Glossary

Here you can find an explanation of some terms that may be used on this site

B
Stands for "Ball Grid Array" which is a mounting technology for Part Footprints Stands for "Bill of Materials" which is a list of parts for a device or PCB
 * BGA
 * BOM

C
Short for "Capacitor" The rubber seal at the bottom (Radial) or negative side (Axial) of an Aluminum Electrolytic or Aluminum Polymer capacitor Condenser (or condensator) is the original term used to describe what is now referred to as a "Capacitor" but became obsolete as it is easily confused with condensers (heat exchangers). This term is used most in older documentation but still remains for certain applications like "condenser microphone" or in documentation that has been translated to English from a language that still uses the original term. Stands for "Cathode Ray Tube", a glass display tube used in older electronics
 * Cap(s)
 * Capacitor Bung
 * Condenser
 * CRT

D
Stands for "Dual Inline Package" which is a mounting technology for Part Footprints
 * DIP

H
Hertz is a measurement of frequency and is stated as the amount of times something happens within one second. Older devices and documents may also use the term "cycles" in the same way.
 * Hz or Cycles

I
Stands for "Integrated Circuit" which is a semiconductor device that combines the functionality of multiple other parts into one to perform more complicated tasks.
 * IC or Chip

P
Stands for "Printed Circuit Board' which is the board that parts are typically mounted to in devices, sometimes called a PWB (Printed Wiring Board) in older devices.
 * PCB

R
Short for "Reference Designation" which is an identification used to mark the location of each part on a PCB. These are also used for schematics and BOMs to reference which parts should be put at a location on the PCB.
 * RefDes

RefDes' are usually denoted with a letter and a number. The letters describe the kind of part that goes there. Some common examples:
 * BD - Bridge Rectifier
 * C - Capacitor
 * CN - Connector
 * D - Diode
 * F - Fuse
 * FR or RF - Fusible Resistor
 * L - Inductor
 * Q - A transistor or MOSFET
 * R - Resistor
 * S or SW - Switch (button / slide switch / rotary switch)
 * T - Transformer
 * U or IC - ICs like processors, RAM, or ROMs

S
Stands for "Single Inline Package" which is a mounting technology for Part Footprints Stands for "Surface Mount Device" or "Surface Mount Technology" which is a mounting technology for Part Footprints
 * SIP
 * SMD or SMT

SOT

Stands for Small Outline Transistor, a family of transistors with small package sizes. All SOT devices are surface mount.

T
Stands for "Through Hole Technology" which is a mounting technology for Part Footprints
 * THT

TO

Stands for "Transistor Outline". A type of through-hole transistor packages.

TSOT

Stands for Thin Small Outline Transistor. Lower-height versions of SOT components.

Q
Stands for "Quad Flat Package" which is a mounting technology for Part Footprints
 * QFP