I'll admit, I'm a longtime electronics wannabe. My day job unfortunately prevented me from getting more deeply involved, but I think had I another go at life, I would have done electronics instead. I've dabbled quite a bit, and understand what most common components do, but not how to string them together. So here am I now, trying to get to grips with the theory, starting with what are probably equivalent to schoolbooks, although hopefully not as dry, and determined to get an understanding of what the different bits of a circuit are for, and why the designer chose them.
One of the books (on robotics -- yes, I know... cookery 101 starts with duck a l'orange!) requires that a small circuit be assembled on a supplied PCB, and one of the components is a resistor array which the author quotes as being "220 v 16-pin resistor dual in-line package". I can't find it -- not 16-pin. And surely it shouldn't be "220 v"??... more like 220 ohm?.. or K?... god knows what! I hoped that by looking around on-line suppliers I might get some clarity, but nothing quite like it seems to exist in the UK.
Sorry for the mild deception, if that's what it was -- I suppose I was really trying to conceal the depth of my ignorance!
Hero999, yes, Stafford has a Maplin in Stoke-on-Trent, within easy reach. Of course, the internet puts almost everything within reach!