06 February 2015

Cheap assorted resistors kits: a *real* bargain?

Not long ago I bought a pack of assorted resistors: 56 values at 1% 1/4W, 20 pieces each. The item name was something like "1120Pz 1/4W 1% Metal Film Assorted Resistors kit Set 56 Values (1 ohm~10M ohm)".

The whole batch would be a good companion for building my BITX20, but I lost 15 minutes looking for the 120kR strip. I gave up and luckily I found one 120kR in my junk box, but what?

I went back to the item description and cross checked what I actually bought:

1R, 2.2R, 4.7R, 5.6R, 7.5R, 8.2R, 10R, 15R, 22R, 27R, 33R, 39R, 47R, 56R, 68R, 75R, 82R, 100R, 120R, 150R, 180R, 220R, 270R, 330R, 390R, 470R, 510R, 680R, 820R, 1K, 1.5K, 2.2K, 3K, 3.9K, 4.7K, 5.6K, 6,8K, 7.5K, 8.2K, 10K, 15K, 22K, 33K, 39K , 47K, 56K, 68K, 75K, 82K, 1M, 1.5M, 2M, 3.3M, 4.7M, 5.6M, 10M.
Look at the "hole" in the series: the whole 100k to 820k batch is missing!!

Sure enough those values can be combined by summing other resistors, but it is very inconvenient!

My mistake. I did not read all the values before shelling out 4 USD@2014. Probably other sets for sale do include the 100kR serie. Pay attention, so you will not end up with a lifelong supply of sub-10R and above-1MR resistors.