Parts (Electronics)

IC

Part	Name	Cost	Notes
555/556	Timer	$2.15 / 50
LM8560	Alarm clock	$1	All-in-one alarm clock; LED driver, time, alarm.
TDA7000	FM Radio	$2	All-in-one FM radio
CD4053	Multiplexer/Demultiplexer	$1 / 10
LM386N	Audio Amp	$1 / 5	Good for low power audio (1.25W)
MAX7219CNG	8 digit 7 segment display driver	$3.70 / 10	Look pretty cool!
L6219	Stepper Driver	$5 / 5	This one seems a little cheaper and more common.
L293	Stepper Driver	$5 / 5
PCF8563P	Real time clock	$1 / 2
Various	Shift Register	$1 / 10
Various	SPI Flash	$1.5	Offer several MB of storage on a chip (~64).
various (HM62256, hm628128)	SRAM chip	~$2	Around 256KB
CD4040 / CD4060	12-bit counter	$2 / 5

Power regulation

Part	Name	Cost	Notes
LM741	Op Amp	$1.20 / 10
LM317	Linear reg.	$1.30 / 10
LM78xx	Linear reg.	$1.30 / 10	The xx is the voltage; 05,06,08,10,12,15,18,24
LM2575T LM2576T	Switching reg.	$3.00 / 10	2575 = 1A ; 2576 = 3A
LM723	Voltage and current regulator	$6.50 / 10	found here
LM2596T	Switching reg.	$3.00 / 10	Similar to above, I think the switching is slower
MC34063	Boost Buck Switching reg	$2.40 / 50	40v 1.5A
LM336	2.5V precision reference	$1.88 / 10	Up to 10mA. ± 1%

Microcontrollers

Name	Cost	I/O	Flash	Speed	Peripherals	Notes
ATTINY85	60¢	6	8K	20MHz	2pwm, 2-8 timer, 1adc	Small dev boards are available for around $1.75
ATTINY2313	$1	16	8K	20MHz	2pwm, 2-8 timer, 1adc
ATMEGA8	90¢	23	8K	16MHz	3pwm, 2adc, 2-8/1-16 timer	Small dev boards are available for around $1.75
ATMEGA328	$2	23	32K	20MHz	3pwm, 2adc, 2-8/1-16 timer	Used on Arduino Uno and Pro
ATmega2560	$4	23	32K	20MHz	3pwm, 2adc, 2-8/1-16 timer	Used on Arduino Mega, no dips, try TQFP + dip adapter
Cortex M3 (SM8958AC25PP)	$3	~36	32K	40MHz	all the things	not clear if it's 8 or 32 bit. Dev boards for $3.
Z80	$1.5				well... they've been around forever
PIC (PIC16F630)	$1	~12	~2K	20MHz

Packages

Name	Description
DIP	dual in-line pin, pins are 1/10" apart, 1/4" wide
QFP	Quad Flat Pack

Modules

Name	Cost	Description
ESP8622	$2	Wifi module
HC-06	$4	Bluetooth module
8Ω Speaker	$2
IR Avoidance	$1	Detects nearby objects
HC-SR501 IR Motion	$0.85	Detects movement, good for activating lights
$1	USB to Serial bridge
433MHz Transmitter & Receiver	$1
Peltier Cooler	$2.25	They take 60W so, needs a lot of power.
HC-SR04	$1.50	Ultra sonic distance module

LCD

Name	Cost	Description
16x2 HD44780 LCD	$2	Displays a wide range of characters, standard driver
20x4 HD44780 LCD	$5.50	About the same per char as above (a little more)
84x48 2.4"	$2.5	LCD Module (Nokia)
240x320 2.4"	$7	LCD Module
320x480 3.5"	$13	LCD Module
800x480 7"	$35	LCD Module, these get complicated

Power

Name	Cost	Description
Voltage Meter	$2.00	3x7seg LED, generally wide ranges of voltages
Buck Module	$2.74	(4-40v) → (1.3-37v) @ 2A; includes led panel. Found a 9A version for $5, no display.
Mini voltage regulator	$6.50 / 10	There are several, typically around 20v → 17v (and anything below). Buck only. 2A:3A
Bread Board Supply	$1	Nice little package that plugs into a bread board and supplies either 3.3v or 5v. Takes 6.5v-12V through 5.5mm or USB
12V 1A Adapter	$1.75	Wall wart
Micro Buck adapter	$4.16 / 10	Switching buck regulator. In 4.75V-23V, Out 1V-17V, 1.8A, can handle bursts of 3A.

