What useful ic's for beginners to play around with?

[Robert Smith Eco Warrior]

Hi All,
My boys and I have been playing around with a few ic's and making little projects.
I am just putting in an order and thought I would spend £20 or so more and get a small stock of useful ic's to play about with.
I have got some of these and going to order the others. I have been using the RS parametric search to find things that sound useful.

HEF4017 5-stage Johnson decade counter
CD4060BE 14-stage Through Hole Binary Counter
SN74HC08N, Quad 2-Input AND Logic Gate
LM393P Dual Comparator
SN74HC14N Hex Schmitt Trigger Inverter
SN74LS32N, Quad 2-Input OR Logic Gate
SN74HC132N, Quad 2-Input NAND Schmitt Trigger Logic Gate
LM339 Comparator

[jfiresto]

I might add or substitute the CD4093 quad NAND schmitt trigger. It may be an order of magnitude slower and only work down to 3V or so, but it is an amiable part and can accommodate a 3–15 to 3–18V supply, depending on who made it.

I am designing one in, right now, to switch a couple gooseneck lamps attached to a stereo microscope: a forty plus year old part for a forty old instrument someone will probably still be happily using forty years from now. The 4093 draws power off the unregulated 12–14V supply for the electromechanical relays, with the three added, rightmost parts, which are probably overkill but cheap:

[GlennSprigg]

Hi Robert.  Probably the ONE MAIN one, is the ubiquitous '555' TIMER chips, for which there are literally 1000's of uses!!
They are extremely cheap, and with a mere few capacitors & resistors, some LED's & maybe a transistor or two, you can build
countless circuits as a basic timer, or with continuously variable pulse-rate chains...   

And don't forget about such Voltage Regulator chips as the 7805 (5 volt) and 7812 (12 volt), etc, if your project needs regulation!
Don't forget though, that the ones above are are for regulating the '+ve' line, with a reference to '-ve'.  As opposed to the '79xx'
series, which are regulating the '-ve' line, with reference to the '+ve'.  And I'm 'assuming' that you are also using a cheap simple
'BreadBoard' for trialing circuits, and easily re-using components ??

Also, depending on your local electronics supplier, if not on line, for multiple home projects/experiments, you can get cheap packs
of multiple values of resistors etc!!, including packs of short pre-prepared 'jumper-wires' for the likes of a 'BreadBoard'...   

[kosine]

4051 analogue switches are also useful.

Would also suggest sticking to one family of ICs to avoid issues with logic levels. 4000 and/or 74HC would be the best option.

Another tip is to get some good quality turned-pin IC sockets as the legs on most ICs are a bit flimsy and aren't great for breadboarding.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Use those counters with a 4511 BCD to 7 Segment Decoder and of course, a 7 segment display.


http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/4511-BCD-to-7-segment-display-decoder-circuit.php

[Vincenzo]

I second jfiresto, the 4093 is very handy and the 4060. they both give you a quick square wave (or many) when you need some.

Analog switches are awesome, and a few optical isolators to experiment with.

Registers like the '164 and '595.

3-state buffers like a '244 and latches '373

[Kleinstein]

It really depends on what projet one plans for.  Quite often one gets the parts need for the planed projet and may have to get an min quantety or what 1 or 2 spares just in case. So an inventory of excess chips builds up fast enough.

For CMOS switches, may choice would be more like 4053 (SPDT) and not 4051 (8:1 mux).

Some simple OPs like  LM358 , MCP6002, TL072 are also sometimes useful if one is into more analog stuff.

Definitely no more 74LS... - they have a low ouput amplitude and are not really compatable to 74HC....

If one is into logic and the like I would consider a HC74 flipflop.

Unless one has a specific projet in mind, there is little need for LM339 and LM393 - it's essenmtially the same comparators as dual and quad.

[mindcrime]

SIPO (Serial In Parallel Out) shift register like the 74HC595. These are very handy when you're using a device (Arduino, etc.) with a limited number of digital IO pins, but need to control a larger number of digital lines. You can pump the desired bit state in using a serial protocol, then latch the register and read the bits from it in parallel. Even better, you can daisy chain them, so you can really expand the number of lines you can control if you need to.

see also

[David Hess]

LM393P Dual Comparator
LM339 Comparator

If you are going to include analog comparators, and comparators are underrated, then an operational amplifier like the LM358 (dual) or LM324 (quad) will also be useful.  However I would probably ignore quad parts in favor of dual parts because duals are easier to work with.

The TLC372 comparator and TLC2272 dual operational amplifier are more modern and easier to use CMOS alternatives to the LM393 and LM358 unless you need the higher supply voltage of the bipolar parts.

