Reddit mentions: The best resistors

Welcome!

Take this with a grain of salt because, I still don't really know what I'm doing (although I'm not sure anyone feels like they ever do); but, here's my experience.

For recommendations - skip to the -------------- Bottom Line ------------------ below

My first project was this little breadboard prototyping pedal box thingy I made out of stuff I bought at RadioShack (before all the stores closed):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ5ws-Y9OPQ

There are much better ways to do this and I regret my potentiometer selections for this box but, I was really green and the Shack didn't have board mounted pots (I don't even think I knew there was such a thing at that point).

But, on that box, I built circuits that I found online and I was instantly hooked.

Fast forward many "wasted" hours and here's where I am:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGNmA1YM3n8

Hah! - still building distortion boxes :P - well - and this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPrLFpkO9no&feature=youtu.be&t=48

----------------------------------------------------- Bottom Line -----------------------------------------------------

After all that here are the things I can suggest you stock up on (and I would bet you can find cheaper versions of any of these - but what's in them is what matters):

For IC's:

http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/op-amp-ic-kit/

For Potentiometers:

https://www.amazon.com/Logarithmic-Linear-Reverse-Potentiometer-Assortment/dp/B07SVMC3VK

Then you'll want a grab bag of diodes and transistors - look at different schematics of fuzz and distortion pedals and get an idea of what they're using - I just bought a bunch at RadioShack and some I got from Mammoth (also now defunct) and Small Bear (still rolling). I have em in a box and I swap em out on the breadboard to see how it changes the sound. That's the best part to me. When I'm on a breadboard - if I replace this guy with that guy how does the sound change? Definitely not the intelligent way but I enjoy that pseudo-creative process.

Finally - you should get some resistor and capacitor kits. My wife got me kits from amazon that have a label "JoeKnows Electronics" on the boxes. I haven't come across anything I've wanted for that wasn't in those two boxes.

Oh - as an added bonus:

https://www.harborfreight.com/toolbox-organizer-with-4-drawers-68238.html

This is my favorite storage box - find you a super coupon and grab one or two of these.

Anyway -

My sincerest congratulations and my deepest condolences for the path on which you are about to embark.

Has he applied for any jobs yet? I was given one of those leather pads with paper inside and a holder for resumes (something like this) except it was from my undergrad university with their emblem. Definitely gives you some confidence for interviews and recruiting sessions. Also you can get him some nice resume paper to go with it. That lasted me for years.

I also enjoyed having one or two of these demotivational posters in my room. Depends on his humor and if he has barren walls like I did.

If you know more details about which raspberry pi he has, you could get some shield extensions. These are boards that expand its capabilities. There are also newer boards with better specs. Also with two boards you can of course make them talk to each other ;)

Depends on his area of interest and your budget, but you could get him some kind of [introductory FPGA kit] (http://store.digilentinc.com/fpga-programmable-logic/) or DE0-Nano.

Tools... so many tools he might be interested in. USB logic analyzers are so cheap these days and go well with hobby boards. Again not sure your budget, so you can go all sorts of ranges here (Open Workbench Logic Sniffer or scanaplus or Saleae Logic 8 or a china clone of Saleae Logic 8). Saleae or the knockoff I think are the better options for the software compatibility. He may be in need of a soldering iron or a multimeter.

Something else unique, you could get him a "gift card" (they don't really sell them) or an IOU to a PCB printing service. Ask him to design his own board and you'll pay $X of the service. You'll want to make sure he knows the price structure on the website because they charge per square inch and it depends on his design how many layers he may need. He makes the schematic and they will print some circuit boards for him. They won't mount the parts, just do the schematic and he would have to hand solder the components.

If he likes old videogames you could get him some old school USB controllers and tell him to install lakka on his rasberry pi, or just get him a new Raspberry Pi3 to dedicate it as an old-school console emulator. It is quite impressive how many consoles they have emulated.

And back to more tools... more micro screwdriver bits than you would actually need. You can get him a starter pack of resistors, capacitors, and other assorted electronics sparkfun. There are also so many buttons, switches, LED screen displays, etc. that he probably wouldn't want to buy on his own. Maybe you could get a container with an assortment of circuit components (resistors, capacitors, transistors, and other sensors). Careful! This can add up real quick. All types of sensors exist... ultrasonic rangefinder, stress, photocell, temperature, etc. etc. endless!.

I actually didn't tally up the cost as that wasn't really of a concern to me, but I'll try my best to provide links to the things I bought for this. Feel free to add it up for me!

