First timer, super noob problem with the bill of materials

[DhanoSuzuki]

Okay, so some of you may remember my last thread in which I wanted to smush two octave up fuzzes into a single enclosure with some mods to one of the circuits. That is currently still in the process, and is currently being worked on. This has nothing to do with that, I just wanted to give an update.

My current problem:

Ordered the PCB board for the 0415 Guitar Synth from Parasit Studios. Probably going to be a joint project that my friend and I work on.

So, I'm trying to buy the materials for the circuit using the bill of materials in the build doc.

Let me give an example of what is currently vexing me.

I'm just trying to find the first capacitor. BoM says that it is a 100nf. Okay, great! I look it up, and.....do I want the 100nF 0.1uF 100V 5% Mylar Film Capacitors, 100nF 0.1uF 100V 5% Polyester Film Box Type Capacitor, or the 100nF 0.1uF 50V SMD Ceramic Chip Capacitor? Something else entirely? Will any of them do?

Keep in mind, I have no idea what any of this means. I'm as nooby as a noob can be.

[crochambeau]

Any of those caps you mention will work fine.

http://www.electronicsteacher.com/capacitor-chart.php

This might help to decode the markings (and the chart at bottom is an easy way to confirm 100nf, 0.1uf, and 104 (10 plus four more zeros, or 100000 pf) are in fact the same value.

What you ARE going to want to pay attention to is the distance between leads, and keep in mind unless a circuit is expecting a box cap sometimes the PCB designer doesn't allow a lot of room for one.

[Jero]

In addition to what cro said, you do not want to buy anything that is SMD (the last capacitor you mentioned).
These are tiny surface mount parts that are a PITA and not what you want for this project.

[moid]

As a fellow noob one thing I've learned to watch out about box caps (apart from their size) is if you build a circuit on vero board you might discover that they all (for some reason) seem to come with very short legs that don't span very far - I've had to use the trimmed off legs of resistors and solder those to the box caps' legs to get them to be long enough to span across the board I was attaching them to. I try to avoid them for this reason and usually buy ceramic / mylar /poly /electrolytic caps that have nice long legs

[eatyourguitar]

As a fellow noob one thing I've learned to watch out about box caps (apart from their size) is if you build a circuit on vero board you might discover that they all (for some reason) seem to come with very short legs that don't span very far - I've had to use the trimmed off legs of resistors and solder those to the box caps' legs to get them to be long enough to span across the board I was attaching them to. I try to avoid them for this reason and usually buy ceramic / mylar /poly /electrolytic caps that have nice long legs

most places that sell box caps have a manufacturer part number and a datasheet that will have reliable information about the exact length of the leads. I would suggest that everyone new to electronics learn how to read a datasheet and then decide if the parts they are buying meet the requirements at a decent price. this is essentially the most important part of transitioning from kit builder, to designer + manufacturer. engineering is not about being perfect, it is about being good enough and balancing that with the marketing and accounting departments. unless you have some other plan that could be totally genius or personal or whatever. you don't need to be a corporation to breathe.

[DhanoSuzuki]

Thanks guys. I just ordered all the parts, so I guess we'll see if I got the right ones or not.

[flanagan0718]

I've built several of Freppo's boards (home etched and Fabbed PCBs). He typically uses the same lead spacing that most DIY PCB designers use it is a standard box cap with 5mm lead spacing. If you are just getting into FX building I recommend ordering from this site

http://www.diyguitarpedals.com.au/shop/

He is located in Austrailia but he has quality parts and is a stand up guy. Shipping to me ( i live in Massachusetts) takes about 2 weeks. Plus he only sells pedal parts. So you wont be sifting through loads of other parts. I personally use the wire, caps, jacks, and resistors he sells. All other stuff i get here.

http://www.bitcheslovemyswitches.com/

Awesome project BTW the 0415 is sitting on my bench right now begging me to populate and synth out!!! Feel free to message me if you have more questions.

[culturejam]

The most common lead spacing for effects PCBs in regards to caps is 5mm. Just look for that on the spec when order box or other package film caps.