Integrated circuits, resistors, capacitors

Uh-oh., Now I dood It.

I saw a bag of 1000 BC338 transistors on Ebay about ready for the
bidding to end, and they were going for only $11.50, so I bid on them
thinking that surely someone would outbid me.  But they didn’t!  So
now I’m the buyer of 1000 for only $12.50 plus $4 s&h, about a penny
and a half each.  Like I now have a lifetime supply of BC338s.  Said
they were new, and pic showed them in a labeled bag, but they might
still be picked over and have low gain or whatever.

I have to figure out how to use these up in my LED flashlights.  
They’re about the same as a 2N4401, except capable of a bit more
collector current.  The BC337s I’ve been using work well, so I think
I’ll have a lotta uses for them.  Oh, well..


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Comments (10)




10 Responses to “Uh-oh., Now I dood It.”

  1. admin says:

    > I have to figure out how to use these up in my LED flashlights.
    > They’re about the same as a 2N4401, except capable of a bit more
    > collector current.  The BC337s I’ve been using work well, so I think
    > I’ll have a lotta uses for them.  Oh, well..

    I bought 1000 each of 2N3904 and 2N3906 about 12 years ago.
    I’m getting a little low on the 04′s. :)

  2. admin says:

    Hiya!

    Get a dolls house, wire 50 of them in parallel across a mains cable.
    Place them throughout the dolls house, and make your own hollywood
    blockbuster exploding house effect!!

    In seriousness tho, there are good buys to be had on E, as long as you
    can use the things you buy – I’ve baught tubes of ICs years ago that are
    still sitting here now, never got round to using them!

    Yours, Mark.

    Watson A.Name – Watt Sun, Dark Remover wrote:

    - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

    > I saw a bag of 1000 BC338 transistors on Ebay about ready for the
    > bidding to end, and they were going for only $11.50, so I bid on them
    > thinking that surely someone would outbid me.  But they didn’t!  So
    > now I’m the buyer of 1000 for only $12.50 plus $4 s&h, about a penny
    > and a half each.  Like I now have a lifetime supply of BC338s.  Said
    > they were new, and pic showed them in a labeled bag, but they might
    > still be picked over and have low gain or whatever.

    > I have to figure out how to use these up in my LED flashlights.  
    > They’re about the same as a 2N4401, except capable of a bit more
    > collector current.  The BC337s I’ve been using work well, so I think
    > I’ll have a lotta uses for them.  Oh, well..

  3. admin says:

    In article <bs7e3q$c2…@hercules.btinternet.com>,
    jumbos.baz…@btopenworld.com mentioned…

    > Hiya!

    > Get a dolls house, wire 50 of them in parallel across a mains cable.
    > Place them throughout the dolls house, and make your own hollywood
    > blockbuster exploding house effect!!

    Sounds like a real blast!  ;-)

    However I’d use some real firecrackers for real FX.

    I got a Q for all.  These BC338s ae capable of handling an amp, as a
    transistor of course.  WHat I need are some high conductance diodes
    that can handle high currents – less than an amp, maybe a half amp –
    and are reasonably fast switching.  I was thinking of connecting the
    base and emitter together and using the collector junction as a diode.  
    I fighre it should handle at least a couple hundred mA, maybe more.  
    And since it’s a fairly fast transistor, the diode should be so, too.  
    Has anyone done somerthing like this?  Anyone tried to measure the
    characteristics in a curve tracer?

    I saw a schematic of an RF osc using 2 or 3 2N4401s connected as
    diodes as varicaps to modulate the oscillator.  Thanks.

    - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

    > In seriousness tho, there are good buys to be had on E, as long as you
    > can use the things you buy – I’ve baught tubes of ICs years ago that are
    > still sitting here now, never got round to using them!

    > Yours, Mark.

