8 Nov
2007
8 Nov
'07
12:53 p.m.
Sign. Terminology changes over time, particularly in technology.
When I was young, I learned about "condensers" and "aerials" from my
father. "Breadboarding" a circuit meant pretty much that--
constructing it on a plank of wood, preferably using #14 bare copper
wire laid out in neat right angles.
By the time I was a teenager, my speech habits had been corrected to
say "capacitor" and "antenna".
'Aerial' is still the common term over here ('antenna' is understood, but
sounds wrong). But the only time you'll see the word 'condenser' used is
in old books and in one old radio magazine that insistes on using the old
terms (including 'cylces per second' for 'hertz').
I like the distinction between "filament" and "heater". The latter
implies that something is being heated. The former implies a
standalone glowing wire. "Indirectly heated" and "directly heated"
may be a bit more accurate, but the terms are also cumbrous.
They actually refer to subtly differnt things. 'Directly heated' and
'Indirectly heated' refer to the actual cathode -- the thing that emits
electrons. 'Filament' and 'Heater' refer to the use made of the glowing
thin wire. OK, a 'directly heated cathode' and a 'filament' are much the
same thing (as in the indicator tube that started this thread), but
'heater' and 'indirectly heated cathode' are different things.
And whoever heard of "nanofarads" or "picofarads" anyway? ;)
I'm old enough to remember 'micro-micro-farads' :-)
-tony