Philip Pemberton wrote:
> "Are you serious? 3904s are jellybean NPNs and you don't
> even have one of them?"... He proposed that I get a box of 2N3904s and
> 2N3906s as a matter of some urgency...

Yes, some people are fixated on the 2N3904/3906, just like they were on
2N2222A before that.  The 3904/3906 are cheap and available, but otherwise
their specs are not impressive.  I use the 2N4401/4403 for jellybean
transistors.  They are also readily available and cheap, but a bit more
robust and better for most cases.  It's a good idea to have some jellybean
parts in stock, but if they can't be used in a large number of applications
then it defeats the purpose a bit.

>    - Are there any other jellybean parts I should look into keeping
> around?

Get a bunch of at least every 5% value of resistor and a good assortments o=
f
caps, a NPN/PNP pair of jelly bean transistors, but then I'd wait until you
need something.  When you do and it looks at all generally useful, get a
bunch and keep the extras around.

Unless a part is expensive, we don't buy just what we need.  We pretty much
always get at least 10, or 100, or 200, 500, etc, whatever is the next pric=
e
break after what you really need.  Sometimes we get whole reels just to hav=
e
around if they are cheap enough.  I got a real of 0603 green LEDs for about
$0.02 each a few years ago and it's been handy to have them around.

Having basic stuff in stock is useful, but technology moves on too.  For
example, we have a handful of PIC 16F876 that probably won't get used
anymore.

I just looked at our wall of small parts cabinets.  There are a total of
1354 small drawers, which look to be 80% used.  With parts also in other
places, it looks like we have 1100 different part types around.  Most of
this has come from buying extras.  Even so, there are always new parts to
get every project.  It's a never-ending process.

--=20
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