    > Watson A.Name – Watt Sun, Dark Remover wrote:

    > > I saw a bag of 1000 BC338 transistors on Ebay about ready for the
    > > bidding to end, and they were going for only $11.50, so I bid on them
    > > thinking that surely someone would outbid me.  But they didn’t!  So
    > > now I’m the buyer of 1000 for only $12.50 plus $4 s&h, about a penny
    > > and a half each.  Like I now have a lifetime supply of BC338s.  Said
    > > they were new, and pic showed them in a labeled bag, but they might
    > > still be picked over and have low gain or whatever.

    > > I have to figure out how to use these up in my LED flashlights.  
    > > They’re about the same as a 2N4401, except capable of a bit more
    > > collector current.  The BC337s I’ve been using work well, so I think
    > > I’ll have a lotta uses for them.  Oh, well..


    @@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
    ###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS?   Check HERE First:###
    http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
    My email address is whitelisted.  *All* email sent to it
    goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
    Subject: line with other stuff.  alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
    Don’t be ripped off by the big book dealers.  Go to the URL
    that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
    http://www.everybookstore.com  You’ll be glad you did!
    Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov’t
    changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
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  4. admin says:

    I can use a hundred or so, what  can I trade you?
    I have lots of electronic stuff, components, and so on.
    I am across the pond, in the states, so I need to keep
    the package small.

    - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

    > I saw a bag of 1000 BC338 transistors on Ebay about ready for the
    > bidding to end, and they were going for only $11.50, so I bid on
    them
    > thinking that surely someone would outbid me.  But they didn’t!  So
    > now I’m the buyer of 1000 for only $12.50 plus $4 s&h, about a penny
    > and a half each.  Like I now have a lifetime supply of BC338s.  Said
    > they were new, and pic showed them in a labeled bag, but they might
    > still be picked over and have low gain or whatever.

    > I have to figure out how to use these up in my LED flashlights.
    > They’re about the same as a 2N4401, except capable of a bit more
    > collector current.  The BC337s I’ve been using work well, so I think
    > I’ll have a lotta uses for them.  Oh, well..

  5. admin says:

    In article <vufb7cagmr1…@corp.supernews.com>, jon…@knology.net
    mentioned…

    > I can use a hundred or so, what  can I trade you?
    > I have lots of electronic stuff, components, and so on.
    > I am across the pond, in the states, so I need to keep
    > the package small.

    Email, observing anti-spam precautions in my .sig.

    > > I saw a bag of 1000 BC338 transistors on Ebay about ready for the
    > > bidding to end, and they were going for only $11.50, so I bid on
    > them
    > > thinking that surely someone would outbid me.  But they didn’t!  So
    > > now I’m the buyer of 1000 for only $12.50 plus $4 s&h, about a penny
    > > and a half each.  Like I now have a lifetime supply of BC338s.  Said
    > > they were new, and pic showed them in a labeled bag, but they might
    > > still be picked over and have low gain or whatever.

    > > I have to figure out how to use these up in my LED flashlights.
    > > They’re about the same as a 2N4401, except capable of a bit more
    > > collector current.  The BC337s I’ve been using work well, so I think
    > > I’ll have a lotta uses for them.  Oh, well..


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    Subject: line with other stuff.  alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
    Don’t be ripped off by the big book dealers.  Go to the URL
    that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
    http://www.everybookstore.com  You’ll be glad you did!
    Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov’t
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  6. admin says:

    "Watson A.Name – Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra…@hotmail.com> wrote in
    message news:MPG.1a513b2617993776989a6b@news.dslextreme.com…

    > I got a Q for all.  These BC338s ae capable of handling an amp, as a
    > transistor of course.  WHat I need are some high conductance diodes
    > that can handle high currents – less than an amp, maybe a half amp –
    > and are reasonably fast switching.  I was thinking of connecting the
    > base and emitter together and using the collector junction as a diode.
    > I fighre it should handle at least a couple hundred mA, maybe more.
    > And since it’s a fairly fast transistor, the diode should be so, too.
    > Has anyone done somerthing like this?  Anyone tried to measure the
    > characteristics in a curve tracer?

