Re: Getting a stock of basic components

"Arthur Rhodes" <arhodes@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:R_qdnX2PtOQg0HjYnZ2dnUVZ_t2tnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'm just getting started, hoping to build some things with
microcontrollers. It would be nice to have a good assortment
of basic components on hand, so I don't have to go online and
spend $10 on shipping and wait a week every time I need a resistor.
How do most people acquire a good basic stock of resistors, capacitors,
etc.?

There's a fellow in town who has a set of components organized in about
8 of those storage boxes with arrays of drawers. There are something
like 25 or 50 each of a couple dozen resistor types, an assortment
of capacitors, and some miscellaneous other stuff, like dip switches,
knobs, IC sockets, etc. The stuff is left over from a business that
built rack mountable electronic devices. The components probably
reflect to some extent the specific boards they made. For instance,
there's a bunch of IC's included, but I assume they'd probably be very
little use to me. He wants $150 for the lot.

Does the $150 sound reasonable? Is there a better way for me to get
a basic stock of components?

I'm pretty much a novice and was wondering the same thing. So far my
approach has been that whenever I need few of a cheap component such as a
resistor or diode I buy 10 or even 100 of them, as the unit price falls
rapidly with quantity, and I'll probably want more in future.

I'd like to ask a related question - are there any component types that it
doesn't make sense to over-buy in anticipation of future use? How about
electrolytic capacitors - do they have a finite shelf life? Do mechanical
components such as switches and relays deteriorate if left on the shelf for
a few years? Presumably some kinds of cheap ICs are likely to be superseded
by even cheaper and better models in future so it wouldn't make sense to
stockpile them. I've got some diodes that have been in storage for 15 years
and the leads are mottled and dark rather than shiny - I'm not sure whether
I should try to clean them up or just discard them.


.

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