I'm located in Popayán-Valle del Cauca-Colombia.
I'm preparing to get into college and once I'm in I don't want to bother about not haveing a component, I want everything in hand so I can focus on my projects.

This is a good distributor. You might check their shipping charges. I would have done it, but your English is much better than my Spanish.
http://www.digikey.com.co/

 

This is a good distributor. You might check their shipping charges. I would have done it, but your English is much better than my Spanish.
http://www.digikey.com.co/

Shipping is 50 USD no matter what the quantity is being ordered.

 

I'm starting in electronics and I'm buying components and I was wondering, what diodes should I buy to have in hand and what's the difference between a Diode and a Zener diode, or are they the same?

Thanks in advance.

Zener diodes are a special case of diodes. All diodes have a limit to how much voltage they can sustain when reverse biased. Regular diodes get destroyed when this voltage is reached. Zener diodes are design to survive at this voltage and this voltage is the main characteristic of Zeners. A 12 V zener is designed to limit the voltage across it at 12 Volts. regulating the voltage at 12 Volts.
Popular diodes
1N4148, typical silicon signal diode. Keep a dozen or so on hand.
1N4007, Rectifier. Intended to change AC power to DC power. Limited to 1 Amp. 1N4001 is limited to 50 Volts, 1N4002 is 100 V, 1N4003 is ... well higher voltages. 1N4007 can substitute for lower numbers.
1N5819, Schottky diode rectifier. 1N5818, 1N5817. 1N5819 is rated at a higher reverse voltage and will substitute for 1N5817 or 1N5918.
1N6263, Schottky signal diode.
Zener diodes? Also come rated in wattage. 500 mW are popular. Stock a few of each below 24 Volts.

Resistors? 1/4 Watt, keep a dozen or so of all values 1 Ohm to 10 Meh Ohms.

Transistors, 2N4401 NPN, 2N4403 PNP. Buy others as needed.

Capacitors, buy specifics as needed.

Operational amplifiers? DIP cases for breadboarding. LM741 (cheap and old buit okay for learning. LM324, LF351, LF353, LMC660, others as needed.

Voltage regulators, TO-220 cases ... LM7805, LM7812, LM317, LM337.. TO-92 cases LM78L05, LM317L

Digital ICs, DIP cases for breadboarding. 74LSxxx or 74HCTxxx, this can be a long list.

 

99 % of the time you can get by with just 2 types of diodes, 1N4007 and 1N4148. Check if Tayda will ship to colombia www.taydaelectronics.com

 

This is a good distributor. You might check their shipping charges. I would have done it, but your English is much better than my Spanish.
http://www.digikey.com.co/

Thanks! I'll check it and write about it.

Shipping is 50 USD no matter what the quantity is being ordered.

That's fair. Although, I have to check the component's prices.

Zener diodes are a special case of diodes. All diodes have a limit to how much voltage they can sustain when reverse biased. Regular diodes get destroyed when this voltage is reached. Zener diodes are design to survive at this voltage and this voltage is the main characteristic of Zeners. A 12 V zener is designed to limit the voltage across it at 12 Volts. regulating the voltage at 12 Volts.
Popular diodes
1N4148, typical silicon signal diode. Keep a dozen or so on hand.
1N4007, Rectifier. Intended to change AC power to DC power. Limited to 1 Amp. 1N4001 is limited to 50 Volts, 1N4002 is 100 V, 1N4003 is ... well higher voltages. 1N4007 can substitute for lower numbers.
1N5819, Schottky diode rectifier. 1N5818, 1N5817. 1N5819 is rated at a higher reverse voltage and will substitute for 1N5817 or 1N5918.
1N6263, Schottky signal diode.
Zener diodes? Also come rated in wattage. 500 mW are popular. Stock a few of each below 24 Volts.

Resistors? 1/4 Watt, keep a dozen or so of all values 1 Ohm to 10 Meh Ohms.

Transistors, 2N4401 NPN, 2N4403 PNP. Buy others as needed.