    Bob Pease talks about using diode-connected transistors; e.g., as
    low-leakage diodes.  But I think he means with base and collector connected,
    not base and emitter.  If you poke around on the National web site for some
    of his online seminars I’m sure you can find info, including curves.

    Half an amp times 0.7V is 0.35W.  That’s a fair amount of power for
    something that only has tiny little transistor leads; diodes get rid of
    their current through their big thick leads.

  7. admin says:

    In article <vuh4o9f3e19…@corp.supernews.com>,
    walt…@cafewalterNOSPAM.com mentioned…

    - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

    > "Watson A.Name – Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra…@hotmail.com> wrote in
    > message news:MPG.1a513b2617993776989a6b@news.dslextreme.com…
    > > I got a Q for all.  These BC338s ae capable of handling an amp, as a
    > > transistor of course.  WHat I need are some high conductance diodes
    > > that can handle high currents – less than an amp, maybe a half amp –
    > > and are reasonably fast switching.  I was thinking of connecting the
    > > base and emitter together and using the collector junction as a diode.
    > > I fighre it should handle at least a couple hundred mA, maybe more.
    > > And since it’s a fairly fast transistor, the diode should be so, too.
    > > Has anyone done somerthing like this?  Anyone tried to measure the
    > > characteristics in a curve tracer?

    > Bob Pease talks about using diode-connected transistors; e.g., as
    > low-leakage diodes.  But I think he means with base and collector connected,
    > not base and emitter.  If you poke around on the National web site for some
    > of his online seminars I’m sure you can find info, including curves.

    > Half an amp times 0.7V is 0.35W.  That’s a fair amount of power for
    > something that only has tiny little transistor leads; diodes get rid of
    > their current through their big thick leads.

    Thanks.  The BC338 transistors are rated for an amp and 625 mW, so it
    should still handle that current.  The transistor die is bonded to the
    collector lead, which is thicker than the other leads.  If the
    collector lead is mounted close to the circuit board, most of the heat
    will be conducted away to the copper PCB traces.  And now that I’ll be
    getting a thousand of them, there’s nothing saying I can’t parallel a
    few.  ;-)


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    ###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS?   Check HERE First:###
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    My email address is whitelisted.  *All* email sent to it
    goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
    Subject: line with other stuff.  alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
    Don’t be ripped off by the big book dealers.  Go to the URL
    that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
    http://www.everybookstore.com  You’ll be glad you did!
    Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov’t
    changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
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  8. admin says:

    "Watson A.Name – Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra…@hotmail.com> wrote in
    message news:MPG.1a528c2f42355774989a7c@news.dslextreme.com…

    > Thanks.  The BC338 transistors are rated for an amp and 625 mW, so it
    > should still handle that current.  The transistor die is bonded to the
    > collector lead, which is thicker than the other leads.  If the
    > collector lead is mounted close to the circuit board, most of the heat
    > will be conducted away to the copper PCB traces.  And now that I’ll be
    > getting a thousand of them, there’s nothing saying I can’t parallel a
    > few.  ;-)

    Current hogging.  And by the time you get a couple of low-value resistors to
    fix that, you might as well have just shelled out the dough for some bigger
    diodes.

    (Hey!  You callin’ me a current hog?  Well, you’re a, a, a voltage weevil!
    Yeah!)

  9. admin says:

    In article <vuhu8ka03t0…@corp.supernews.com>,
    walt…@cafewalterNOSPAM.com mentioned…

    - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

    > "Watson A.Name – Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra…@hotmail.com> wrote in
    > message news:MPG.1a528c2f42355774989a7c@news.dslextreme.com…
    > > Thanks.  The BC338 transistors are rated for an amp and 625 mW, so it
    > > should still handle that current.  The transistor die is bonded to the
    > > collector lead, which is thicker than the other leads.  If the
    > > collector lead is mounted close to the circuit board, most of the heat
    > > will be conducted away to the copper PCB traces.  And now that I’ll be
    > > getting a thousand of them, there’s nothing saying I can’t parallel a
    > > few.  ;-)

    > Current hogging.  And by the time you get a couple of low-value resistors to
    > fix that, you might as well have just shelled out the dough for some bigger
    > diodes.