Do not forget a supply of general purpose bipolar transistors like the 2N4401 and 2N4403.

[Robert Smith Eco Warrior]

Hi Robert.  Probably the ONE MAIN one, is the ubiquitous '555' TIMER chips, for which there are literally 1000's of uses!!
They are extremely cheap, and with a mere few capacitors & resistors, some LED's & maybe a transistor or two, you can build
countless circuits as a basic timer, or with continuously variable pulse-rate chains...   

And don't forget about such Voltage Regulator chips as the 7805 (5 volt) and 7812 (12 volt), etc, if your project needs regulation!
Don't forget though, that the ones above are are for regulating the '+ve' line, with a reference to '-ve'.  As opposed to the '79xx'
series, which are regulating the '-ve' line, with reference to the '+ve'.  And I'm 'assuming' that you are also using a cheap simple
'BreadBoard' for trialing circuits, and easily re-using components ??

Also, depending on your local electronics supplier, if not on line, for multiple home projects/experiments, you can get cheap packs
of multiple values of resistors etc!!, including packs of short pre-prepared 'jumper-wires' for the likes of a 'BreadBoard'...   

Ah... I forgot to add the 555 timer. I have a bucket load of those here. They are a favourite 

[Robert Smith Eco Warrior]

Blimey. Lots of replies.
I shall get out a scribbling stick and jot those all down and have a look at what they all are.

[Jan Audio]

Better not get those LS and HC packages, go for AHCT instead, it are improved versions.
bye

[Gyro]

AHCT is far too fast to use on breadboards - in fact anything that isn't a PCB with ground plane, very local decoupling... and for any tracks of significant length, controlled impedance.

There is really no need (and a significant reason not) to go past 74HC for playing around with.

[Kleinstein]

For use one breadboard the relatively slow 4000 seires or 74HC.... have some advantage over the fast 74AHCT... . The fast chips also need better decouling, so unless really needed, I would prefer the slower old ones for simple tests.

This is also true for OP and comparators.  For slightly faster OPs (e.g. TL072) on a breadboard and maybe also with fast logic, it can be a good idea to directly solder a decoupling cap (e.g. 100 nF THT MLCC) directly on the top part of the pins.  This also gives a visual hint to where the supply pins are.
Alternatively one may need some caps for the supply also on the breadboard.

[Jan Audio]

AHCT can drive stuff.
AHCT flipflop have better input voltage for zero, above zero volt.
I dont know about how fast and breadboard.
Learning everyday here.

by the ways : it is normal to have a 100n ceramic on all ICs.
I see no problem (yet)

[themadhippy]

maybe a bucket full of  2 input nand or nor gates (4001 and 4011 for example),you can then build all the logic gate types as well as flip flops and  oscillators without buying any more ic's

[Gyro]

AHCT can drive stuff.
AHCT flipflop have better input voltage for zero, above zero volt.
I dont know about how fast and breadboard.
Learning everyday here.

Tri-state 8 bit output 74HC chips, intended for parallel bus driving have higher output current capability that ordinary 74HC gates. Look at 74HC540/541 (buffers) and 74HC573/574 (latches) for driving heavier loads (staying within spec), but modern high efficiency LEDs will still produce decent light output at well under 1mA, so can be used with standard gates (even 4000 series).

Input voltage thresholds are irrespective of device speed, 74HCT has TTL input thresholds and 74HC, symmetrical ones (better for noise immunity).

[BILLPOD]

Good Morning Bob Smith,   A lot of good suggestions so far, but don't overlook the world of transistors; BJTs, FETs, JFETs, MOSFETs, small signal and power, both for switching and amplification.  And you will find a use for them in working
with ICs.  They are a 'Rabbit Hole' in their own right.  ENJOY
THE TRIP.

[David Hess]

For use one breadboard the relatively slow 4000 seires or 74HC.... have some advantage over the fast 74AHCT... . The fast chips also need better decouling, so unless really needed, I would prefer the slower old ones for simple tests.

4000 and 74C series CMOS also have the advantage of operating up to 15 volts which is very convenient for some mixed signal circuits.

[jfiresto]

4000 and 74C series CMOS also have the advantage of operating up to 15 volts which is very convenient for some mixed signal circuits.

Being so slow, they also generates much less noise which is not a a bad thing around low level analog signals.

[Circlotron]

CD4060BE 14-stage Through Hole Binary Counter

I'd suggest a CD4040 12-stage instead, or maybe in addition. The 4060 has several missing output whereas the 4040 has Q1 to Q12 inclusive. It doesn't have the inbuilt oscillator facility though.

4000 series CMOS is a good choice for breadboards, as others have said.
My effort with 4000 CMOS in 1988 below.