Capacitors, buy specifics as needed.

Operational amplifiers? DIP cases for breadboarding. LM741 (cheap and old buit okay for learning. LM324, LF351, LF353, LMC660, others as needed.

Voltage regulators, TO-220 cases ... LM7805, LM7812, LM317, LM337.. TO-92 cases LM78L05, LM317L

Digital ICs, DIP cases for breadboarding. 74LSxxx or 74HCTxxx, this can be a long list.

Thank you very much for your response! I'll start studying each component you listed.

99 % of the time you can get by with just 2 types of diodes, 1N4007 and 1N4148. Check if Tayda will ship to colombia www.taydaelectronics.com

I will check it and write back

Guys, and girls if any, thank you for your help!

 

Hello everyone guys!
I wanted to ask you another thing, which IC should I get on hand? I heard about the timer 555.
Which others do I need?
And what's BC547C and BC557C transistors use for? I know they are transistors.

Thank you very much for your help!

 

I wanted to ask you another thing, which IC should I get on hand? I heard about the timer 555.

Personally, I wouldn't start buying a bunch of parts until you get a better feel for what you're going to use. That being said, 555 timers are handy, some opamps, comparators, voltage regulators.

And what's BC547C and BC557C transistors use for? I know they are transistors.

They're complementary general purpose transistors. They're the building blocks used by many circuits.

 

Personally, I wouldn't start buying a bunch of parts until you get a better feel for what you're going to use. That being said, 555 timers are handy, some opamps, comparators, voltage regulators.
They're complementary general purpose transistors. They're the building blocks used by many circuits.

I understand your point of view but is just that I have to buy from China and it takes more than 1 month to arrive to Colombia. I know the quality is not the best but is all I can get for now. Please could you tell me the most used IC that I can get? 555, etc...

 

I understand your point of view but is just that I have to buy from China and it takes more than 1 month to arrive to Colombia. I know the quality is not the best but is all I can get for now. Please could you tell me the most used IC that I can get? 555, etc...

Don't buy from China unless that's where the OEM is; otherwise, it's very likely they're going to be counterfeit. Since you're just starting out, you don't want to add defective, out-of-spec, and/or counterfeit to the list of things you need to debug. If you can't buy from a reputable supplier, don't buy.

If you have a source for home grown Electrical Engineers and no local source for parts; that sounds like a business opportunity to me.

I can't give you any specific part numbers for opamps or comparators; people will make fun of me for not using their more modern counterparts. I started designing circuits 40 years ago and developed a set of favorite parts from that era and tend to use them for most applications without being unduly impacted by their "deficiencies".

 

Don't buy from China unless that's where the OEM is; otherwise, it's very likely they're going to be counterfeit. Since you're just starting out, you don't want to add defective, out-of-spec, and/or counterfeit to the list of things you need to debug. If you can't buy from a reputable supplier, don't buy.

If you have a source for home grown Electrical Engineers and no local source for parts; that sounds like a business opportunity to me.

I can't give you any specific part numbers for opamps or comparators; people will make fun of me for not using their more modern counterparts. I started designing circuits 40 years ago and developed a set of favorite parts from that era and tend to use them for most applications without being unduly impacted by their "deficiencies".

I don't want to be rude but Does "If you can't buy from a reputable supplier, don't buy." mean that if I'm poor, I shouldn't study/practice Electronics?
I don't buy from a reputable supplier not because I don't want to but because I can't afford it. But my love for electronics shouldn't be limited for that nor for your "advice". Thank you very much for your thoughts, tho.

 

No it doesnt mean that.You can buy from eBay but you just need to be careful because there was a sudden increase of fake components(empty cases with no die)coming from eBay and Amazon.Be vary of ultra cheap components which shouldnt cost that low.

I use this eBay store.
http://stores.ebay.com/G-C-Supermarket-HK-Co-Ltd

 

I don't want to be rude but Does "If you can't buy from a reputable supplier, don't buy." mean that if I'm poor, I shouldn't study/practice Electronics?