• Lighting
  
  • T-5 Grow light (came with 6500K bulbs)
    
  • 2700K bulbs
    
  • Grow light hangers
    
• Grow medium
  
  • Net Cups
    
  • Black Buckets
    
  • Black lids
    
• Nutrients
  
  • General Hydroponics Flora Series
    
  • General Hydroponics pH control kit
    
  • pH/EC/Temp Meters
    
• Grow tent
  
• Air ventilation
  
  • The only thing I ended up using from this kit was the cheapest part, the ventilation duct...
    
  • The fan from this kit is way too powerful for my setup because my humidifier couldn't keep up
    
  • I didn't use the carbon filter because I'm not growing weed.
    
• Water Distiller
  
• Humidifier
  
  • The cheaper the humidifier, the better. I first bought (and destroyed) one that had some sort of digital switch, so it would always be in the off state when you first supply power to it, meaning you can't turn it on/off with just a relay.
    
• Plumbing
  
  • Aquatec 8852 booster pump
    
  • 2 Gallon accumulator tank
    
  • Pressure relief valve
    
  • Tubing
    
  • Inline Pre-filter (Sorry they must have taken the product down...)
    
  • Misting nozzle T's
    
  • Tube ball valves
    
  • Analog pressure gauge
    
  • Misting Nozzles
    
    • Note that these nozzles are meant for WAY higher pressure systems (~1000psi) and I actually had to take out the spring for them to operate correctly, but they never clogged up, are easy to clean, and worked perfectly for me!
      
• Electronics
  
  • Raspberry Pi 3 kit
    
  • Humidity sensor
    
  • Pressure sensor
    
  • Water solenoid valve
    
  • 5V 4-channel relay module
    
  • Analog-to-digital converter
    
  • 24V to 12V converter
    
  • 24V Power supply
    
  • Resistor kit
    
  • Semiconductor kit
    
  • Circuit boards
    
  • Standoffs
    
• Wiring
  
  • 22 gauge stranded wire
    
  • 22 gauge solid wire
    
  • Power supply cord
    
• Connectors
  
  • Electronic Connectors
    
    • JST-XHP Connectors
      
    • JST-SM Connectors
      
    • Dupont Connectors
      
  • Plumbing Connectors
    
    • Bulkhead connectors
      
    • Quick-connect kit
      
    • NPT to quick-connect connector
      
      I also bought various tools, like crimpers, Dremel kit, drill, etc, but I don't consider those to be project-specific as I'll have them for the foreseeable future. Let me know if there's anything you see that you think I missed!
      

It depends on the component. Resistors and caps usually either work or not, and even really cheap sets tend to be within rated tolerances. I just buy the cheapest sets of those that have the values I want.

Transistors and ICs will depend on what you're getting. Common and still produced values are cheap and easy to get. Again, just buy whatever's cheap and gets you what you need. Watch out for fakes or seconds when buying out-of-production parts like 308s or 3007s. Best to get those from reputable places (smallbear, Mammoth, etc), because they're expensive and it's easy to get burned. I'd really look at the values you're getting when ordering ICs and possibly transistors in bulk. Those parts are usually really specific to a build and buying a lot of values might leave you with a bunch of unused parts.

The Joe Knows sets are good, if a little expensive. They tend to be well sorted, which is nice, but not something I'm willing to pay more for. Like this set of resistors is going to be just as good and is significantly cheaper than the equivalent Joe Knows set. There's certainly nothing wrong with the Joe Knows stuff though - if it has the values you need at the right price, go for it.

You can also score some great bulk deals on ebay and alibaba, but you'll be stuck waiting for overseas shipping a lot of the time. I'd go Amazon for an initial order and then shop around when you refill.

You could actually make these pretty easily. You'd just need a blue LED, a photoresistor, and a couple of volts. I'd say go with an LR44 since they're cheap, small, a couple volts, and will lie flat in the shoe. Do the math or play around with them to see how many you'll need (Depends on how you set up the circuit, though I'm guessing one in each shoe will be fine).

So the circuit is pretty simple with the three circuit elements (LED, photoresistor, battery) in series. It's a little tricky though, since the photoresistor's resistance increases as the amount of light hitting it increases. So if you just wired everything up in series, the LED would turn on when it's light outside... that's the opposite of what we want. But you can make a voltage divider circuit and include the photoresistor in that, so that the brightness of the room and the brightness of the LED are inversely proportional, which is good.