    > (Hey!  You callin’ me a current hog?  Well, you’re a, a, a voltage weevil!
    > Yeah!)

    Heh-heh.  Actually I figured that by coupling the DCTs closely
    thermally, the current hogging wouldn’t be a problem.  Just twist the
    leads together near the case.  No resistors, no problem.  I can also
    use some 1N5817 1A Schottky diodes; I got plenty of them.  But I want
    to use the transistors since I have a bunch.  So back to the original
    Q.  How good a diode is a BC338 transistor with the E and B tied
    together and the collector used as the diode junction?  Should I put a
    few on a PS and run various currents thru them and get some idea of
    the V drop at currents in the hundreds of mA?  How would it be done in
    a commercial setting?  Would they put a few on a curve tracer and run
    up the current to see how they performed?   Thanks.  Happy holidays.


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    goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
    Subject: line with other stuff.  alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
    Don’t be ripped off by the big book dealers.  Go to the URL
    that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
    http://www.everybookstore.com  You’ll be glad you did!
    Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov’t
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  10. admin says:

    In article <MPG.1a52ff58d6503f33989…@news.dslextreme.com>, Watson
    A.Name – "Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra…@hotmail.com>
    mentioned…

    - Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

    > In article <vuhu8ka03t0…@corp.supernews.com>,
    > walt…@cafewalterNOSPAM.com mentioned…
    > > "Watson A.Name – Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra…@hotmail.com> wrote in
    > > message news:MPG.1a528c2f42355774989a7c@news.dslextreme.com…
    > > > Thanks.  The BC338 transistors are rated for an amp and 625 mW, so it
    > > > should still handle that current.  The transistor die is bonded to the
    > > > collector lead, which is thicker than the other leads.  If the
    > > > collector lead is mounted close to the circuit board, most of the heat
    > > > will be conducted away to the copper PCB traces.  And now that I’ll be
    > > > getting a thousand of them, there’s nothing saying I can’t parallel a
    > > > few.  ;-)

    > > Current hogging.  And by the time you get a couple of low-value resistors to
    > > fix that, you might as well have just shelled out the dough for some bigger
    > > diodes.

    > > (Hey!  You callin’ me a current hog?  Well, you’re a, a, a voltage weevil!
    > > Yeah!)

    > Heh-heh.  Actually I figured that by coupling the DCTs closely
    > thermally, the current hogging wouldn’t be a problem.  Just twist the
    > leads together near the case.  No resistors, no problem.  I can also
    > use some 1N5817 1A Schottky diodes; I got plenty of them.  But I want
    > to use the transistors since I have a bunch.  So back to the original
    > Q.  How good a diode is a BC338 transistor with the E and B tied
    > together and the collector used as the diode junction?  Should I put a
    > few on a PS and run various currents thru them and get some idea of
    > the V drop at currents in the hundreds of mA?  How would it be done in
    > a commercial setting?  Would they put a few on a curve tracer and run
    > up the current to see how they performed?   Thanks.  Happy holidays.

    I went to the Central Semi website and checked out their reference
    manual.  They have a .PDF index with the transistor types with each
    type a hot link that you can click on, which then downloads a .PDF of
    the actual die or chip that’s used in that transistor.  
    http://www.centralsemi.com/pdf/index.pdf
    Click the page advance arrow until you go to 6 of 15.  Then click on
    2N3904 – CP192.  You can see that the chip or die is only 13  x 17
    mils.  Then go to BC338 and you can see that the chip or die is 31 mil
    square, which is substantially larger area, and that’s why it can
    handle a lot more current.


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    ###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS?   Check HERE First:###
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    My email address is whitelisted.  *All* email sent to it
    goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
    Subject: line with other stuff.  alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
    Don’t be ripped off by the big book dealers.  Go to the URL
    that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
    http://www.everybookstore.com  You’ll be glad you did!
    Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov’t
    changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
    @@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@