Yes, and the crystal was the rock crystal called galena (orginally but
later germanium and then silicon the first hermetic diodes used a cat
whisker point contact that emulated the old crystal radio sets.  I
recall building a Phillmore Jr. way back when and winding my own coil
too.  Reception was pretty darn good (AM stations really pump pump
ouit the power).

These days, we use the "D" designation instead.  yes, K stands for
coil, more specifically a relay coil.  K on a diode is of course the
Kathode (though why it is spelled that way eludes me - maybe it's a
German derivation as in Kathode Ray tube but then the Germans call
CRTs Braun tubes for the scientist who invented them).

Bob Landman

----- Original Message -----
From: McGlaughlin, Jeffrey A <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: January 10, 2000 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: [DC] Reference Designators


: The CR is for Crystal Rectifier
: U denotes Unrepairable
: K is used to designate Coil(C was already used for Capacitor)
: The military standard for Connectors is that the more mobile end of
the
: connection pair is the Plug and the more fixed end is the Jack
regardless of
: gender
:
: 15 plus years of collecting useless factoids is all it took to know
this ;-D
: !
: Jeffrey A. McGlaughlin
: PCB Designer
: Battelle Memorial Institute
: Columbus Ohio
: [log in to unmask]
:
:
:         -----Original Message-----
:         From:   Jack Olson [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
:         Sent:   Monday, 10 January, 2000 13:22
:         To:     [log in to unmask]
:         Subject:        [DC] Reference Designators
:
:         Something I overheard this morning got me wondering...
:
:         Have any of you been around long enough to know why a diode
would
: have a
:         designator of CR? What does the CR mean?
:
:         What does the U mean on an Integrated Circuit?
:
:         Is the K on relays arbitrary since R is used by resistors?
:
:         Does anyone really use P anymore for plugs?
:         (everything I've seen lately is J on connectors, no matter
if it is
: a socket
:         or a plug)
:
:         What do you use for submodules or subassemblies?
:
:         Not really important, I was just curious....
:
:         Jack
: