Pro EE Industry Jargon: What "unspoken/understood" terms did you struggle with?

[jakeisprobably]

 What "unspoken/understood" terms did you struggle with?

For a self taught beginner like myself, it took me a while to learn the Pro EE's distaste for adding a decimal on a schematic. I had no idea that 3.3k means the same thing as 3k3.

 I also had a lightbulb moment when I finally learned to add "2S" before any transistor part number that starts with a letter (ex."A965" = "2SA965") for a much better chance of finding the correct information.

 What unspoken EE industry Jargon or terminology did you have trouble with?

[Seekonk]

I was just having a conversation about this.  In classical electronics the anode of a diode is +, yet on bridge rectifiers the cathode is marked +.  That has to mess some people up.

[tszaboo]

DNP or Do Not Populate.
Also, HVAC does not mean High Voltage Alternating Current BTW.

[dmills]

.1mf does not mean what the SI system would have you expect when seen on an old US schematic.

Regards, Dan.

[Dave]

In classical electronics the anode of a diode is +, yet on bridge rectifiers the cathode is marked +.  That has to mess some people up.

But it isn't. An anode is an anode and a cathode is a cathode. Whether either of them should be connected to plus, minus or anything else depends entirely on the circuit.

[Brumby]

TH

I wondered about this for a while wondering what exotic process it was describing - until I picked up enough information from contextual use to Google "TH resistor".

It was "Through Hole".  Nothing exotic at all ... in fact a very familiar old friend that I had known all my life.

[derGoldstein]

Text on *large* SMT parts. You have the room to print "10uH" on a 8mm x 8mm inductor... Why would you print "100" on it?? (I know it's for consistency... It's still annoying)

[rob.manderson]

Years ago at HP we used to refer to the 'gazinta' (never saw it written down so I'm guessing spelling).  Took a while to figure out they meant the input (goes into)!

Strangely enough we never seemed to talk about the 'comezoutta'. 

[IanB]

I was just having a conversation about this.  In classical electronics the anode of a diode is +, yet on bridge rectifiers the cathode is marked +.  That has to mess some people up.

Er...what on earth are you talking about? On both diodes and bridge rectifiers the terminal marked + is where the positive pixies congregate.

In general, you and everyone else will be far less confused if you never, ever use the words "anode" or "cathode". Refer instead to "the positive terminal" and "the negative terminal". Precise, accurate and unambiguous.

(For example: take any ordinary lithium ion cell. One terminal is marked + and one terminal is marked -. Which one is the anode and which one is the cathode?)

[Brumby]

Years ago at HP we used to refer to the 'gazinta' (never saw it written down so I'm guessing spelling).  Took a while to figure out they meant the input (goes into)!

Strangely enough we never seemed to talk about the 'comezoutta'. 

I had an arithmetic explanation given to me ....

2 gazinta 4 twice, 4 gazinta 12 three times.....

[Synthetase]

.1mf does not mean what the SI system would have you expect when seen on an old US schematic.

Regards, Dan.

Yes, I did a double take the first time I saw that when pulling apart old audio gear.

[andtfoot]

.1mf does not mean what the SI system would have you expect when seen on an old US schematic.

Regards, Dan.

Yes, I did a double take the first time I saw that when pulling apart old audio gear.

So what does it mean then?

[Seekonk]

I was just having a conversation about this.  In classical electronics the anode of a diode is +, yet on bridge rectifiers the cathode is marked +.  That has to mess some people up.

Er...what on earth are you talking about? On both diodes and bridge rectifiers the terminal marked + is where the positive pixies congregate.

In general, you and everyone else will be far less confused if you never, ever use the words "anode" or "cathode". Refer instead to "the positive terminal" and "the negative terminal". Precise, accurate and unambiguous.

(For example: take any ordinary lithium ion cell. One terminal is marked + and one terminal is marked -. Which one is the anode and which one is the cathode?)

I'm far too long out of school to remember or care about arcane diode designations.  Even anode
and cathode should be relegated to the dustbin except in the SCR case.  But a diode is a PN device
and the anode is technically designated as positive. Google diode symbol and half the diodes
pictured have the anode marked positive. Pictured is a circuit board from about 1980 when PC board
real estate was cheap. I have no association with this board.  Note the + on the anode.  If this
bare board was handed out to be populated with only the designation + D9, half the people here
would place the banded end at the + side.  Sorry about picture quality, my USB microscope recently
crapped out.

[EEVblog]

.1mf does not mean what the SI system would have you expect when seen on an old US schematic.

Regards, Dan.

Yes, I did a double take the first time I saw that when pulling apart old audio gear.

So what does it mean then?

mf, or MFD stands for micro farad, not milli farad.
"Back in the day" there were only two capacitance multipliers, micro farad, and pico farad. So if you saw 0.001 you knew it meant 1nF!
Or because "nano" wasn't a thing back then, you would actually call it "Point double oh one mike"c

[IanB]

I'm far too long out of school to remember or care about arcane diode designations.  Even anode
and cathode should be relegated to the dustbin except in the SCR case.  But a diode is a PN device
and the anode is technically designated as positive. Google diode symbol and half the diodes
pictured have the anode marked positive. Pictured is a circuit board from about 1980 when PC board
real estate was cheap. I have no association with this board.  Note the + on the anode.  If this
bare board was handed out to be populated with only the designation + D9, half the people here
would place the banded end at the + side.  Sorry about picture quality, my USB microscope recently
crapped out.

