SirNickity:
It really depends on what you want to do, but I find the parts I use the most are:
- 100, 220, 470, 680, 1K, 2.2K, 10K, 22K, 47K, and 100K 1/4W resistors. I would buy a kit that had everything from 10 to 10M at E6 or E12 intervals. (1, 1.5, 2.2, 3.3, 4.7, 6.8, 10...)
- Electrolytic caps in 10, 100, 1000uF at 25v. 16v will work for digital logic stuff, but I find I use 25v and 50v flavors often enough to have both. Entirely depends on what your projects look like.
- 100nF and 330nF ceramic caps. (The Fairchild linear regulators request 330nF on the output in the app notes. You'd probably be fine with 100nF there instead.)
- Transformers, fuses, power inlets, things like that if you intend to build your own PSUs, but maybe best to hold off on that until you get a handle on the basics.
- Diodes! 200mA small signal diodes, 1A rectifier diodes, and higher if you're likely to use anything with more current draw -- like solenoids, power amps, etc. The voltage rating is usually sufficiently high to be irrelevant, but do mind them for AC rectifiers.
- Of course 3mm and 5mm LEDs. I have an assortment of matching R, G, Y, B, and W, plus some RGB and bi-color (RG) LEDs.
- Transistors. Most folks use NPN and PNP, but I'm a FET guy. I think they're easier to deal with, since they're voltage controlled and not just current amplifiers. So, by all means, get your bipolars, but I also recommend N- and P- channel FETs good for 1-5A or so. Make sure they're labeled "logic-level" so you can turn them on completely with 5v signals.
- Trimmers and pots. If you use a breadboard, the Bourns 3386 trimmers are great. I use 1K, 10K, 20K, and 100K most of the time.
- Zener diodes are fun, but that's kind of round-2 stuff. You'll get there.
- Push-button switches that are breadboard-friendly are a must. You'll need more ceramic caps to de-bounce them, so get lots of those. Really, lots.
- A whole slew of logic ICs can be handy. Things like inverters (or NOT gates), AND gates, OR gates, XOR gates, and the inverting versions like NAND and NOR.
- Get some comparators too, or just a whole bunch of op-amps like TL071 (single), TL072 (dual), and TL074 (quad). If you do audio, I like OPA2134s -- but not as comparators, get something cheap for that.
- Both positive and negative linear regulators -- 7805, 7905, 7809, 7909, 7812, 7912, and the adjustable ones like LM317 and LM337. Might also be helpful to get some low drop-out 3.3v regulators too.
- Shift registers, both parallel-to-serial, and serial-to-parallel. See the Arduino references for ShiftOut and ShiftIn for part numbers.
- Spare AVR chips, like the ATmega328P and ATmega8A. If you want to do standalone Arduinos, get some 8 and 16MHz ceramic resonators with integrated caps (3-pin variety), or crystals with 27pF ceramic caps.
- Pin headers -- lots of them, in like 36-position breakaway strips.
- Breadboard wire kits. I can't possibly get enough of these. Also, those flexible pin-terminated wire jumpers that Adafruit sells are wonderful. As are the wire jumpers with alligator clamps.
- Maybe some 5v and 12v relays that can handle 5A loads at 12-24v DC or 120v AC. (240v AC if applicable.)
- LCD displays, sensors, and things like that. Browse Adafruit and Sparkfun and go nuts on whatever is easy to use, has sample code, and looks interesting.
I have like ten parts bins full, plus stacks of Digikey boxes filled with anti-static bags, and things lying all over my work area. I've spent literally thousands at Digikey and Mouser over the past few years (I prefer Digikey's parametric search index, BTW), but you don't have to get everything all at once. Find some example projects and buy the parts you need for it, plus a few extra. Over time you'll gain a healthy collection of parts.
The resistor kit is probably the most important initial investment, but after that, I just keep adding to my collection with every order for something specific. I may have even built something once with only parts on-hand, but that's pretty rare.
For tools:
- Good shear cutters are essential.
- Wire strippers and cutters.
- Weller temperature-controlled soldering stations are awesome, but a Radio Shack pencil iron will get you by. Don't forget solder, a sponge, and some wick.
- I swear by my little Variac for testing PSUs and higher-power projects.
- Of course, a multimeter.
may i ask why exactly you chose the values of resistors, caps, diodes, transistors, etc that you did? What is it about each of those values/types of components that make them better than the thousands of other choices?
Also where can i buy storage containers to organize all this stuff!?