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Electronic Components

Abbreviations and Terms

A: Anode
AC: Alternating Current
ADC: Analog-to-Digital Converter
Admittance:
AFC: Automatic Frequency Control
AGC: Automatic Gain Control
Ah: Ampere-hours
AM: Amplitude Modulation
Anode:
ARRL: American Radio Relay League
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit
ASK: Amplitude Shift Key
ASPIC: Application Specific Power Integrated Circuit (Also called PASIC)
AVC: Automatic Volume Control
BCD: Binary-Coded Decimal
BCD: Bipolar, CMOS, and DMOS
BCD2: 2nd generation BCD
BCD3: 3rd generation BCD
BER: Bit Error Rate
BFO: Beat Frequency Oscillator
BJT: Bipolar Junction power Transistor
BNC: A type of connector – Bayonet Neill–Concelman (Bayonet from “Bayonet Mount”, Neill and Concelman were it’s inventors)
BPF: Band Pass Filter
BPSK: BiPhase Shift Key
Breadboard:
Capacitance:
Cathode:
CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access
CdS: Cadmium Sulfide
Cermet: Ceramic Metal
CFL: Compact Fluorescent Lamp
CLK: Clock
COP: Computer Operating Properly
CP: Constant-Potential
CPLD:
CMOS:
CSI: Current Source Inverter
DAC: DC Amplitude Control
DAC: Digital-to-Analog Converter
dB: Decibels
DC: Direct Current
DDS: Direct Digital Synthesiser (Function Generator)
DMOS: Double-Diffused MOS
DPSK: Differential Phase Shift Keying
EDAC: Error Detection And Correction
EEPROM:
EMC: Electromagnetic Compatibility
EMF: Electro-Motive Force
EMI: Electromagnetic Interference
EOD: End Of Discharge
EODV: End Of Discharge Voltage
EPROM:
ESD: Electrostatic Discharge
ESR: Equivalent Series Resistance
ETSI: European Telecommunications Standards Institute
eV: Electron-Volt (1 eV=1.6×10-19 J)
FCC: Federal Communications Commission
FDD: Frequency Division Duplex
FDM:
FDM: Frequency-Division Multiplexing
FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple Access
FEC: Forward Error Correction
FFT: Fast Fourier Transform
FIFO: First In – First Out
Floating Pin:
FM: Frequency Modulation
Forward Current: Maximum safe current that can pass through a diode without damaging it. If
Forward Voltage: Minimum amount of voltage needed to pass current through a diode. Vf
FPGA: Field-Programmable Gate Array
FSK: Frequency Shift Keying
FTP: File Transfer Protocol
GaAs: Gallium Arsenide
Ge: Germanium
GHz: GigaHertz
GMSK: Gaussian MSK
GND: Ground
GPIB: General Purpose Interface Bus
GPIO: General Purpose Input Output
Ground:
GSM: Global System for Mobiles
GSMA: GSM Association
GTO: Gate Turn-Off Thyristor
hfe:
hFE:
HID: High Intensity Discharge (Lamp)
Hz:
IC:
IF: Intermediate Frequency
IGBT: Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
Impedance:
Inductance:
IP: Internet Protocol
ITU: International Telecommunication Union
K: Cathode
kHz: KiloHertz
L: Symbol for Inductance (named after physicist Heinrich Lenz)
LAN:
LDR: Light-Dependent Resistor
LED: Light Emitting Diode
LF: Low Frequency
Litz Wire:
Li-Ion: Lithium-Ion (Batteries)
LNB:
LO: Local Oscillator
LSB: Least Significant Bit
LSB: Lower SideBand (related to SSB)
LTE: Long-Term Evolution
mAh: milliamperes-hours
MCT: MOS Controlled Thyristor
MHz: MegaHertz
Microcontroller:
Mil: Thousandth of an inch (Milli-Inch). For the unfamiliar, it may sound like short for mm and cause great confusion.
MISO: Master Input Slave Output
MLM: MultiLevel Modulation
MMF: Magnetomotive Force
MOSFET: Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
MOSI: Master Output Slave Input
MOV: Metal Oxide Varistor
MPSK: M-ary Phase Shift Keying; a modulation technique in which the carrier phase is shifted to one of M phase positions, usually defined as a multiple of 360/M degrees. Each phase shift conveys log2M bits of information.
ms: Millisecond
MSB: Most Significant Bit
MSK: Minimum Shift Keying
MTBF:
MTC: Maximum Temperature Cutoff
NCV: Non-Contact Voltage
NF: Noise Factor
NiCd: Nickel Cadmium (Batteries)
NiMH: Nickel Metal Hydride (Batteries)
NPN:
NPTH:
ns: Nanosecond
OOK: On/Off Keying
OQPSK: Offset QuadriPhase Shift Keying
Oscilloscope:
PAM: Pulse Amplitude Modulation
PASIC: Power Application Specific Integrated Circuit (Also called ASPIC)
PCB: Printed Circuit Board
PCM: Pulse Code Modulation
PCS: Personal Communications Services (or Systems)
PFC: Power Factor Correction
PID Controller: Proportional, Integral and Derivative Controller
Pin:
PIV: Peak Inverse Voltage
PLC: Programmable Logic Controller
PLL: Phase-Locked Loop
PM: Phase Modulation
PNP:
Pot: Potentiometer
PPM: Pulse Phase Modulation
PROM:
PSK: Phase Shift Keying
PTH:
PWM: Pulse-Width Modulation
Q Factor:
QAM: Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QPR: Quadrature Partial Response
QSW: Quasi-Square-Wave
RAM: Random Access Memory
Reactance:
Resistance:
RF: Radio Frequency
RF bandwidth: The 3-dB or half-power bandwidth (two-sided)
RFI: RF Interference
RGB: Red Green Blue
RMS: Root-Mean-Square
ROM:
RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indication
SCPI: Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments
SEPIC: Single Ended Primary Inductance Converter
SFSK: Sinusoidal FSK
SiC: Silicon Carbide
Solder:
SLA: Sealed Lead-Acid
SMD:
SMES: Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage
Smith Chart:
SMPS: SwitchMode Power Supply
SNMP: Simple Network Management Protocol
SNR: Signal-to-Noise Ratio
SOA: Save Operating Area
SPI: Serial Peripheral Interface
SSB: Single SideBand modulation
SSB-SC: Single SideBand Supressed Carrier
Stripboard:
Susceptance:
TCP: Transmission Control Protocol
TDD: Time Division Duplex
TDM: Time Division Multiplex
TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access
THD: Total Harmonic Distortion
Thou: Thousandth of an inch, used colloquially in machine shops and electronics labs in the UK. Doesn’t usually appear in written material. 0.001″
TRF: Tuned Radio Frequency
Tristate:
TTL: Transistor-Transistor Logic
UPS: Uninterruptible Power Supply
USB: Universal Serial Bus
USB: Upper SideBand (related to SSB)
V: Voltage
Vcc: Positive supply voltage of a Bipolar Junction Transistor
Vdd: Positive supply voltage of a Field Effect Transistor
Vee: Negative supply voltage of a Bipolar Junction Transistor
Vss: Negative supply voltage of a Field Effect Transistor
Note: c,d,e & s originated from Collector, Drain, Emitter and Source legs of transistors.
The double suffix indicates that the voltage is “common” rather than at a specific pin,
e.g Vcc is supply voltage to all collectors and Vee is common voltage for all emitters.
Since the introduction of ICs, Vcc and Gnd are used to designate positive and negative supply pins.
VCO: Voltage-Controlled Oscillator
VDE: Verband Deutscher Elektronotechniker (West German equivalent of FCC)
Verilog:
VFD: Vacuum Fluorescent Display
VFO: Variable Frequency Oscillator
VHDL:
VHSIC:
VLF: Very Low Frequencies (3 to 30 kHz,
VLSI:
VSI: Voltage Source Inverter
Z: Impedance (Ω)
ZSI: Impedance Source Inverfter
μs: Microsecond

