EEVblog 1599 - TOP 5 Jellybean Bipolar Transistors

The TOP 5 Jellybean Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT)

00:00 - What is a Jellybean Component?
01:30 - Low Power BJT: 2N3904 / 3906, SMD Marking 1A
06:49 - 2N2222
08:52 - BC547 fanboys
09:28 - Medium Power BJT: FMMT617-619 / 717-719
12:27 - SS8050 / 8550
15:08 - High Power BJT: 2N3055 / 2955
17:09 - Sneaky MOSFET, and the differences from BJT's
19:30 - High Voltage BJT: FZT458 / 558, FMMT458/558

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#ElectronicsCreators #transistors

[kmkessler]

You need to go down the FET rabbit hole; I enjoy these jellybean videos.

[MrXenon]

Another definition of a Jellybean Component: A part that does not get more expensive after EEVblog was reporting about it 🙃

[KeritechElectronics]

Mine are BC547, 550 (for low noise applications), 847 (for SMT), 2N7000, IRF540 (for MOOSEFETs) and MPSA44 (for HV driving applications).
Back in the '90s when I learned electronics, I mainly tinkered with BC107. They were around, salvaged from old electronics. Of course I played with 2N3055 too! Happened to build a transistor amp or two.
First to watch... it's not 1080p yet!

[chriscordingley]

Well you young people: In my hobby days it was Germanium OC71, OC81 OC44 (rf). And you could scrape the paint off an OC71 to make a phototransistor !

[xjet]

BC107, 108, 109 was my go-to transistor for *many* years.

[LazerLord]

We use 2n2222's for lots of space stuff! In a fun little hermetic metal "sot23" looking thing. Gold plated case and everything!

[SeanBZA]

Remember Elektor had always in the parts list the jellybean shown as TUN or TUP, and generally around once a year they had a few pages of what would work in either, a pretty long list of transistor types.

[cashewmilkfan]

I like to use the tip41 & tip42 as fairly high power complementary pairs all the time and they are fairly common even at my local electronics component stores.

[christaylor]

Fun, and always appreciate the speed, energy and enthusiasm! And when you sort of made that delicious, sound, that really reminded me of the way I feel when I go through a spec enjoying every little characteristic that a part has. Thank you Dave!

[mysockC]

I still remember picking up bags of 2N3904’s and 2N2222’s from RadioShack and Allied when they had actual stores you could go in. The higher gain variants of the BC547 and 557 I’ve used as drivers and voltage threshold detectors in audio amps for relay sequencing.

[VoidHalo]

I've always defaulted to 3904/3906s when using jellybean BJTs. I think it's because I like how well matched they are. I couldn't even speculate as to what the PNP equivalent of a 2222 is. That, and when I started off a few years ago, I bought like 500 3904s, not knowing what I was doing. Which is a bit much when you're only using breadboards at the time lol. I just like buying parts for the sake of having them. I don't even use half of the chips I've bought. They're there "just in case". I mean, you never know.

[Zadster]

It may be just my perception, but it always seemed that US magazines/books used 2N2222, whereas European or UK ones used BC107/8/9 or 547.

[zxborg]

2N3904/3906, 2N2222 and 2N3055, absolutely. Never worked with the others. I would have added TIP31C and its complementary friends, they were handy TO-220 packages for anything from small audio amps to little DC motor speed controllers.

[ChrisSmith-tcdf]

Only the 3904/3906, 2222/2907, and 3055/2955 resonated with me. The rest on the list were misses for me.

[nicholasvinen]

Good call on the FZT458/558. For me the jellybean BJTs are BC807, BC817, BC846 and BC856. Through-hole equivalents are BC327, BC337, BC546 and BC556.

[JonnyMac]

The BC327, BC337, BC546, BC556, BD139, BD140, Tip31, Tip32, 2n3055, 2n2955 are some of the more common i remember using in Australia through the 70's, 80's and 90's

[bitMicroFan]

When you learn electronics in Europe, the BC54x NPN and BC55x PNP transistors are your "standard" ones. It doesn't matter what type you use, as long it gets the job done aka without turning into a light emitting transistor ;) .

[ketv]

BC547 was hard to come by in the US during COVID. I wound up buying a bunch of 2N4401s and 2N4403s instead.
Last time I needed medium current for a one-off, I needed about half an amp, and fished a 2N3053 out of my parts box, along with a little clip-on heat sink. I have absolutely no idea how old that thing was.
I don't work with the higher voltages much, so I'll have to remember the 458/558 if I happen to need such a thing.
Jellybean RF transistor would have to be the '5179, I think! The SOT-23 version is dirt cheap, 2 GHz transition frequency, other specs stink but maybe you don't need 'em. Lots of DIY ham gear uses it.

[CutoutClips]

I've been looking forward to more of these jellybean videos.

[manojms]

Below are my favourites from THT era:
Generic: BC547 / BC557, 2N3906 / 2N3904, 2SC1815 /2SA1015, 2SC9014 / 2SC9015, 2SC945 / 2SA733
Low noise: BC549 / BC559
High gain: 2SC3616
Low power RF: 2SC2570, 2SC9018
Medium power: PBSS4350 / PBSS5350, SS8050 / SS8550, BD139/BD140, 2SD882 / 2SB772
Low VceSat: 2SD1347 / 2SB985
Muting (high Vebo): 2SC2878