Once you have the circuit, you just have to find a way to somehow put it in the shoe. Take the sole out, drill a hole in the tip for the LED, and drill a hole on the side for the photoresistor. Then lay your circuit flat inside the shoe, position the LED and photoresistor accordingly, and then glue them in so they stay in place. Cover the circuit with a strip of duct tape so it stays down, and then cover that with a Dr. Scholl's to maximize comfort and durability.

If anyone actually wants to do this, let me know. I've linked to the parts you would need, and they're all pretty cheap (the Dr. Scholl's are the most expensive part). I can draw up a circuit schematic if anyone's interested so then it would just be a matter of you soldering, drilling, and gluing it together.

Edit: Might also be a good idea to include a switch so you can save on battery life. There are all kinds of switches out there to choose from, and you can put it pretty much anywhere in the circuit where all the current flows through (so avoid putting it in the voltage divider section). So that part of the design is totally up to you. Maybe drill another hole in the side of the shoes for the switches, maybe have them be toe-activated, it's your call.

Honestly you can get a bunch of the individual stuff separately on amazon. Here are some recommendations I have:

Get a volt meter that can measure ohms and current (mA):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KHP6EIK/


Red/Green/Blue LEDs:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0059H5Z5O/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UMA60S/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0059H5Z5O/


Breadboards:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01258UZMC/


Jumper wires:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZWEFWO8/


pir (motion) sensors:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017HP88VI/


transistors:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R1M3DA4


resistors:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0185FGTSS/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0185FGN98/


The multimeter is great, you can make sure you wont fry your GPIO outputs. Try not to pull over 16mA of current per pin to avoid damage. Use a 1k or 330 ohm resister accordingly. You can also do a lot of cool stuff with a transistors and LEDs.


I've been documenting a lot of the electronics stuff I've been teaching myself; About six months ago I was where you were, setting out trying to learn how to use all these components. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I'd recommend going to the oldest post on my blog and reading in order if you want some ideas: https://supertechnologyknowledgequest.blogspot.com

PM me with any questions, I'd be happy to point you in the right direction for anything you are trying to do for which I can help! Best of luck!

edit: the multimeter is no longer on amazon, just find one that lets you read resistance AND current (milliamps).

The 50K should be log, but I don't see any such indication on the 20K. Maybe a different pot would help? I did exactly what you're describing with these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002IABLF8/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did mine with a receiver, so I think the input impedance may have been higher. I'm pretty sure you want the pot value to be between the impedance values, so the DAC looks like a short and the amp looks like an open, but I'm not positive.

It is a good idea to do that with resistors. Here isa nice super cheap pack that will have most of the values you'll ever need for pedal building. They are perfectly fine resistors that will fit any builds of yours. I measured several ones and they were OK.

I would not recommend it for capacitors though because this kind of packs are usually (really) low quality parts. Can be nice for prototyping though.

impedance is different than resistance in that impedance is AC and varies depending on volume and the signal output. as long as you're not blasting it you should be fine since an 6 ohm speaker is only rated 6 ohm at its highest (lowest value 0 being infinite impedance)

if you wanted to be extra safe you could simply add a 2 ohm resistor in series with the positive lead and sticky tack it to the back of your speaker.

2 + 6 = 8


Uxcell a14012100ux0202 2 Piece 2 Ohm 100W 100W Aluminum Housing Wire-Wound Gold Tone Resistor: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific - https://www.amazon.com/a14012100ux0202-Aluminum-Housing-Wire-Wound-Resistor/dp/B00LUTDYD0/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1540523845&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=2+ohm+resistor+100w&dpPl=1&dpID=41Hec4XSQeL&ref=plSrch



ohms are basically wiggle room in terms of circuitry. the resistor will increase the "size" of the circuit which reduces "pressure" I. e. impedance

you can even do a cool mod and add another tweeter facing backward in reverse polarity in series as above, or grab a super tweeter. you can also fire it straight up and the polarity will just be up to you based on your ceiling height. this will add more spaciousness or "air" and make your speakers sound larger and present more separation

I added a set of emits that way to my Kefs and it sounds fantastic. it sounds like I added a digit to the sound value with no drawbacks since the stereo imaging is really based on what hits your ears first, the multipath signals that reach your ears just reinforce the imaging and add depth

You are going to want to balance tools and parts.

