This weekend I went to build a circuit for use in an upcoming video. There were two components I was confident that were in my parts kit: a 555 timer and a counter. Now, I did not know which counter I had, but I assumed I must have at least one decade counter in my pile of ICs. Imagine my surprise when I realized that I had no 555 timers and only a single type of counter. And that counter was a johnson-counter designed to drive common cathode 7-segment displays. To make things worse, the only 7-segment displays I have were common anode!
Thinking about all the various types of components, I started to wonder, what else should I check to see if I have in stock? Passives like capacitors or resistors seem like an easy one. But what values? Are inductors critical? If so, what kind? And then when it comes to ICs, what are ones people are still commonly using?
So, two questions for the community:
What are the top 5-10 parts you keep your electronics kit?
Related to that idea, what about consumables such as solder, cotton swabs, and tape?
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