Dimensions

Dimensions in electronics are a mixed bag since the original standards were set in the imperial units and later on metric units have also been implemented, but some measurements were so widespread that they are still kept the same. For example, the distance between breadboard holes is 0.1″, which is same for a large number electronic components as well. In the metric system it becomes 2.54mm.

Common Calculations / Formulas

Resistor Value for LED

Vf = Forward Voltage
If = Forward Current
Vs = Supply Voltage
R = Required Resistance

R = (Vs – Vf)/If

Example:

Vf = 2.1V
If = 30mA = 30/1000A = 0.03A
Vs = 3.3V
R = (3.3 – 2.1) / 0.03 = 40Ω


Components

Antenna

Audio Transformer

Breadboard

Breadboard Power Supply

Button

Capacitor

Crystal Oscillator

Daughterboard

Diode

ePaper

FPGA

Gyroscope

Hall Effect Sensor

Humidity Sensor

IC

Inductor

Infrared Diode

Joystick

Key

Laser Diode

LCD

LDR

Microcontroller

Microphone

Module

Motherboard

Nixie Tube

OLED Display

PCB

Peltier Cell

Photoresistor

Potentiometer

Project Box

Real Time Clock

Reed Switch

Relay

Resistor

RFID Chip/Card/Tag

RFID Reader

RGB LED

Rotary Encoder

RTC

Servo Motor

Speaker

Stepper Motor

Switch

Temperature Sensor

Transformer

Transistor

Ultrasound Module

Vacuum Fluorescent Display

Vacuum Tube

VFD

Zener Diode


Tools

Bench Power Supply

Crocodile Clip

Function Generator

Handheld Oscilloscope

IC Extractor

IC Straightener

LED Tester

Logic Analyser

Multi-Function Tester

Multimeter

Multimeter Probe

Oscilloscope

Oscilloscope Probe

Programmer

Soldering Iron

Solder Sucker

Tweezers

Vector Network Analyser

Wire Cutter

Wire Stripper

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