On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 10:53 AM, wrote: > This convention is common in countries that have a lot of dealings with > continental Europe. The European have used the multiplier (in this case t= he > 'k' for kilo) where the decimal point would go so that when schematics ar= e > reduced for printing a value like 2.7k doesn't get mistaken for 27k becau= se > the decimal point looks like an imperfection in the paper, if it can be s= een > at all. For a 2.7 ohm resistor you would put 2R7, and for a 2.7M you woul= d > use 2M7. For a 0.27 ohm then the letter comes first, and becomes R27. You > can also see this style of marking on resistors, especially low value one= s > of less than an ohm, typically those aluminium bodied ones that require > bolting down. > > The same convention gets applied to capacitors, i.e. a 4.7nF capacitor > would be shown as 4n7. > > It also spills over into speech, so instead of saying "four point seven > enn" I would say "four enn seven" when speaking with a colleague. > > I know Olin doesn't like it, and cannot see the use of it, but as a > convention it has been around in Europe since the mid 1960s that I know o= f, > and has been growing in use in the UK and Australasia, that I know of, to= a > point where it is the standard schematic labelling in these countries. Just a thought: I can't imagine myself saying "four kay seven ohms". I'd probably say "four point seven kay ohms" or "forty seven thousand ohms" --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .