Part Obituaries continued : R.I.P -- dear J310

 Greetings ###

I'm working on a common gate RF amp using the ubiquitous RF home brewer's JFET, the J310. I happened to go on DigiKey and Mouser. Here's what was written for the part I was looking at on DigiKey:

The 10-volt or the higher voltage SMD versions are no longer made!  The TO-92 versions said goodbye a few year ago. I checked some of the substitute parts --- many of them are also no longer made and are just stock.

Yes, people are selling real & bootleg TO-92 versions on EBay etc. -- and also small-scale sellers -- or sellers abroad sell TO-92 J310s.  However, for the average person around the globe, getting these now expensive parts -- and paying shipping costs seems quite a bother. I now have to think carefully when I make a schematic and suggest people use a TO-92 J310 in the 'FET slot' like I casually did 20 years ago.

Fortunately, I saw this coming and actively searched for a "lifetime supply" of TO-92 JFETs around 1998-2002. I purchased hundreds of FETs back in that time slot.

Above — Some of my collection. The leftmost bin also houses 2SC3355s, a 1 GHz NPN part with a low noise figure. I've got BF244 (a 700 MHz nJFET part), 2N5484, MPF102, J310 and a few others in TO-92 for RF. I've also got popular switching JFETs like the J111, J112, J113, & J176 ( p-channel JFET) in my audio parts bins. All these parts are originals and many were in dusty factory packages.

Above — My TO-92 J310 bin is now gold? I bought in minimum quantities of 500 back in the day. Got them for 10-15 cents each when buying in bulk.

 
Above — Top view -- TO-92 J310 bin. About 3/4 of them are Fairchild Semiconductor versions made in 1997. VDS max = 25 volt versions. I also gave away hundreds of J310s plus other parts to some readers of the original QRP HomeBuilder web site for free between 2003 and 2016.  Before shipping got crazy expensive. Also, now to send parts, you have to fill out extensive paperwork.

Above — I have 2 original U310 JFETs. If the J310 is gold, then these are 'platinum'. 

I also collected some ultra low noise through-hole  JFETs for HiFi audio and noise measurement circuitry. These particular FETs now cost a small fortune -- and most affordable versions are no doubt - bootleg.

If you can find a good deal on real TO-92 J310s,  now is the time to grab them. I'm going to probably lean towards using surface mount FETs in future projects for Popcorn. At least people can still get these for now. It's sad to think that such a integral part of home brew electronics is going extinct. 

Analog epilogue -->  Gone extinct -  gone digital,  bye,  I'm gone.  Goodbye old friend.

Addendum:

I've been thinking about mixers a lot. I home brewed 7 different styles to learn more about them.  Just musings. Not to build. All major content for Popcorn will be presented in videos. The audience is not exclusive to Ham or SWL radio -- it's for all people who like straight-forward, accessible, analog electronics. I've got some great ideas to hopefully share. Thanks.