OK, I get what you're saying now.

This is how I have always looked at it:

When a diode is conducting, the terminal marked + will be more positive than the terminal marked -.

When a bridge rectifier is conducting, the terminal marked + will be more positive than the terminal marked -.

It has just dawned on me that the positive pixies flow into the + terminal on a diode, and the positive pixies flow out of the + terminal on a bridge rectifier. But until you brought it up, it had never occurred to me to be confused by this, and indeed I hadn't even noticed the contradiction between the two.

[helius]

looking into its DC terminals, a bridge rectifier is a power source. Looking into its terminals, a diode is a power sink. So already you know that the relationship between +/- and anode/cathode MUST be reversed between those types of components, because the only way to swap power supply with power consumption is to reverse the relationship between polarity and current flow. Similarly for any type of battery, the relationship MUST reverse when charging/discharging. Otherwise KCL doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
Anode and cathode aren't "confusing terms": they are the ONLY terms for describing current flow. "Positive and negative terminal" have NO relationship to current flow.

[CatalinaWOW]

Never heard of a comesouta, but almost all of my circuits and test gear had a gazinta and a gazouta.  Preferences on numbers vary with different parts of the industry.  3.3K would be fine some places, gets you run out of town in others.  Same thing on capacitors.  In many places there are only two multipliers, pico which gives the unit pronounced "puf"  (pF) and micro leading to the "muf" (mF).

[LabSpokane]

.1mf does not mean what the SI system would have you expect when seen on an old US schematic.

Regards, Dan.

Yes, I did a double take the first time I saw that when pulling apart old audio gear.

So what does it mean then?

mf, or MFD stands for micro farad, not milli farad.
"Back in the day" there were only two capacitance multipliers, micro farad, and pico farad. So if you saw 0.001 you knew it meant 1nF!
Or because "nano" wasn't a thing back then, you would actually call it "Point double oh one mike"c

mF and MFD are the two of the more obnoxious units in engineering use, besides slugs and a couple of others that escape me right now. I still see them occasionally and hate them.

Anode and cathode are just never going to go away. Too many industries rely on those definitions. I remember that cathode is (-) because I know cathode ray tubes shoot electrons to make pixels. How's that for a circuitous mnemonic?

[The Soulman]

.1mf does not mean what the SI system would have you expect when seen on an old US schematic.

Regards, Dan.

Yes, I did a double take the first time I saw that when pulling apart old audio gear.

So what does it mean then?

mf, or MFD stands for micro farad, not milli farad.
"Back in the day" there were only two capacitance multipliers, micro farad, and pico farad. So if you saw 0.001 you knew it meant 1nF!
Or because "nano" wasn't a thing back then, you would actually call it "Point double oh one mike"c

My dad who is into electronics repair for over fifty years never uses and seem to refuse to use nano farads. 
On the other hand he is not alone, I've came across plenty not that old (USA) schematics that still don't use nano's. 

[IanB]

I remember that cathode is (-) because I know cathode ray tubes shoot electrons to make pixels.

But often the cathode is (+), which is why it can be confusing...

[grouchobyte]

More like EE peeves:

current flow and electron flow, especially in SPICE
is the mark designating positive or negative?
cathode vs anode, long lead or short?
The red wire is negative
The dot signifies?
EBC, ECB, GDS?
slightly different package variants from standard  ie: SC70 and mini-SC70
I/O's or pins labeled IOC10O_P and OIC11OI0_N
tiny poor silkscreen printed on top of other tiny poor silkscreen on a tiny board with no documentation
0402 LEDs with the cathode marking on the bottom of the part
finding pin 79 on a 200 pin .015" pitch connector
proprietary "damm" connectors
RoHs solder

Oh, and my favorite......"All ya gotta do is"

[LabSpokane]

I remember that cathode is (-) because I know cathode ray tubes shoot electrons to make pixels.

But often the cathode is (+), which is why it can be confusing...

For those occasions, I simply flip the TV upside down and watch the image in the mirror, with the VCR running backwards.

[radar_macgyver]

My dad who is into electronics repair for over fifty years never uses and seem to refuse to use nano farads. 
On the other hand he is not alone, I've came across plenty not that old (USA) schematics that still don't use nano's. 

Then there's the serious old-timers who use "uuF" (micro-micro farads) instead of pF. I've seen that in manuals for FPS-18 radars (published ca 1956).

My personal peeve: markings on surface-mount LEDs never seem consistent. I resort to testing each one with a DMM before soldering.

[T3sl4co1l]

current flow and electron flow, especially in SPICE

FYI, sources are always "from to".  So for,

I1 0 1 1.0
R1 1 0 1.0

Node 1 is at +1.0V, because 1A flows into it.

Or for a V source, its current property is negative what you expect, because you're measuring the current into (then out of) the device, and a source is simply reverse that of a load (which is consistent).

Tim

[jakeisprobably]

Noob question, Why hasn't the anode/cathode  positive/negative current/electron flow terminology gotten redefined to add clarity and specificity in the English language?
  When it comes to words and language, it's all just made up and evolving anyways. If you just have to "understand this means that or refer to contextual descriptives" what's the point?
    To me it's like describing the left and right sides of an automobile, it's a pointless, useless descriptor without knowing what the intended perspective of the statement is. Is the statement made from inside the vehicle or out. On the other hand ask a sailor what side of a ship they are referring to and you will have a clear descriptive answer. So what does it take to get the EE community on board and away from idiots in cars? (hypothetically of course)