Semiconductors

Part	Cost	Limit	Part
PNP BJT (TO-92)	$1.43 / 100	40v 200mA	2N3906
NPN BJT (TO-92)	$1.20 / 100	60v 200mA	2N3904
PNP BJT (TO-220)	$2.60 / 50	100v 3A	https://www.fairchildsemi.com/datasheets/TI/TIP32C.pdf TIP32]
NPN BJT (TO-220)	$2.6 / 50	60v 3A	TIP31
PNP BJT (TO-3)	$4.87 / 5	60v 10A	MJ2955
NPN BJT (TO-3)	$2.60 / 5	60v 15A	2N3055
N-chan MOSFET (TO-92)	$2.01 / 50	60v 200mA	2N7000
P-cha MOSFET (TO-92)	$14 / 50	45v 230mA	BS250 Note cost compared to N-chan
N-chan MOSFET (TO-220)	$2.95 / 10	100v 9.7A	IRF520N
P-cha MOSFET (TO-220)	$2.38 / 10	100v 23A	IRF9540
Diode	$1.25 / 100	1000v 1A	1N4007
Zener Diode	$4 / 50	1W	For zener=12v, but there are assortment kits
Crystal Oscillator	$1 / 10		16 MHz

The TO-220 transistors are often sold in PNP/NPN pairs.

LEDs

Part	Cost	Notes
5mm Single Color	$4 / 100	Some color packs available
3mm Single Color	$1.5 / 100	Some color packs available
Tri-Color 5mm	$5 / 100	Some color packs available
1W LED	$8 / 50	Super bright, needs driver
Laser 650nm (red) 5mW	$2 / 10	With copper module
Laser 1W 445nm (blue)	$19	really needs a driver
Laser 2W 445nm (blue)	$31	really needs a driver
Laser 3W 808nm (infrared)	$60	super needs a driver
4-Digit 7 Segment	$1 / 2	There's a driver IC

Packages

Name	Description
TO-92	Small black, semi circle, 3 leads from the bottom
TO-3	metal can, good for heat dissipation, cheap heat-sinks, shaped like a rounded diamond about 1"x1.5", leads are .43" apart
TO-220	metal tab heatsink
5mm	Common LED package

TO stands for transistor-outline.

Sensors

Part	Cost	Notes
Temperature sensor	$3 / 5	TO-92, -67F:257F
Photoresistor	$1 / 20
Phototransistor	$5 / 100	IR, faster response than a photoresistor
Capacitive Electret Microphone	$1 / 10	needs a driver
Ultrasonic module	$1
Strain sensors
Weight sensor

Switches and buttons

Part	Cost	Notes
Rotary Switch	$2 : $5	Lots of variety
2P2T Rocker Switch	$3 / 10	Lots of variety
Illuminated Rocker Switch	$2 / 5	Most take 12v for power.
Momentary push button switch	$0.15 - $5
Rotary Encoder	$5 / 10	Needs a knob.
Magnetic switch	$1

Linear Components

Resistors

Resistors are typically 1/4W. The cost for these is negligible, assortment packages typically come in around 0.6¢ per resistor. To handle higher wattage, they can be used in parallel.

Potentiometers range in price and variety. With a knob, they run around $1 a piece. Trim pots are around 5¢ a piece.

Capacitors

Electrolytic up to 220uF are very cheap (2.8¢) and available in assortment packs. Up to 2200uf is still pretty cheap, 7.5¢ with a 1000uF@10v cap coming in around 5.6¢. Beyond this, the goes up rapidly for either additional capacitance or voltage with a 2200uF@25v around 50¢.

