Alternatives to BF245A in 1176 comp project

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pollomartian

Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2017
Messages
8
Location
Barcelona, Spain
Hi!

I'm writing from Barcelona. It seems that BF245A is discontinued here, and the stores that sell them have a very expensive prices. 2 or 3 euro  per unit would be a reasonable price if I musn't buy a lot of them to get a matched pair. Can I use another JFET?

Thanks in advance,

Pollo
 
Through-hole FETs are almost all out of production. I am not sure what the SMD equivalent of the BF245A is, but if there is one, you can solder one to a little piece of stripboard with some clipped leads to make a fake through-hole transistor. Or you can get some of the adapter PCBs that some people have made.

There are actually many other FETs that can fall in the same range needed:
The 2n5457 is extremely close (I'm not certain but they may have been intended as replacements for each other) and that's what I used in a stereo build I made.
2SK30 is probably the next closest -- they come in multiple ranges (GR, Y, ...). This is a good FET to have around anyway -- it's high voltage, very low capacitance, etc.
2n5952 falls in the upper part of the needed range
2N5485

Mind the pinout on each of these, they aren't all the same.

There are probably others that you'd be able to find but these are common enough.

If you go through a budget supplier like Tayda, be diligent about testing them before you solder them into the board. They've been known to carry fakes and mostly carry seconds, so they're often way off the bell curve.

EDIT: if you can afford the shipping and need to buy a pile, Smallbear has most FETs for 50c-$1 each. Known genuine, good parts, not seconds.
 
Thanks for your answers!

I usually buy components on Farnell. Farnell suggests BF256B, and I've seen a SMD model that I cannot remember properly...

I'll read the datasheets, and I'll post my decision :D

PD: I've found the website where I saw the SMT equivalent, it is BF 545 A:

https://www.soselectronic.com/articles/no-name/bf245-the-legend-is-leaving-the-successor-comes-1184
 

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