You misconstrued what I said. I was cautioning you to avoid buying components at what seems to be a too-good-to-be-true price as they're likely to be counterfeit or reject parts. If you couple that with your inexperience, it could sour your desire to pursue electronics.

I don't buy from a reputable supplier not because I don't want to but because I can't afford it. But my love for electronics shouldn't be limited for that nor for your "advice".

There are many ways to acquire electronic components at little or no cost. If you don't have local stores that sell components at a reasonable price, you can do what many others have done; salvage them from discarded electronics.

 

Look for electronics supply places in the USA that will ship USPS. I sell a small product internationally and the shipping weight is normally 1oz and ships in a 3x5 padded envelope. It costs me $2.48 to ship anywhere in the world via USPS, first class mail. I know Digikey ships USPS, check if they ship to Columbia and maybe their USPS rate to that location is reasonable?

 

I sell a small product internationally and the shipping weight is normally 1oz and ships in a 3x5 padded envelope. It costs me $2.48 to ship anywhere in the world via USPS, first class mail.

I checked USPS First Class prices to Brazil for another thread and it was $7.10 for 1 ounce; but I calculated for a rigid envelope thicker than 1/2".

 

No it doesnt mean that.You can buy from eBay but you just need to be careful because there was a sudden increase of fake components(empty cases with no die)coming from eBay and Amazon.Be vary of ultra cheap components which shouldnt cost that low.

I use this eBay store.
http://stores.ebay.com/G-C-Supermarket-HK-Co-Ltd

Thank you very much for your response!

 

You misconstrued what I said. I was cautioning you to avoid buying components at what seems to be a too-good-to-be-true price as they're likely to be counterfeit or reject parts. If you couple that with your inexperience, it could sour your desire to pursue electronics.
There are many ways to acquire electronic components at little or no cost. If you don't have local stores that sell components at a reasonable price, you can do what many others have done; salvage them from discarded electronics.

I'm quite sure about what I read but is not important. What I do appreciate is your willingness to help others, thank you very much for your advice!

 

Look for electronics supply places in the USA that will ship USPS. I sell a small product internationally and the shipping weight is normally 1oz and ships in a 3x5 padded envelope. It costs me $2.48 to ship anywhere in the world via USPS, first class mail. I know Digikey ships USPS, check if they ship to Columbia and maybe their USPS rate to that location is reasonable?

Sir, you are the rela MVP. Thank you !

 

Hi, ElectroBoy7.

I am from Brazil.
Basical difference between Diode (common, even there are a lot of them: signal, rectifier, tunnel, etc.) and Zenner is that last one is a "defective" diode, i. e., we get advantage of the fact "breakdown" voltage of this component permit us to use it as voltage regulator.

 

Zenner is that last one is a "defective" diode,

completely agree. I stock very little zeners, as they are "convenient" items for me. I can always construct a "zener" from LEDs or forward biased diodes, or transistors, mosfets, etc.

Very little reason to have them.

 

I think n
gat="dl324, post: 940225, member: 264264"]I'd recommend against buying from AliExpress, Alibaba, Amazon, or eBay; too many instances of counterfeit parts. Your best bet would be to buy from a reputable online distributor like jameco.com, mouser.com, digikey.com. Don't buy from places like sparkfun.com; they have exorbitant prices. Digikey prices are relatively high too, but at least they're reputable.

I checked Jameco's diode kit; it's nothing special and too expensive.[/QUOTE]
I think negative reviews are not legal you interference a business.

I've never seen any counterfeit parts. There's a lot of unfounded rumour. Did you get counterfeit parts?

There are over priced sellers in UK and DE I can't give their ID interfering business can become extremely costly. You should research market yourself, buy from me, I can get anything from Hong Kong, direct shipping for larger amounts.

Last not least I have a smd diodes and Mosfet kit on eBay, smd transistors too, all in a small flat plastic box.

Standard silicon aren't good for switching the 1n 4148 actually is, for low currents. Often you'll want a fast recovery or schottky kind