beginner components? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Kidsam
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2012, 06:46:38 pm
content: greetings.i recently started to get back into electronics, bought a pack of general components ( resistors, capacitors and transistors ) along with a breadboard kit, , a decent soldering iron, a pickit and 2 pics, and a bulk pack of LED's (though that's coming from china)and now i've just been looking throughhttp://australia.rs-online.comfor extra fun components to have aroundsome main things im looking for:general purpose transistorsgeneral purpose op amps/comperatorsi would mainly use them for logic, rather than amplification alsoso im just looking for suggestions on what parts to buy, and what else i should just get so i dont slap myself in the face and say "Damn, i wish i got that!"the things i'm looking to build for now are some smart beambots, perhaps powered with a picchip, or just using comperators/op ampsand later on, some LED displays/cubes using pic chipsanother thing i want to know is, does a component exist, like a transistor, except it's either ON, or OFF, so assuming i have a transistor, any power at all applied to the base will allow all the power through from the collector to the emitter, rather than depending on how much is applied to the basei'll also say i'll probably need a proper power supply and multimeter in the future, just don't want to spend the money on those untill i need to, at the moment i have a variable 3,6,9v wall adapter with a 9v battery clip output that i can use, and i'll order a cheapo digital multimeter off ebay untill i'm willing to spend more money on a good oneanyway thanks for reading

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2012, 12:59:25 am
content: I'd buy a multimeter asap. You can't really do electronics without one.As far as parts, here my advice. Find 10-25 open source projects that are similar to the stuff you are interested in building. Look up the parts used, and see if that will be something that you might need. That will give you a good idea of what you want to start (since different areas of electronics use different types of stuff - kinda)It can take a bit of time until you have a firm grasp of what you want to keep in stock in your lab. So be patient. You'll order a bunch of stuff that you'll never uses. And you'll almost always be waiting for some part to arrive. Or if you're like me, I try to order parts once a month if I can (to avoid spending too much in shipping) - so I often wait until I need a batch of parts, and then have to wait for them to arrive. One work-a-round is to have several projects going at the same time.

author: Kidsam
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2012, 04:39:57 am
content: RS-online claims to have free local shipping within aus so hopefully i can order as much as i want, but thanks for the post, i guess alot of components are almost specific to the project

author: LoyalServant
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2012, 07:25:38 am
content: I would recommend that if you can get a good multimeter up front, do so.Also get a decent lab power supply with dual outputs.These are things you really should not skimp on if you can avoid it.Getting them second hand can save you some money.General purpose transistors? 2N3904/3906/2222?I keep those by the hundred... used very frequently and sometimes you let out the blue smokeYou can buy these in lots of 50 or more from China for usually $4-5 USD with free shipping.. just takes a month to get them.

author: Kidsam
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2012, 08:26:54 am
content: yeah, i should probably get a proper lab power supply and ditch the dinky wall adapter with no amp control, i'll see if i can find a used one locally, or if that fails, one of the cheaper ones from ebaythis hobby gets expencive quick