them 

[JuKu]

When ever I buy components, I buy at least 5 to 10 more than I actually need; for passives, even more. After a while, I have a good collection of what I need.

I have a whole reel of 100nF caps and 4.7k resistors.

[Jeff1946]

34063 switching converter ic.  cheap and available in a dip package.

[poptones]

LOL. I have more than 500 555s because they were less than fifty bucks. I also have like 20,000 4.7uF caps. Also have a bid on 20,000 amber LEDs. I have about a quarter million resistors.

A low end pic or avr can do anything a 555 can do, but not at the same price. A 555 costs like a nickel. Resistors are almost free, and you'll need a cap either way. 555s rock.

[glee]

Interesting thread.

And where do you source your components? Seems like Farnell and the Shack can be quite expensive but as a beginner I'm not sure whether it's wise to buy from eBay ... do you actually pay attention to the part manufacturers? Are there specific ones that are preferred for particular component types?

Thanks.

[ciikucli]

I buy most of my components from mouser, jameco, digikey, and sparkfun in that order.Mouser, Jameco, and Digikey all are really cheap, especially jameco, but they are all essentially the same to me. Jameco might come faster. Sparkfun sells some weird ics, and their components come with some documentation and general application notes for beginners. I almost never get anything from Farnell and Radioshack.

[smugtronix]

Mouser and Ebay, for the most part. I may do a large Tayda Electronics order soon, but there's a pretty good risk of one-hung-low, so I'd probably only buy passives and transistors from them.
Also T4P, guilty as charged. I'm a card-carrying FSB member who wants to get into real engineering.

[Smokey]

Not counting super cheap passives, I usually buy just a couple more parts than I need of each part for a project.  Whatever is left over from old projects is what I have on hand.  Since I stopped etching my own boards and went all surface mount (best decision ever) I have enough time to make a digikey order before the boards get here.
One thing I'd say to get if you haven't collected enough passives from old projects is to get a resistor and capacitor kit for whatever size components you are working with.  The worst thing ever is to be working with a circuit and realize you don't have the right value resistor to tweak something.  The wait for the PCBs is ok.  The wait for that one value resistor is a killer.

[RCMR]

Let's see...

Some 6SN7s, a few 807s, some AC126's and AC187/188 and AD161/AD162 pairs.

Some OA95s,  plenty of wax and litz wire, some selenium rectifiers, paper capacitors and 300V electrolytics.

Oh hell.. am I showing my age? 

[poptones]

I bought 20,000 LEDs and 16,500 passives over the weekend...

[AndyC_772]

And where do you source your components? Seems like Farnell and the Shack can be quite expensive but as a beginner I'm not sure whether it's wise to buy from eBay ... do you actually pay attention to the part manufacturers? Are there specific ones that are preferred for particular component types?

For 90% of the components I use in 'hobby' projects I go to Farnell, and for things they don't stock I use Digi-key, Mouser or RS. (For commercial designs everything comes in bulk from franchised distrubutors - Arrow, Future, Avnet and the like).

It's just not worth the risk of getting poor quality or counterfeit crap from Hong Kong or China via Ebay. Life is too short to spend ages working out why a design doesn't work, only to discover that you have a batch of parts which don't meet spec, or don't work at all, or die prematurely. It's not even a useful learning exercise.

[poptones]

You talk as if ebay sold only chinese goods.

I don't see why not, for example, work out a design that uses components you can source at a good price. For example, does your main power bypass cap have to be 10uF? What if it's 8uF?

It's all the same to me, I don't need more competition for the quality goods that are being sold there. But when you can buy 10,000 caps on reels for 30 bucks that are being sold now at digikey for 15 cents each, why not?

[AndyC_772]

I'd rather have a 15 cent cap which I know is genuine, meets the data sheet spec, and won't go bang in 6 months' time. The cost of the part is trivial compared to the time and hassle involved if it fails.

If you've found a reputable supplier who happens to use Ebay then that's fine, stick with them and you shouldn't have any problems. In my case I need to be sure I'm buying genuine components with a traceable supply chain back to the original manufacturer.

[T4P]

Also T4P, guilty as charged. I'm a card-carrying FSB member who wants to get into real engineering.

FSB, what's that?

[smugtronix]

Freestompboxes.org. It's a heck of a lot better than DIYstompboxes. Lots of reverse engineering there.

[T4P]

I know. But there was a massive feud between FSB and DSB when i was there

[vk6zgo]

Let's see...

Some 6SN7s, a few 807s, some AC126's and AC187/188 and AD161/AD162 pairs.

Some OA95s,  plenty of wax and litz wire, some selenium rectifiers, paper capacitors and 300V electrolytics.

Oh hell.. am I showing my age? 

I think if I dig around,I can find some 80's,57's,& 58's.
I know I have 6U7G's,6X5GT's,5Y3GT's,& lots of 6V6GT's,a bunch of random Japanese Germanium transistors,3 0r 4 dead Ham radios------------! 

[deephaven]

Let's see...

Some 6SN7s, a few 807s, some AC126's and AC187/188 and AD161/AD162 pairs.

Some OA95s,  plenty of wax and litz wire, some selenium rectifiers, paper capacitors and 300V electrolytics.

Oh hell.. am I showing my age? 

I think if I dig around,I can find some 80's,57's,& 58's.
I know I have 6U7G's,6X5GT's,5Y3GT's,& lots of 6V6GT's,a bunch of random Japanese Germanium transistors,3 0r 4 dead Ham radios------------! 

QQV0640's and 4CX250B's for me

[vk6zgo]

I think there are a couple each of those,too!!

[RCMR]

Aged electronics engineers of the world unite! 

[vk6zgo]

These new-fangled Semiconductors will never catch on,by crikey!

[majorkuso]

all of my parts that I don't have come from digi-key or some other supplier. I probably have a few billion transistors, resistors, diodes and 555 timers, and capacitors ranging from 1picofarad to over 1000microfarads to name less than a quarter of my supply, I need to check to see if all of my scopes work, been awhile. I only order parts that I know I don't have or haven't seen in any of my inventory.