Hand selecting transistors of dubious quality

[primalphunk]

I'm building a LofoMofo and couldn't find a 2n2222 except for the 2n2222a by Central Semiconductors at Mouser.  Is that close enough to give me the unholy grail of crappiness?  Are they even the same kind of part?  I'm just trying to find that perfect blend of signal to noise background hiss.   :wink:

Are there any substitutes that should do the job nicely or maybe particular hfe readings to seek?

peace,
James

[Samuel]

do you live in the US? I believe radioshack still sells 2n2222s

[primalphunk]

do you live in the US? I believe radioshack still sells 2n2222s

Ahhh...thank you for your advice kind sir.    I made the trip to the ratshack today and picked up an assortment of 15 npn-type transistors.  You know part number 276-1617 and all.  It came with a wide selection of these little 3 pin wonders & I am almost certain I can find one with a suitably low hFE and of poor enough quality to fit the LofoMofo nicely.  

I was so compelled to visit that damnable place after reading the little blurb Mr. Escobedo includes with his schematic and also chancing across this...I was shocked!   :shock:

http://www.sas.org/E-Bulletin/2002-05-17/labNotes/body.html

What!  The 2n2222a is an ENHANCED version of a 2N2222!! It has higher gain than a regular 2n2222!!!  This will not do!!!!   :wink: It quickly became aparent that my search for the unholy grail was not yet over.  If I can find something even noisier and with a lower magic number then I might indeed have something.

So I measured the prospect I had already purchased from Mouser and it had an hFE of 215.  My newest candidates have the following hFEs...84, 85 & 170.  There were even a couple of mpsa14s that read at an hFE of 1 on my multimeter but that can't be right...can it?  It just sounds really wrong.

I'll plug the 3 main candidates in soon...but for now...the saga continues...

peace,
James