Ceramics are cheap up to 100nf, also available in assortment packs (0.4¢).

Inductors

Small inductors are fairly cheap; assortment packs of 1/2w from 1uH to 4.7mH 5.5¢ a piece. They look like resistors.

Fuses

Pico fuses are pretty cheap. About $0.20 a piece. Learned the hard way after blowing my new breadboard supply.

Connectors

Description	Cost	Notes
Banana Plug	$3.94 / 20
Spring Terminal	$1 / 2-terminal-block	These come in a wide range of sizes
PCB Terminal Blocks	$5.75 / 50x 2-terminal-block	Also come in a variety of sizes.
5.5x2.1mm DC socket	$1.89 / 10
0.1" Headers Breakable Male	50x40-pin $8.75	For not much more, these come in colors
0.1" Headers Female (not breakable)	10x40-pin $1.18
Swiss Machine Pin	12x40-pin $5.70	0.1" Headers Breakable Female
USB A PCB socket	$4 / 10
3.5mm Socket	$2 / 10
cable transition connector	$4.90 / 25	Works with Ribbon cable, doesn't vary much regardless of pins
DIP sockets	$1 / 10	Easily swap out IC chips, good for programming microcontrollers
Micro USB	$3.15 / 10	This includes a small board, the raw socket is cheaper, it's smd.

Cables

Name	Wires	Cost	Notes
Cat5	4x twisted pairs	$10 / 150'	very long lengths are cheaper per ft ($50/1000')
1.27mm Pitch Ribbon Cable	4, 8, 10, 16, 26, 40	around $1/3'	Uses special connectors

Ribbon cables have special connectors that convert the 1.27mm pitch cable into dual 2.54mm pitch sockets.

Also, network cables aren't a bad choice, pre-made 0.5ft cables are about $0.60 and that gets us 8 wires.

Wire

Type	Cost	Notes
22 AWG Solid Core	$10.35 / 100'	breadboards and prototyping
24 AWG Solid Core	$23.80 / 250'	prototyping, maybe breadboards
26 AWG Tinned Copper Wire	$8.75 / 100'	good for perf boards

Circuit Boards

Description	Cost Source	Cost
Copper Clad Board	36 x 4"x6" $22	2.5¢ insq
Ferric Chloride	4 oz dry / 1L wet $11
Perf Board	10 7x5cm $5.25	9.5¢ insq
Bread Board	Standard Size	$2.50
Shield Bread Board	Sized for Arduino shields	$2 / 5
Breakout Boards	Convert smd to dip	~2¢

Dev Boards

Name	Cost	Details
RasPi 2 B	$39	900MHz, 1G ram, HDMI, micro sd
RasPi 2 B+	$30	700MHz, 512M ram, HDMI, micro sd
RasPi 2 A+	$25	700MHz, 256M ram, HDMI, micro sd

Name	Cost	Details
Arduino Nano	$2.21	14 IO (6PWM 8ADC) 16K 16MHz
Arduino Pro Mini	$2.00	14 IO (6PWM 6ADC) 16K 5V/16MHz or 3.3V/8MHz

Hardware

Name	Cost	Details
12mm Knob	$2.50 / 10	Common size for pots, switches and rotary encoders.
Standoffs	$2.20 / 50	M3 8mm
Standoff Screws	$5.20 / 100	nylon M3 5mm
ABS Project Box	$3.5 / 5	100x60x25mm (9.3x2.3x1")
Aluminum Project Box	$9 / 5	100x100x50mm
ABS Sheet	$0.024 / insq	DIY box, weld with a soldering iron, almost as expensive as copper clad boards
Aluminum Sheet	$0.07 / insq
Polypropylene Sheet	$0.014 / insq
PVC Sheet	$0.021 / insq
Hardboard	$0.0017 / insq	That's right, best by an order of magnitude. Homedepot, not eBay.