Hi, everybody
Today with so many LED and DCC projects to do I find that a good supply of resistors is a must. I probably have hundreds thousands on hand especially 1K but there were a few values that it seemed like I was always searching for so I picked up an assortment of metal film resistors here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FVT8I22/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Its pretty easy to make out the color bands on the tan resistors but the metal film ones have a blue background so, to me, the color stripes make no sense at all. Most look like black to dark brown and it is difficult to make out one from another.
I know I can check each one with the meter but when I'm trying to sort out handfuls of loose resistors, that can be pretty time consuming.
So I wondered if any of you had any tricks for reading the bands on these metal film resistors?
Thanks, Ed
Use a bright light, and sometimes a magnifying glass helps. There are only the 12 basic colors, if you count gold and silver. No fucia or mauve or any mixed girly colors.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
I use an Optivisor when I am sorting them. That makes it a lot easier to differentiate the color bands.
Rich
Alton Junction
I recommend buying or printing out a resistor color code guide. I got one at Radio Shack a long time ago. Here is a link to one you can print out and assemble: Here
Yeah, just have decent light. I know several sayings to remember the color codes, however none of them is suitable content to post here. Never did learn any totalyl 'clean' ones.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker Yeah, just have decent light. I know several sayings to remember the color codes, however none of them is suitable content to post here. Never did learn any totalyl 'clean' ones. --Randy
LOL
A Google search will answer.
Practice makes perfect also. All i have used for sometime are the metal film ones. Oh, yea, Optivsor and proper lighting.
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
LION uses 1/4 W, 1K ohm resistors. Buys them by the thousand. Ergo, they are all the same.
OK him also uses 1/2W 5.1 ohm resistors on the tracks, but LION can tell the difference between a large resistor and a small resistor.
Yeah, LION knows the colors mean something, and him has a chart, but him kneads not to look at them.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Thanks, everybody
The majority of what I use are the 1K and I can spot those pretty quick but for some of the signals I need 150Ω on up to about 1.2K The red LEDs are much brighter than the yellow and green and require more resistance, and in some cases I still use grain o rice lamps that require several different values.
There's a handy calculator here:
http://www.digikey.com/en/resources/conversion-calculators/conversion-calculator-resistor-color-code-4-band
I've got an Opti-visor with a #7 glass in it... now I know why I got one with a high magnification.
Against the blue background the colors are trickier to sort out. Welcome to the "Golden Years"
Thanks again, Ed
Radio Shack used to offer a resistor color code sorter (271-1210). You dial the 3 wheels on it to the bands and it reads out the resistance.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Yeah I have one of those. Must be 40 years old by now. Gave it right here in my hands actually. Came in handy when I was given a box full of electronic parts all jumbled together. I took egg cartons and sorted them all by value. Forget where I learned the first mnemonic, but it was one of the bad ones.
If it's the one about Bad Boys, and Our Young Girls, and Violet, I learned that one in the Navy.
gandydancer19 If it's the one about Bad Boys, and Our Young Girls, and Violet, I learned that one in the Navy.
Dang, now you've got me all curious!
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
Early high school humor.
That's the one, except that I'm on the side of the fence that uses "Only" for Orange instead ouf "Our".
Bayfield Transfer Railway gandydancer19 If it's the one about Bad Boys, and Our Young Girls, and Violet, I learned that one in the Navy. Dang, now you've got me all curious!
Well, you can probably fill in the missing words.
The color code goes Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, Grey, White.
You've already got the Bad Boys <blank> Our Young Girls <blank> Violet <blank> <blank>
It becomes fairly obvious what nastiness not suitable for children you can make with words that start with the same letter as the colors. Or you can just google for resistor color code mnemonic and have it spelled out for you, in many variants.
I think the engineer who came up with these dirty phrases did so so as to appear not so geeky
Same here...in 1968.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Back in college I took a year of electronics but they would never tell us the resistor code mnemonic so I never memorized how to read the resister colors - now we have google.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983