Like any hobby or craft, circuitbuilding involves a wealth of parts. This appendix provides information on electronic and mechanical components, and where to buy them. In addition, a list of online and print resources is provided so that you can find out more about electronics as you become a more skilled circuit-builder.
As a beginning circuitbuilder or electronic-er, you may not be familiar with all the different types of electronic components. You might want to start by reviewing a reference text for electronics such as the ones in the "References" section later in this appendix. The Wikipedia also provides an introduction to electronic components at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_component.
If you look at a catalog from one of the parts vendors in the Vendors section of this Web page, you may be quite surprised at the number of variations of components, particularly for resistors and capacitors. Why so many types? Which ones are the right choices for a project? To help explain some of the differences, I've provided two more bonus chapters on this book's Web site (www.dummies.com/go/circuitbuildingDIYFD)that discuss the Ps and Qs of Rs and Cs (that is, resistors and capacitors, respectively). Here are some additional Web resources to help you learn about some other types of passive (meaning unpowered) components:
Inductors: Try the application notes and other Web pages available on Coilcraft's Web site (
www.coilcraft.com) under "Design Tools."Switches and connectors: Catalogs and application notes from the major vendors are often excellent sources of information. Try Switchcraft (
www.switchcraft.com) and Amphenol (www.amphenol.com).Fuses: The Littlefuse Electronic Designer's Guide (
www.littelfuse.com/data/en/Product_Catalogs/EC101-J_V052505.pdf) is large (25 MB) but an excellent reference to save on your hard drive. The first section ("Fuseology") will tell you everything you want to know about fuses.
Encyclopedias have been written on selecting semiconductor components; everything from simple diodes to complex ICs. Getting into the details of selecting a particular diode, transistor, thyristor (a special type of transistor used as a switch), or integrated circuit is seriously beyond the scope of this book. However, the "References" section later in this appendix has some good places to start reading. Until you get your feet wet with designing your own circuits (metaphorically speaking, of course), it's best to stick with the parts that are specified or provided for your circuits and make direct replacements whenever repair is needed.
The easiest way to find a data sheet on your component is to enter a part number and the phrase "data sheet" into an Internet search engine. When you've found your data sheet, save it on your hard drive (if possible) in a folder called "Data Sheets."
Transistors and ICs are often available in several different packaging styles. You may not recognize all of the terms involved, so here is a link (www.smta.org/files/acronym_glossary.pdf) to an electronic manufacturing glossary that contains definitions of all the common package abbreviations.
It's not uncommon to pick just the right part from a catalog and then find out that it's only available in a package style that won't fit your circuit or tools! (Arrgh!) Luckily, there are adapters for many such situations, such as needed to use a surface-mount part on a through-hole board. These are usually called IC adapters, such as those available at Jameco (www.jameco.com). Enter "IC Adapter" (including the quotes) into the search engine's keyword-search window.
As you start accumulating parts, you'll need to keep them safe and ready for circuit-building action. At the very beginning, you might be able to store your stash in a shoebox, but if you're like most builders, that won't last long; the parts tend to overflow the space available! Soon you'll have at least one or two parts cabinets with small plastic drawers, all filling with components. So here are a couple of suggestions on how to best manage your growing inventory:
Sort resistors by the color of their multiplier band: for example, label the drawer "Brown" for resistors between 100 and 999 ohms.
Sort capacitors by type (ceramic, film, tantalum, electrolytic, and so on) and size (1-999 pF, 1-999 nF, 1-99 μF, 100-9999 μF, and so one).
Use small, zippered plastic storage bags for transistors.
Keep loose ICs and other static-sensitive components on sheets of styro-foam wrapped in aluminum foil — stick the legs of the ICs through the foil and into the foam.
Office- and craft-supply stores often sell inexpensive folding boxes that are the right size for parts (and are much cheaper than small sets of plastic drawers).
Depending on your interests, you'll gradually accumulate a selection of parts that you use frequently. Audio experimenters usually have one set and robot-builders another. In general, all circuitbuilders can benefit from the following tips:
Read construction articles for parts lists: Note which are the most popular items in articles describing projects you like.
Buy in quantity when possible: Often there's a steep discount for buying (say) ten of something.
Watch out for minimum-purchase and shipping charges: Combine your order with those of others; a friend or several club members can help you save big on these charges with combined orders.
Assortments are a good way to start a stock of parts: You can save a lot of money over buying in small quantities — and may even get a parts cabinet in the bargain.
When ordering from a large catalog, look for low-cost equivalent parts: Often parts with equivalent (or better) specifications are more popular —and cheaper.
Parts in grab bags are often unusable or unpopular: Why do you think these parts are in the grab bag?
Set up customer accounts with your favorite vendor: Get the vendor's e-mailed newsletters and notifications of specials.
Unless a component is truly toasted or otherwise unusable, don't throw it away! Toss it into a coffee can or shoebox; a well-stocked junk box is a thing of beauty to the cir-cuitbuilder! Start one for electronic components, one for mechanical hardware, and one for those odd bits and pieces left over from gadget assembly and configuration. At the least, they might save you a trip to the store someday! Salvage, salvage, salvage!
Given the tremendous range of mechanical parts from watchmaking to bulldozer repair, what is the right stuff for electronics? To get an idea of which parts are useful, look in the Hardware section of catalogs that cater to the circuitbuilder. As with electronic components, assortments are often available — but the ones sold at the local hardware store often contain sizes too large for most electronics work. Here are the sizes of materials most often used in circuitbuilding:
Pan-head machine screws and nuts: 4-40, 6-32, 8-32, 10-32 and 10-24
Pan-head sheet metal screws: 4, 6, 8
Flat washers, split-O lock washers, internal-tooth lock washers: 4, 6, 8, and 10
Kep nuts (nuts with a plastic insert to grip the screw): 6, 8, 10
Metric machine screws and nuts: 4, 5, 6, 8mm
For information about mechanical fasteners in general, Bolt Depot has an excellent reference page at www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information.
