Intro 03: The Basic Kit

If you want to start small, that's fine. We can do a lot of projects with just a handful of parts.

Solderless plug-in breadboard. The small size boards are sold on eBay for $1 to $2.
Resistors, 1 watt, carbon-film or metal-film type, at least one (1) of each: 56 ohms (56 Ω). Also acceptable: 47, 51, 62 or 68 Ω. 1,000 ohms (1 kilohm or 1 kΩ) NOTE: Get at least 2 of these. 10,000 ohms (10 kilohm, 10 kΩ) 100,000 ohms (100 kilohm, 100 kΩ) 3,000,000 ohms (3 megohms, 3 MΩ). Also acceptable: 2.0, 2.2, 2.4 or 2.7 megohms.
Small Capacitors, ceramic or plastic-film type (non-polarized), one (1) each: 1 nanofarad (1 nF) or 0.001 microfarad (0.001 μF) 22 nanofarad (22 nF) or 0.022 microfarad (0.022 μF) 220 nanofarad (220 nF) or 0.22 microfarad (0.22 μF)
Large Capacitor, aluminum-electrolytic type (polarized): 220 microfarads (220 μF).
Transistors, General purpose, one (1) each: NPN-type: TN3019A or TN6719A. Optional, smaller choice: 2N3904 or PN3904. PNP-type: ZTX749A, TN6726A, or TN2907A. Optional, smaller choice: 2N3906 or PN3906
LED, 5mm or 10mm size: Red color. (Yellow, orange, or green is OK too.)
Power source: Two (2) AA cells or AAA cells. You may already these at home, since they're used in remote controls and flashlights. You also need a 2-cell Battery Holder with wire leads.

So far, that's enough parts to do a few basic circuits like an LED flasher and a touch-sensor. With a few more parts, you can do a few interesting modifications or "mods".

Small speaker. You can scavenge one from a discarded radio, intercom, or desktop PC. Or you can buy one for around $1.
Potentiometer, rotary type. Value: 100,000 ohms (100 kΩ). Linear taper. This could be hard to scrounge up. It's easiest just to buy one, since a basic type costs less than $1.
Diode, 1N5819 type. Less than 10 cents each.
Photoresistor. About 20 to 60 cents each.
Clip leads. About $3-5 for a bunch. These are not required, but they will allow a beginner to very easily connect things like the speaker and the potentiometer. Otherwise you will have attach wire leads to these parts by either soldering or crimping the connections.
Wire (if you don't have Clip leads). At least five (5) pieces, about 4 inches long. The wire must be thin solid copper wire, 22 or 24-gauge. Insulated, but stripped about 1/2-inch from each end. And you'll need a needle-nose pliers to crimp the wire ends when making connections to the speaker and the potentiometer.

In theory, the total cost for all these basic parts would be around $5. But vendors have minimum quantity requirements for some parts (like resistors and small capacitors). And they have a minimum dollar amount for the total order. So you might have to order extra parts so the total cost will add up to the vendor's minimum total — about $8 for this list (before shipping and tax are included).

Here is a link to this basic kit of parts with prices and sources.

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