Electronics Forum / Basics / October 2005

The quick answer is ... Electronics 101 starts at you nearest teaching
institution next year.

You have to understand a lot of electronics to pick the devices you need
so before that you will have to rely on circuits designed by people with
the required experience.

Just a few:

Speed
Junction capacitance
Gain
Power dissipation capability
Current handling capacity
Junction breakdown voltages
Physical size
Price / availability

Some are more important than others - depending on the application.

You can probably get by with a surprisingly small number of
different types that you can keep on hand for "general purpose"
applications.  For example, 2N3904 and 2N3906 transistors
for small-signal applications, 1N914 signal diodes, 1N4001-1N4004
(last digit is for voltage range) small rectifiers.  I expect others
on this list will have their own personal favorites, but these will
go a long way to getting you started.  When you see a circuit
design that does something "exotic" (like RF or high power),
you can observe what devices are used for such purposes,
and just go out and get those exact parts until you have
enough experience to judge for yourself.

Best regards.

Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

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