Learning - the Electrical Stack Exchange way

Stack Exchange is a network of question-and-answer websites on topics in varied fields, each site covering a specific topic. It has always been my go-to place for all the daily doubts I have. Surprisingly, almost everything has been asked and answered (so I think).

Electrical Stack Exchange has alwaays been instrumental in showing me the practical approach to doing things with electronics. It covers almost everything from choosing resistors values to soldering SMD’s on a board. All posts are different - many are direct and to the point, some are long and descriptive, some are sarcastic, some humorous and some wrong (wrong ones are easily identifiable thanks to the downvote stats).

So with this post I’m trying to collect a list of the all the well answered and useful posts on Electrical Stack Exchange that every electronics hobbyists should have an idea about.

Resistors

• When to use pull-down vs. pull-up resistors

Capacitors

Diodes

• Can I replace a 1N4148 diode with a 1N4007?
• Why exactly can’t a single resistor be used for many parallel LEDs?

Opamps

• Reasons not to use a 741 op-amp?

• What’s the uA741’s appeal?

• What is the difference between operational, differential, and instrumentation amplifiers?

Transistors

• Single transistor level up shifter

• bc 547 and bc 548?

• Transistors: why are resistors needed?

Microcontrollers

• Should NC-Pins of IC connected to ground through a resistor to prevent noise?
• General “rule of thumb” for unused IC pins
• How to go from a development board to a production board?

Soldering

• Does solder being or not being uniformly thin and shiny really indicate reliability of the circuit?

• Solder does not stick to tip of soldering iron?

• Why does solder turn dull grey on my iron and exhibit poor wetting?

• How to clean my soldering iron tip or how to determine that it’s beyond repair?