TOOLS (must haves)

• Multimeters (At least two, I suggest starting with one cheapo ($5-$10) and one in the $30-$50 range)
  
• Variable regulated power supply with current limiting (Skip the cheap/dangerous chinese crap and get a used HP/Agilent/Keysight one off ebay like this or this.)
  
• Breadboards (several)
  
• Jumper wires
  
• Wire strippers and cutters
  
• Decent soldering Iron ($50-$100) (DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON THIS)
  
• Desoldering pump and/or wick (The ctrl-z of the soldering world)
  
• Heat shrink tubing for sealing connections (Especially if you are going to be doing outdoor stuff)
  
• Microcontrollers (I suggest starting with an Arudino Uno since it has the largest amount of online support material, you could get an Uno kit, any of them will be fine)
  .
  .
  TOOLS (eventually)
  
• Logic Analyzer (Let's you see the logic signals in your circuit which is super helpful for debugging, I have a bitscope micro which is decent, but the software kinda sucks and is more than just a logic analyzer)
  
• A function generator (variable voltage and frequency for sine, square and triangle waves) (Again I suggest used off ebay, something like this.)
  
• Oscilloscope (a really amazing tool for actally seeing what is going on in your circuit)
  .
  .
  PARTS (vaguely in order of usefullness)
  
• Elenco Resistor Kit
  
• Elenco Capacitor Kit
  
• Elenco Transistor Kit
  
• Elenco Diode Kit
  
• Elenco LED Kit
  (Of couse you don't have to get the Elenco kits, those are just the ones I use and really like)
  
• Voltage regulator ICs (Great for providing regulated power to things that need more than what your arduino can provide)
  
• Trimmer Potentiometer Kit (really useful to have around for many projects)
  
• Old electronic equipment to scavenge parts out of (Many of my parts have come from old equipment or broken ATX computer power supplies. Tearing stuff apart is both fun and yields great parts.)
  .
  .
  .
  I think that's all for now...

That sounds about right. Even if it ends up not working out I would recommend you try anyway because your next project could be a success.

This will most likely also require soldering experience. I suggest you get a pack of crappy plated perf boards and a big pack of resistors and just spend an hour or two doing nothing but soldering.

The physical assembly steps could be interesting to live stream, but be careful because a lot of people will start making suggestions that may or may not be good that you would be better off ignoring.

I do stuff like this professionally, so if you have questions that aren't getting answered (or don't want to post something publicly) feel free to PM me.

Edit: Plated perf board that will work: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072Z7Y19F

Resistor pack: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L851T3V

Feel free to hit me up with questions. I have always wanted to design a sex toy, so I learned a lot of relevant skills, but unfortunately I have a job that uses all of those skills now and I am too busy to work on my passion projects.

These are parts I use consistently in my labs
Capacitor kit


Resistor kit


Jumper wires


Bread board(s)


Larger breadboard. Recommended for larger projects but I haven’t used it too much. Best for large IC circuits


Multimeter. This has all the right features

Other things that can be useful:


•Wire strippers


•Pliers


•Electrical Tape


•Tackle Box or tool bag (to carry everything)


•Flat jumper wires


As you get into classes you’ll need specific parts (transistors, logic gates etc) but this should get you started. I use the things I linked in every lab weekly.

Feel free to message me with any questions.

To drive one of those LEDs from a 9V battery you are going to need a series resistor for current limiting. The lower the resistance, the higher the current and the brighter the LED (and the faster you run down your battery). The higher the resistance, the lower the current and the dimmer the LED (and longer battery life).

I suggest you experiment on your kitchen table with various resistors and find the one which gives the brightness YOU require. In the Joe Knows Electronics resistor kit (amazon link), try 330 ohms, 390 ohms, 470, 560, 680, and 820 ohms. See which one YOU like. Then after you've picked a resistor value, consider that to be your "final circuit design". Build it into its permanent enclosure and hope you don't change your mind later.

Could you do this with a variable resistor and thereby, have a knob on your gizmo that lets you change the brightness whenever you like? Yes. Yes you could.

I bought most of the kits from Small Bear Electronics (the exception was the resistor kits). They are one of the only sources I've found for capacitor kits, transistors, op amps, pots, etc and they have some great stuff available.

Link to kits here

Spent about $100 but it took a lot less time than ordering all the items separately on Mouser.

I also bought a resistor kit from Joe Knows Electronics on Amazon.

Link to resistor kit here

I would also recommend buying a component tester, it's one of the best purchases I've made. It makes it feasible to pull all the components off of your breadboard and sort them quickly so you can reuse them. Also very handy in double checking a component value when you're building a pedal without looking at the color coding, etc.

