OK, here's where I get to rant just a little about some things that bug me about electronic conventions in use today.
This, of course, is just my opinion, so feel free to disagree with me (but be prepared to make your case!).
In no particular order:
1. "Euro" resistors in schematics:
What genius dreamt this up? A rectangular shape to represent a resistor? Not only are they butt-ugly, they make schematics harder to read, if anything.
Resistors should be represented as [insert name of favorite deity here] intended them to be shown:
**broken link removed**
You look at the zigzag lines, you know it's a resistor. Not a diode. Not a varactor. Not something else that could be represented by a faceless rectangle.
2. Nanofarads:
The guy at my local electronics shop agrees with me here; I was there when a customer asked for a 100 nF cap or some such, and I saw my friend behind the counter make a face.
What genius decided we needed 3 prefixes for capacitance? We've had pico- and micro- for years, and these served us well. No need to add yet another, and confusing, prefix to the mix. Is this another Euro thing? My friend the electronics clerk seemed to think it was because of the Chinese, but I'm not sure. Anyhow, now we've to do all kinds of mental gymnastics: 10 nF, lessee ... 10^-9 ... multiply µF by ... aaargh!
Anyhow, down with the nF! All power to the µF and the pF!
3. The "nXm" nomenclature:
This one particularly chafes my hide. Presumably on account of someone trying to read an old schematic, whereupon a resistance value was badly printed or partly worn off, and the decimal point couldn't be discerned, some other bureaucrat-genius (also in Brussels?) decided that henceforth, all fractional (decimal) values shall have the unit of multiplication (or, confusingly, the unit of measurement itself) firmly embedded in the number. So whereas in the good old days we could just nonchalantly write 4.7K, now we've got to put it into proper Eurocrat form by writing "4K7". 4.7Ω becomes the decidedly clunkier 4R7. And before you think voltages are immune, think again! 2V9 is the approved form. No longer shall you be allowed to put those pesky decimal points anywhere on a schematic!
I say pish-posh to all of these silly conventions, and swear to abrogate them to the end of my days.
This, of course, is just my opinion, so feel free to disagree with me (but be prepared to make your case!).
In no particular order:
1. "Euro" resistors in schematics:
What genius dreamt this up? A rectangular shape to represent a resistor? Not only are they butt-ugly, they make schematics harder to read, if anything.
Resistors should be represented as [insert name of favorite deity here] intended them to be shown:
**broken link removed**
You look at the zigzag lines, you know it's a resistor. Not a diode. Not a varactor. Not something else that could be represented by a faceless rectangle.
2. Nanofarads:
The guy at my local electronics shop agrees with me here; I was there when a customer asked for a 100 nF cap or some such, and I saw my friend behind the counter make a face.
What genius decided we needed 3 prefixes for capacitance? We've had pico- and micro- for years, and these served us well. No need to add yet another, and confusing, prefix to the mix. Is this another Euro thing? My friend the electronics clerk seemed to think it was because of the Chinese, but I'm not sure. Anyhow, now we've to do all kinds of mental gymnastics: 10 nF, lessee ... 10^-9 ... multiply µF by ... aaargh!
Anyhow, down with the nF! All power to the µF and the pF!
3. The "nXm" nomenclature:
This one particularly chafes my hide. Presumably on account of someone trying to read an old schematic, whereupon a resistance value was badly printed or partly worn off, and the decimal point couldn't be discerned, some other bureaucrat-genius (also in Brussels?) decided that henceforth, all fractional (decimal) values shall have the unit of multiplication (or, confusingly, the unit of measurement itself) firmly embedded in the number. So whereas in the good old days we could just nonchalantly write 4.7K, now we've got to put it into proper Eurocrat form by writing "4K7". 4.7Ω becomes the decidedly clunkier 4R7. And before you think voltages are immune, think again! 2V9 is the approved form. No longer shall you be allowed to put those pesky decimal points anywhere on a schematic!
I say pish-posh to all of these silly conventions, and swear to abrogate them to the end of my days.