4 ms·

For passives, I have a bunch of resistor/capacitor/inductor/etc kits for through hole and SMD. You can buy them on Amazon so they're usually available fast. You

For passives, I have a bunch of resistor/capacitor/inductor/etc kits for through hole and SMD. You can buy them on Amazon so they're usually available fast. You don't have too worry much about the specs but definitely learn the basics like electrolytic vs solid state, voltage/current/power ratings, etc. For ICs search Google for "<part description> breakout" which will often show you Sparkfun, Adafruit, or some other hacker focused shop/blog. For example, some results roughly ranked by obscurity: 8-bit shift register [1], thermocouple [2], air quality [3], CPLD [4], crosspoint switch [5]. For anything more complex than that - for example, a DLP micromirror device - you'll have to dig deeper and search for "<part description> dev kit". Manufacturers usually make dev kits using their flagship chips from which you can easily navigate related parts. Be prepared to spit your morning coffee out at some of the prices of this path though (i.e. aforementioned DLP dev kits are $1k+, easily twice what you'd pay for a DLP projector using the same chip) I assume that's what your Amazon/Aliexpress searches have done by proxy (I often do use Amazon too for more basic stuff like relays, ESP8/32 etc. when I'm impatient) [1] https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10680 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10680 [2] https://www.adafruit.com/product/269 https://www.adafruit.com/product/269 [3] https://www.adafruit.com/product/3566 https://www.adafruit.com/product/3566 [4] http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/XC9500XL_CPLD_breakout_board http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/XC9500XL_CPLD_breakout_b... [5] https://hackaday.io/project/167228-adg2128-breakout https://hackaday.io/project/167228-adg2128-breakout

iamjackg 4y ago
Thanks for the tips! That's pretty much exactly what my process looks like today if I want to figure out which variant is the most "popular." Most of the uncertainty is specifically about specialist sites like Digi-Key. For example, the 74HC595 you linked is a super common shift register, but DK Canada has 88 listings for it. Some surface mount, some in different DIP configurations, and now I have to scour through and figure out the one variant that works for me. Generalist sites like Amazon and AliExpress tend to mostly stock the variants that tinkerers/makers want when prototyping, which makes it easier for me to plop "74HC595" in the search bar and quickly get a sensible result, especially when sorting by amount sold.

iamjackg 4y ago

Thanks for the tips! That's pretty much exactly what my process looks like today if I want to figure out which variant is the most "popular." Most of the uncertainty is specifically about specialist sites like Digi-Key. For example, the 74HC595 you linked is a super common shift register, but DK Canada has 88 listings for it. Some surface mount, some in different DIP configurations, and now I have to scour through and figure out the one variant that works for me. Generalist sites like Amazon and AliExpress tend to mostly stock the variants that tinkerers/makers want when prototyping, which makes it easier for me to plop "74HC595" in the search bar and quickly get a sensible result, especially when sorting by amount sold.