Link to component tester

I’m not sure I’d call it bulk but here’s what I ordered: ELEGOO 17 Values 1% Resistor Kit... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BL2VX1?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

They come pre organized into little packets in a clear box. Super handy and takes up less space than if I put them in the drawers.
Hope this helps.

whoops! thanks! just canceled. i thought i was making things easier! i found two resistor sets that ranged from 0-10M:

Pixnor

Cutequeen

The Cutequeen certainly looks like a better value but I don't think I need that many resistors, so I went with the Pixnor set. For capacitors I think these should fit the bill:

Capacitor set

I read a bit about the different kinds of caps and decided that I didn't want to deal with electrolytic caps since I'm just starting out and don't want to have to worry about polarity.

Hopefully I picked the right components this time! Thanks again for the help!

Amazon prime works out really well for me in general. Prices are more than they would be if you ordered from a chinese site, but cheaper than places like Adafruit or Sparkfun. And two day shipping.

At this point, I always buy in bulk for the most part. Just makes sense financially. Also, it sucks working on a project and you are missing one component or value of resistor and you need to order it and wait. These are the things that it makes sense to buy in bulk.

• Resistors
  
• Capacitors
  
• LEDs
  
• Switches (push buttons in particular)
  
• Sensors (maybe get a kit that includes various ones)
  
• Jumper cables and wires
  
• Various sizes of PC boards
  
• Other things that are good to have: various potentiometers, breadboards, various IC, power regulators, and of course TOOLS (wire cutters, wire strippers, quality needle nose pliers, soldering iron, small screwdriver set)
  
  
  I suggest this for a bulk resistor kit, there are cheaper options for lots of resistors, but its amazing how well it keeps them organized.
  https://www.amazon.com/Sparkfun-500-4W-Resistor-Kit/dp/B008MH97I4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491070938&sr=8-1&keywords=sparkfun+resistor+kit

You have a 12V fan but a 5.5V power supply? This sounds like a problem to me. I'd recommend a 12V, 0.5A adapter - I use this one - with a 500 ohm potentiometer.

I usually have to turn the rheostat up about half way to get past the fan's stall speed, and then it runs very slowly, and ramps up smoothly to top speed as I turn the dial. At top speed the vortex is so strong the stir bar gets caught in it and jumps the field.

It also helps to use very strong magnets, spaced exactly as far apart as the ends of the stir bar. If your drive magnets are half an inch apart, don't bother with a 1 inch stir bar.

>How wide is your maple? Something to consider: I have a 12" 5hp Belsaw planer at my shop in Hagerstown, I'd be willing to give you access to for lumber trade. Also, I noticed you need a motor for your lathe, I have 4 electric motors that I don't use, I think most have pulleys. I purchased this a while ago as a speed controller, it works great.

>Those slabs sound amazing. How did you get those milled?

I also have a 12" planer. Some of the board are over 18 or 20. I think I'll be ripping most of them down anyways. Thanks for the offer on the motor, I recently picked up 2. I just need to get a belt that fits now.
The slabs I had done by 2griffins. They had an Alaskan chainsaw mill. That was really cool to watch. If you ever want to come see some of it, let me know.

In the past I've used a large box type thing to control the heat output of my 1500w element. It got VERY VERY hot, and burnt out, because apparently i should have put a giant heatsink on the back (Why would it NOT come with one?)

Anyway....looking up motor controllers again, I see nothing but these guys. Rated at 2kw should be good for a 1500w element, but I'm not sure if PWM is a good thing, compared to plain old analog tuning. I guess it depends on the pulse width, right? 10hz compared to 0.1hz might be fine.


Edit: this is what I had which apparently is a FAN controller, and obviously analog (rheostat)

You don't need to do any soldering if you get the right parts. Get these leads to connect to the header on the rpi board. Then get these connectors and you’ll need a 4.7k ohm resistor. I’d suggest buying a combo pack of resistors and save the other resistors for future projects.

