13 Dec
2007
13 Dec
'07
7:40 a.m.
Mr Ian Primus wrote:
So - how do other electronic hobbyists sort parts?
How
far do you organize them? A drawer for each value of
resistor? Drawer for a range of values? What works
well, to minimize the time spend searching for
components? Also, another thing I have been wondering
about - how bad is it to store IC's in those clear
plastic parts drawers? Any problem with static?
Basic TTL might be OK (I confess most of my TTL and LS TTL is rattling
around in the drawers) but it ought to be in foam, and almost every
other IC is in black anti-static foam in the drawers. I definitely
wouldn't put MOS devices unprotected straight into plastic drawers.
My main component storage is a set of interlocking drawers arranged in a
block about 4 feet wide by 3 high. Some drawers are square-fronted
(about 1.5" sq) and some are double-width. The resistors are in
double-width drawers, with two E12 values per drawer. First row is
10/12 ohm, 15/18 ohm, 22/27, 33/39, 47/56, 68/82. Next is 100/120, etc,
then 1k0/1k2, etc, and so on up to 680k/820k, then the last row is
assorted "1M to 8M2", "10M and over", "less than 10R",
"high wattage",
and things like that. For E24 and closer-tolerance values, I just put
them in the drawer that's got the nearest-matching label. Capacitors I
have squeezed into 1 row, one decade to a drawer, and a couple of bigger
drawers for larger electrolytics. The really big ones are in a box
elsewhere.
There's a row for TTL, LS TTL, and ALS/F TTL; one for CMOS; one for
various types of linear ICs; one for diodes, rectifiers, zeners, LEDS,
PNP trannies, NPN, FETs, power trannies, etc; one row for micros and
their support chips; one for EPROMs and RAMs; and lots of drawers for
other ICs and various types of connectors, switches, crystals, etc. To
give an example of how the ICs are stored, there's a drawer for "LS00 -
LS80" or thereabouts, with the lower end of that range stored in the
front and the upper half in the rear section of the drawer. So there
are 4 or 5 drawers for each logic family. Two places I used to work had
one drawer per type but that's overkill for my collection. Besides,
apart from not having that much space, I couldn't afford the drawers :-)
Bigger stuff like PCBs, potentiometers, large connectors, coils, etc are
in open-top boxes in what used to be a card-index cabinet that has eight
drawers about 8" wide x 8" high and 16" deep.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York