[SOLVED] What are the most used electronic components?

I have recently been getting more and more into hobby electronics. I believe that I would one day like to make a career out of this. There is an electronics surplus store that I get components from but unfortunately it is a 2 hour drive away. At this place the components are very cheap, like pennies for 10, and there are just so many shelves full of trays with what looks like everything I could ever want.

My questions is, what components are the most used? What should I stock up on?

What ranges of Capacitors, Resistors, Diodes, and Inductors would I be using the most starting out in electronics?

Are there any other components I should get while am at it? ICs, Transistors, Relays, Motors, etc? I want to get into Radio and Robotics once I get a grasp on the basics.

Thanks for any and all help

Understanding Electronics Components
https://www.mikroe.com/old/books/keu/00.htm

All depends what you plan to do. Its good to have good collection of resistors and capacitors, they are often used.

Look to collect parts based on project needs.

Breadboard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadboard

To me, its resistors, diodes and capacitors.

Ya you should not collect random components. You should collect them as per your project requirement. But following are some component which will be required in almost all project so you can buy them and remaining resistors and capacitors and ics will be as per your project

bread board single stand wire 0 to 12 power adjustable supply variable resistor you can buy 10k resistor some leds general purpose transistor that is bc548 op amp ic741 etc

My questions is, what components are the most used?

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Hi trekkiejonny
it depends on your projects . for example if you are a hobbyist you need to think about what kind of circuits you are interested in then try to collect the required components .

If you are trying to do something else , you can easily figure out what you need .
But some of the components are widely used in most of the usual circuits ! like diodes ( like 1n4007 or 1n4148 or ... etc ) or zener diodes or some kind of resistors like 1 k ohm or 10 k or ....
I think if you start to make circuits you'll get what kind of components you'll need . for instance when you are only using designed circuits then after some days you'll see for example a 2n2222 is widely used so you'll buy many of them !
Best Wishes
Goldsmith

Some great replies thus far, my thanks. I have the makings of a good list to bring with me.

I should also add that the store is closing and its having a 20-80% off liquidation sale. Found this out after writing my initial post. Seems like the gods wish me to be an engineer :grin:, either that or random chance is on my side for a change. Will be going up Tomorrow and again a few days after.

One of the best things anyone ever gave me was Radio Shack's best electronics lab kit. 300 projects in one.
I had done several projects but it was without a breadboard. The R.S. kit has a breadboard which is a major convenience.

Also handy is a set or two of 10 jumper wires with small alligator clips.
Cables to connect audio to/from computers, players, amplifiers, etc., with alligator clips.
Spare replacement plugs for audio, power, etc.

Resistors used are mostly in the 100 to 1M range (1/2 W).
In the 1 to 100 range you may find a use for power resistors (1 to 50 W).

Potentiometers, one each: 1k, 2k, 5k, 10k, 20k, 50k, 100k, 200k, 500k, 1M. (Half my projects use one or more pots.)

Capacitors .001 uF through 10 uF. Small values can be ceramic.
Then starting with electrolytics. These get more expensive as the uF value goes up. 10, 22, 33, 47, 100, 220, 330, 470, 1000, 2200, 3300, 4700 uF. 25V rating is adequate for low voltage projects. (Buy inexpensively online from TheCapKing.com)

Transistors, NPN and PNP. Several each small signal (TO-93).
A couple TO-220 size.
If you want to control more than an ampere, consider a few 2N3055 (TO-3).

A couple dozen 1N4001 diodes (1A, 50V). Also get higher ampere/voltage ratings if you think you'll need them.
Assortment of zener diodes. 3 to 15 V.
A grab bag of led's, different colors.

IC's. A few 555 timers (and 556 dual).
3914 dot/bar display driver.
4017 decade counter.
For logic gates you can derive almost anything from NAND gates.
A few 4069 hex inverter IC's.
4066 quad bilateral switch (for analog signals)

If you use 7-segment displays you'll want 4511, 4543, 7447, 7448. Consider an all-in-one multi-digit counter IC.

A few adjustable voltage regulator IC's.

Op amps. Some 741's and 1458 (dual) (Or better types if not too expensive).
324 (quad) can run from single supply.
386 low power audio op amp.
339 comparator.

Fuses. It's hard to choose what is most needed. Get a few of the type needed in your equipment.

Wow. What a long lists .

Sunny55 said:

Wow. What a long lists .

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My friend, you will bankrupt before start of first project. :smile:

If you can find a contract manufacturer with a garbage bin, you might find scrap boards to salvage parts or ask them for scrap for student contributions to avoid guards getting after you. . They will often us the most popular parts.

I found that scrap metal shops often buy surplus scrap with boards that could not be repaired economically. Then you pay by the weight very economically. I got over 1k$ worth of high power LEDs on aluminum substrates for $20 once from a scrap metal yard just because there was a test flaw on each board. Most of them worked fine.

Resistors (100 ohms, 330 ohms, 1k, 10k, 100k) these are the most commonly used, so get bulk of them...
Transistors (BC547) most commonly used one
Diodes (1N4001, 1N4148)
Capacitors of different values
Breadboard for testing purpose
Jumper wire for connections...

Thank you very much for all the great replies, got just about everything listed except for the mosfets, those where all gone when I got there. This is definitely the forum I will be sticking to for future questions, great help.

As tpetar said earlier, it is good to collect various capacitors, Resistors, Diodes, Transistors, etc. We often use them depending on the conditions.