Pull two of the F/F leads off from the rest and cut them in half; you’ll use 3 of the 4 resulting pieces. Connect one of the leads to the Vcc lead on the thermometer probe (usually red) and one end of a 4.7k ohm resistor. The connector/splice is a T so you’ll use all 3 connections. Then connect another of the half leads to the Data lead from the probe (could be yellow or white or almost any other color) and the other end of the resistor. You’ll have something that looks like an H with the two leads with the resistor across the middle. The third lead from the probe will be the ground lead which will probably be black. This lead will be straight through just joining the resistor probe lead to the lead with the gpio header female to connect to the rpi board. The end result should be 3 wires terminated with the female header connector and the resistor between Vcc/Power and Data lines. Now you are ready to connect to the rpi board. Make sure it’s powered down and locate pins 1, 7, and 9. Look here for a diagram. Pin 1 is the pin closest to the SD card. Pins 1,7, and 9 will be the first, fourth, and fifth pins respectively on the inside row counting from the “back” (side where the sd card is) of the board. Pin 1 (first inside pin) will go to the Power/Vcc lead, Pin 7 (fourth inside pin) goes to the Data lead, and Pin 9 (fifth inside pin) goes to the GND/ground pin.

That’s it for the physical connection. Now boot it up and see if it’s already working:

cat /sys/bus/w1/devices/28-*/w1_slave

If you see something like the following, it’s working:

XX XX XX XX XX XX XX : crc=51 YES
XX XX XX XX XX XX XX t=23500

The second line t=NNNNN is the temperature in Celsius out to three decimal places so 23500 is 23.500 C.

If you get a “No such file or directory” error then do the following and reboot:

sudo sed -i.bak '$adtoverlay=w1-gpio' /boot/config.txt

EDIT: found a mistake in the ground lead connection instructions

Hi! I built a Beavis Board about six weeks ago. Not terribly difficult to make at all. I purchased these on amazon from Joe knows...

Resistors
Capacitors
Transistors

The problem I have is that some of transistors aren't right for the layouts, the capacitors aren't film, and I couldn't find an assorted IC box.

If I had to do it all over again I would catalog all the parts needed for every project on the projects guide or see of there was a list of items the Beavis Board came with and take that to Tayda or Mammoth. It's a lot of work but will be better in the long run.

I'm definitely interested if anyone else has purchased assorted boxes and how that worked out.

u/midwayfair mostly beat me to it.

You can get an assortment of topmany film box caps that will cover most of your foreseeable future needs for $15 from Smallbear.

You can also get an assortment of electrolytic caps from smallbear for $10.

[You can get a huge set of metal resistors with almost every value you'll ever need here for $10, marked with their value which is nice for initial sorting.]
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J5M2G9Q?psc=1)

Wiring in parallel or series you can get to almost any value you'll need with those three purchases for $35. Not bad, right?

As for transistors/diodes/IC's, that's much more dependent on what you're building. A good rule of thumb there is every time you need 1, order 5. You'll have a nice selection (and empty wallet) in no time. Most would agree that Smallbear is the place to source those kind of "specialty" parts to make sure you get high quality/official/tested stuff. Mammoth is my personal second favorite. Tayda would be third, great prices but I've gotten some weird less-than-official looking stuff from them that doesn't always sound the same as their Smallbear counterpart.

Small bear electronics will have everything you need pretty much, digitech(great for bulk. You can get a 100 resistors for a dollar), and mouser. All websites.
I started off with a resistor kit and a capacitors kit on Amazon that were about 10 dollars each.

As far as part quality goes I personally dont think it matters that much. The type of capacitors(film,ceramic, electrolytic) can make a little bit of a difference but hardly. If the guide your following calls a certain type of capacitors just stick to the guide. Don't cheap out the input and output sockets though. Switchcraft is the way to go on thoses(small bear has them)

http://www.smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/ (easy to order. although they don't label parts sometimes. That can be annoying if your a beginner)

https://www.digikey.com/ ( great for bulk but can be confusing to order from. you have pay attention to the the details.


https://www.mouser.com/
(Same as digikey somtimes cheaper)

https://www.mammothelectronics.com/
(Alot like small bear except they label their parts and are a little more expensive last time I checked)



E-Projects EPC-102 43 Value Resistor Kit, 1 Ohm - 10M Ohm (Pack of 1075) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E3JGGF2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Vgh0BbZEHX2J5

100-200 Ohms seems about right. But I recommend buying a resistor kit like this instead of the individual values, makes you more flexible for future projects. And it's even cheaper than the 2 single value stips you listed.

I mean, define compatible. I'm confused about what you're looking for exactly. If it is rated for the power specifications you need and terminates in a way that you know how to work with there's not too much more you need to worry about. If you post your circuit we can maybe give you some better guidance, but I think as long as you get reasonably-rated through hole versions of your parts you are going to be fine.

