[sdiy] Newbie? AHHHHH!

[Cynthia Webster]

Hi Brad!

Welcome to the group!


Yeah, caps n' codes can drive anyone crazy...
(just try to find a nano-farad cap value over the counter in North America,
mostly you will just get a blank stare from any sales person).

Here is my favorite cheat sheet that I use all the time,

http://www.bobknarley.com/synth/capcodes.html

(thanks Howard!) 

I like to get big bags of "mystery caps" at the TRW swapmeet (hamfests)
and come home to see just what it actually ~is~ that I got ten-pounds of
for only two-bucks!  LOL! (Part of the fun!)

Best Wishes!

Cynthia 



on 1/2/04 8:37 PM, b 111 at popsicko at hotmail.com wrote:

> Hello List,
> I'm new, not just to this list, but to electronics in general. I've been
> into analog synths since the age of 15, about 10 years now, but never
> thought of building anything until recently. I've been learning out of Craig
> Anderton's Electronic Projects for Musicians, and Radioshack's Basic
> Electronics books. So far so good. I've learned a bunch, but the first
> project I built failed to work. Oh well, learn how to troubleshoot. I have a
> plan, build a few of the projects out of Craig's book, then move to a small,
> easy synth, and on to bigger better things. Now that you know what I'm up to
> I have a question. Christmas brought me the gift of a cool tool box with
> lots of compartments. I want to put resistors, capacitors etc, in their own
> little space but i'm afraid that once I seperate them from their packaging,
> I won't know what they are. The resistors are easy, so no problem there.
> Capacitors! Different story all together. I mostly buy Radioshack parts a)
> cuz' they're cheap b) cuz' they're close. How do I translate whats on the
> packaging to whats printed on the capacitor itself?
> Example:
> Package reads:
> 
> .022uF
> Polyester-Film Capacitor
> Sub-mini PC-mount  Radial Leads  50WVDC max
> 
> Capacitor Reads:
> 
> 2A
> 223K
> 
> I can assume that 223k = .22uF +/- 10%.
> What is 2A?
> Does this have something to do with the fact that this is a Polyester-Film
> Capacitor vs  Disc/Ceramic or Electrolytic?
> What is Sub-mini PC mount?
> 
> I have another one that reads:
> 
> 270pF 1KV
> Disc Ceramic
> +/- 10%
> Capacitor
> 
> the unit reads:
> 
> Y5P
> 271K
> 1KV
> 
> What is Y5P?
> These books, as good as they are, fail to explain this.
> Also, are there any websites that explain how to construct on vectorboard or
> breadboard? I think it would be good for me to learn this way before sinking
> the cash for building my own PCBs.
> 
> Thats it for now. Been lurking on the list for a couple of weeks just making
> shure it was not way out of my league.
> Thanks in advance.
> Brad
> 
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