The Keystone Electronics Company (www.keyelco.com) and Abbatron-HH Smitch (www.abbatron.com) manufacture an amazing array of fasteners and hardware for the electronics industry. Their large selection of useful parts is sold through most electronic distributors, including the following:
Solder lugs: Part lock washer, part solder terminal, these are used for making chassis connections.
Spacers and standoffs: Used to hold assemblies and printed circuit boards away from enclosure surfaces.
Grommets and strain relief: Always use one when a wire or cable goes through a metal wall or panel.
Cable clamps: These hold cables and wire bundles securely in and on equipment.
Feet: You'll need stick-on and screw-on rubber feet for your equipment.
Cable ties: The large ones are found at the hardware store, but small ones (6" and smaller) will have to be purchased at an electronics company.
For the mechanical side of "electro-mechanical," take a look at the Small Parts Company Web site, www.smallparts.com. They have a wonderful selection with no minimum order requirement.
This book gives you some good information on how to build circuits, but there's so much more to electronics and circuitbuilding! As you get started, one of the best pieces of advice is for you to start collecting information. This section presents electronics references that can help you delve a lot farther into electronics circuits. Many of these can be found in your local library so you can "try before you buy." These short lists by no means exhaust the possibilities of what's out there, but they can launch you into the world of electronics to explore on your own!
Active Filter Cookbook by Don Lancaster: A source of cookbook-type circuit designs along with full design equations for the experimenter.
The ARRL Handbook by the American Radio Relay League: Covers everything from components to full-blown radio systems and a lot of related electronics (check out the ARRL's extensive publication list at www.arrl.org/catalog).
CMOS Cookbook by Don Lancaster: An excellent "go-to" book for digital logic beginners.
Electronic Circuits 1.1 and Electronic Circuits 1.2 by Intellin Organization: Collections of useful circuits from a wide variety of electronics.
Electronic Formulas, Circuits, and Symbols by Forest Mims: An excellent workspace reference to keep handy (most titles by Mims are excellent practical texts).
Electronics For Dummies by Gordon McComb and Earl Boysen (Wiley Publishing, Inc.): Written for the hobbyist just getting started in electronics.
Electronics Projects for Dummies by Earl Boysen and Nancy Muir (Wiley Publishing, Inc.): Ten simple projects that will go well with the techniques in this book.
Op-Amp Cookbook by Walter Jung: This is the must-have reference for beginning op-amp users.
Robot Building for Beginners by David Cook: An introduction to applied circuitbuild-ing in the field of robotics.
Tab Electronics Guide to Understanding Electricity and Electronics by Randy Slone: Teaches electronic principles by guiding the reader through design projects, beginning with an adjustable power supply.
Timer, Op-Amp, and Optoelectronic Circuits by Forrest Mims: An excellent book for the timer circuits alone.
Understanding Basic Electronics by Larry Wolfgang: Bite-sized lessons in learning electronics.
Circuit Cellar (www.circuitcellar.com): Many excellent vendors for the more advanced builder.
Make (www.make.com): Many electronic projects and interesting articles.
Nuts and Volts (www.nutsandvolts.com): Articles on anything electronic.
Robot (www.botmag.com): All things robotic.
ARRL Technical Information Service (www.arrl.org/tis): Listing of articles and online discussions of electronics used in communications equipment.
Battery University (www.batteryuniversity.com/partone.htm): Lots of information about batteries — their terminology, characteristics, charging requirements, and much more.
Discover Circuits (www.discovercircuits.com/index.htm): Thousands and thousands of circuits and references.
University of Washington Electrical Engineering Store (www.ee.washington.edu/stores): Used by students and faculty of the UW EE Department.
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org): While the Wikipedia does take occasional hits in the non-technical areas, its electronics sections are quite reliable.
Colin McCord's Oscilloscope Tutorial (www.mccord.plus.com/Radio/oscilloscope.htm): An excellent introduction to this most useful instrument.
Op-Amp Electronics (www.opamp-electronics.com): Excellent series starting at basic circuits and working up.
U.S. Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series (www.phy.davidson.edu/instrumentation/NEETS.htm): If you're a U.S. taxpayer, you paid for it, so make use of this excellent and thoroughly tested material to teach yourself!
Web EE (www.web-ee.com/primers/Tutorials.htm#Power%20Conversion): A mix of introductory and advanced electronics tutorials and articles.
Williamson Labs (www.williamson-labs.com): Simple introductory-level tutorials.
All Electronics (www.allelectronics.com): Surplus and discount electronics.
ARRL Technical Information Service Vendor Cross-Reference (www.arrl.org/tis/tisfind.html): Search for vendors that supply specific types of components or equipment.
Digi-Key Electronics (www.digikey.com): Electronic component distributor.
Jameco (www.jameco.com): Electronics and computer supplies.
Marlin P Jones & Associates (www.mpja.com): Surplus and discount electronics.
MCM Electronics (www.mcmelectronics.com): Source for repair and retrofit parts.
Mouser Electronics (www.mouser.com): Electronic component distributor.
Ocean State Electronics (www.oselectronics.com): Electronic components, tools, test instruments, and kits.
RadioShack (www.radioshack.com): Basic selection of parts, lots of adapters and connectors, and in a mall near you.
Ramsey Kits (www.ramseyelectronics.com): Basic to advanced kits.
Tower Electronics (www.pl-259.com): Connectors and adaptors.
Velleman Kits (www.vellemanusa.com/engine.php): Basic to advanced kits, component assortments.