Do you have a base stock of parts like caps and resistors? If not, this Electronic Suprise Box is a cheap shotgun method of getting a base stock going, plus you usually get a decent selection of LEDs, switches, or whatever else they sweep off the table in to your box. If you don't want to dedicate a ton of time to sorting them, you can order kits like this and this.

If you're wanting to better understand how this stuff all works, then check out Getting Started In Electronics by Forrest Mims. You won't regret it.

Most importantly--and I can't stress this enough--RadioShack should be your last resort. You'll pay 10x as much for terrible components. Things that cost pennies on Mouser or DigiKey will be dollars there.

How wide is your maple? Something to consider: I have a 12" 5hp Belsaw planer at my shop in Hagerstown, I'd be willing to give you access to for lumber trade. Also, I noticed you need a motor for your lathe, I have 4 electric motors that I don't use, I think most have pulleys. I purchased this a while ago as a speed controller, it works great.

Those slabs sound amazing. How did you get those milled?

BTW. You can buy some prototyping board (like this) and some through-hole resistor (like this) to practice your soldering, as soldering diodes and switches are pretty much the same technique, and they are super cheap. ;)

Sure. Does yours have a 2 pin or a 3 pin plug?

Something like this should work fine.

Photo of the label on the tray would help.

Something like this. Even though this is overkill for a one off solution. 5% resistors would be fine too.

Elegoo 17 Values 1% Resistor Kit Assortment, 0 Ohm-1M Ohm (Pack of 525) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BL2VX1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_yAK0AbPG0JMZD

If you don't mind modding one you can get good value for money by buying this:

http://www.voxamps.com/us/pedals/wahwah_v845/

replacing the inferior pot with this

http://www.amazon.com/Jim-Dunlop-ECB24B-Potz-Crybaby/dp/B000EEL5W4

Then modifying it for true bypass with these instructions:

http://stinkfoot.se/archives/561

I've done these steps and got a good result.

Good idea! For anyone who wants to have a set of organized resistors I would recommend this kit. Only $18 in Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Knows-Electronics-Value-Resistor/dp/B003UC4FSS

> What I was shooting at was more of the specifics, e.g. variety vs 330 and 10k resistors only. Think of it like the emergency kit of arduino :P

No. You WANT a veriaty kit like this if you already don't have one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UC4FSS/ when it comes to common parts like resistors, caps, diodes,etc. After getting that, get a bulk order of common ones like say 100,220,1K,22K,etc resistors.

I've had good luck with a router speed controller. You can find them at most hardware stores for very little money.

https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Knows-Electronics-Value-Resistor/dp/B003UC4FSS/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?keywords=resistor+assortment+kit&qid=1573074991&sprefix=resistor&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyWE1WMVFCTEZKTjJZJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTk4MjU1MTlSRUhHTFdDWDZUMyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjY5NzI5Mk1BM0tKRFhPNzlMTCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

I trust you are capable of typing the word "breadboard" into Amazon's search bar yourself.

Thanks for the info! Just to make sure, do these work? https://www.amazon.com/eBoot-Photoresistor-Sensitive-Resistor-Dependent/dp/B01N7V536K/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=light+sensors+arduino&qid=1562689767&s=gateway&sprefix=light+sensors+&sr=8-5

This.. I have really been enjoying look mum's cem 3340 tutorial:
https://www.lookmumnocomputer.com/cem-3340-diy-simple/

I would strongly suggest getting a resistor and capacitor kit off ebay or amazon.. They're like 15$-20$ each. That will get you a few of a huge range of resistors and caps:

https://www.amazon.com/Top-cofrLD-Resistors-1640pcs-resistors-Assortment/dp/B00WE1FQ8Y/ref=sr_1_14?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1541720878&sr=1-14&keywords=resistor+book

https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Knows-Electronics-Value-Capacitor/dp/B007SVHFXO/ref=sr_1_5?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1541720924&sr=1-5&keywords=capacitor+kit&dpID=41%252BFAHpNRVL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

The worst part of these projects is waiting for parts. So Building up a little surplus of this kind of stuff will make your wait time much lower..

I just realized the resistors I'm using are "metal film". I'm using these.

Here is a link to the manual.

I connected the resisters across the BNC connector using this

I appreciate your help.

