[frame69]

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=42453
...can anyone tell me if this is a worthy purchase? Or are most of these not relevant to our hobby,thanks in advance,Frame. PS Im starting the electrical part of my layout and noticed that resistors feature quite often.

 

[John Webb]

From Maplin's website the contents of this kit are listed as:
"This pack contains 30 of each of the following values: 10Ω, 22Ω, 47Ω, 100Ω, 220Ω, 470Ω, 1KΩ, 2K2Ω, 4K7Ω, 10KΩ, 22KΩ, 47KΩ, 100KΩ, 220KΩ, 470KΩ & 1MΩ"

I would have preferred a greater number of different values but perhaps only 10 of each? I would like to see 15, 150, 1k5, 15k, 150k, 33, 330, 3k3...., 56, 560...., 68, 680...., and 82, 820..... particularly as there are no resistances between 47 and 100 etc. You can add resistors in series to get most common values by various combinations of the above but that uses up more resistors!

I doubt in model railway work there is much need for anything above about 100k unless you're into building specific electronics. 1k0 to 15k will do for most LEDs, for example.

By the way, Maplins are wrong to use 'K'; the 'k' for 'kilo' (1000) is the correct abbreviation, and for those not versed in electrical practices, the 'k' is used in place of a decimal point to save space, so 2k2 = 2,200 ohms (Ω) for example.

Regards,
John Webb

 

[John Webb]

Just had a look at the Maplin site again and this set: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=2163 is a much better buy in my opinion for the range of resistor values included, and is only £1.50 more. Price per resistor at just over 1p each in either kit is good value for money.

Regards,
John Webb

 

[frame69]

Thanks John I will go for the second option

 

[John Webb]

My pleasure. After you've being constructing things for a while you'll be able to see which resistors you use most and just top up with them as needed.

I made a slight slip in post #2 above; 'k' doesn't replace the decimal point but the comma in the thousands, of course.
The full range of letters for resistors is R for ohms - that does replace the decimal point as in 0R56 = 0.56 ohms, 5R6 = 5.6, 56R=56, 560R=560; k as previously and 'M' for 'Megohm' as in one million - so 5M6=5,600,000 ohms etc.....

Regards,
John Webb

 

[frame69]

hi John,Im glad this question was posted because this is exactly the reply I was looking for,thanks again

..Andy.

 

[madon37s]

You certainly know your stuff John

Kind regards

Paul

 

[frame69]

That was the answer I was looking for Paul,if I had joined this forum 18 months ago I may not have bought some of the toy like stuff I've got but we all start at the beginning I suppose

 

[John Webb]

Gentlemen, thanks for your thanks! I was interested in electricity/electronics from an early age, spent my first two working years in the electronics industry and then 28 years mostly on electronic instrumentation for large-scale fire tests (and the privilage of lighting the fires as well!) so I learnt and picked up a lot of practical electrical knowledge over the years.

Regards,
John