Most boards I've come across really don't appreciate and are sensitive to anything above 27-28 VAC.
Edit:
Nice kit I bought on Amazon for similar situations.
Elegoo 17 Values 1% Resistor Kit Assortment, 0 Ohm-1M Ohm (Pack of 525) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BL2VX1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_q2k.AbW3C1F4A

In a pot there's a wiper on a thin disk of material. As the wiper moves along the disk, the value of the pot changes. If you move the pot a lot, eventually you'll start wearing down the disk. When this happens, the pot will make scratching sounds when you move it.

Normally this is not a big deal, you don't frequently play and move a knob at the same time. But, with Wah pedals it is, since the foot pedal is attached to a pot - when ever you move it it will make scratching noises.

edit: and because this is a common problem with Wahs, it is usually pretty easy to buy a replacement for ~$25 link (you may be able to find them for less somewhere)

Welcome! The brains of the operation is a Raspberry Pi. Connected to the Raspberry Pi are a bevy of sensors: Moisture, Temp/Humidity, Sunlight

They get checked every 10 mins and stored in a postgres db on AWS

Find yourself an old fan motor or an old plug in drill and hook it up with something like this http://www.amazon.com/TruePower-Electronic-Stepless-Controller-Brush-type/dp/B009KAEP7A

Joe Knows Electronics is your friend. 800-some piece resistor kits, each group individually bagged and tagged, comes in a nice compact cardboard box, and it's cheap as hell. I've been using their stuff for a while now, and it's good quality stuff.

So a router speed controller would not work?

What about a device like this?

https://www.amazon.com/TruePower-Electronic-Stepless-Controller-Brush-type/dp/B009KAEP7A

Breadboards are for mocking up circuits.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/64?gclid=CjwKCAiA5qTfBRAoEiwAwQy-6Vh20yG6Pu3X7QUsvZ3IUAR2MR5EhKdlEPpA5rnXI_-nlAqat56QShoCZx8QAvD_BwE

Resistors are just components but you use them all the time so it's good to have a supply of them.

Top-cofrLD 1/4w Resistors Pack 164 values x 10pcs = 1640pcs 0-22M Metal Film Full range resistors Assortment Kits https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WE1FQ8Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_D6t6BbSSEQQKV

500 ohm surface mount pots:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/500-OHM-Linear-Taper-Rotary-Potentiometer-B500-Pot-/280672832335

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alpha-500-OHM-Linear-Taper-Pot-B500-Split-Shaft-Solder-17mm-Potentiometer-EO-/121183474239?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

http://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-500-Ohm-Potentiometer/dp/B0002KRE16

add a fancy guitar knob of your liking

Still can online, even cheaper. Pack of 1120 resistors, in 56 different values, costs 11 dollars. Less than 1 cent a piece

I've used assortment packs like this before:

Joe Knows Electronics 1/4W 86 Value 860 Piece Resistor Kit
by Joe Knows Electronics
Link: http://amzn.com/B003UC4FSS

Also search for Elenco

For the organization reason I just got this. Chocked full of values I'll probably never need, but now I have them and at least a way to keep them all organized!

I can't speak to if it would work but amazon has them

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016NXK6QK/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1526339191&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=resistor&dpPl=1&dpID=412RenH-PlL&ref=plSrch

All over. Here's the first thing I see on amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00E3JGGF2/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1408248180&sr=1-2 bit there's digikey, frys, jameco, eBay

I'm a big fan of this kit, mostly because the resistors already come in individually labeled bags, but its a bit more expensive. Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0185FGN98/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500397995&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=330%2Bohm%2Bresistor&dpPl=1&dpID=41zlzAaQE-L&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

I ordered this pack last night.

Here’s a listing of all the included material

eBoot 30 Pieces Photoresistor Photo Light Sensitive Resistor Light Dependent Resistor 5 mm GM5539 5539 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7V536K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-wV6CbC6051BJ

Beadalon Artistic Wire 30-Gauge Bare Copper Wire, 30-Yards https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0048927RI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_vEV6CbC9KF2ZQ


MCIGICM 200pcs 2n3904 npn Transistor, 2n3904 Bipolar (BJT) Transistors NPN 40V 200mA 300MHz 625mW TO-92-3 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRBLKDR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UEV6Cb66Z0SC2


3mm Diffused LED Diode Assortment Kit - Pack of Assorted Color LEDs and Resistors (1000 pcs) - Red, Green, Yellow, Blue and White Light Emiting Diode Indicator Lights from Plusivo https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBFJ823/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dFV6CbWBSS5AD

Wouldn't something like this work

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009KAEP7A/ref=pd_aw_fbt_121_img_2/163-7575233-3411138?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=E5DJJXXPZKDYCS0FNTZR