New pet peeve....

[John Coloccia]

...and I feel I must share it with all the electrical engineers and teachers out there.

A transistor is NOT an amplifier. A transistor is NOT a switch. Stop saying it's an amplifier. An amplifier is an amplifier. A transistor can be used to make an amplifier, but so can other things. Not only that, it can be used as a buffer with unity gain, or it can even be used to attenuate a signal. In the case of a FET, because it's a voltage controlled device, it's not even proper to call it an amplifier even in the loosest sense. It's almost like it's meant to be confusing on purpose.

If you simply must have an analogy, repeat after me: a transistor is similar to a VALVE. Not a switch...not an amplifier....it's not like two diodes back to back (who comes up with this nonsense???). It's getting a bit tiresome explaining to people how transistors work when I first have to un-explain all of the incorrect analogies.

I just felt like I needed to get that off my chest

[Brian Kent]

So what is the difference between a valve and a switch?

I'll add to your rant with an irony. Why is it that out of the room full of electrical engineers that gather at my house on Thursdays to play Dungeons and Dragon, why can't anyone do electrical work (changing a light switch)? Shouldn't they be called electronic engineers, since they can program anything electronic on the planet?

[David Epperson]

So what is the difference between a valve and a switch?

I'll add to your rant with an irony. Why is it that out of the room full of electrical engineers that gather at my house on Thursdays to play Dungeons and Dragon, why can't anyone do electrical work (changing a light switch)? Shouldn't they be called electronic engineers, since they can program anything electronic on the planet?

Think of it this way

How many programers does it take to change a light bulb?

It cannot be done. It's a hardware problem.

[paul cottingham]

Think of it this way

How many programers does it take to change a light bulb?

It cannot be done. It's a hardware problem.

No. To the programmer, the light is broken. Of course, if he is a windows programmer, he just changes the industry standard to darkness.

[Stephen Cherry]

So what is the difference between a valve and a switch?

I'll add to your rant with an irony. Why is it that out of the room full of electrical engineers that gather at my house on Thursdays to play Dungeons and Dragon, why can't anyone do electrical work (changing a light switch)? Shouldn't they be called electronic engineers, since they can program anything electronic on the planet?

They can't do electrical work for the same reason that the general population can't do much of anything. As people interested in woodworking, we are the exception to the rule. Curiosity, interest and willingness to give it a try are the exception today, rather than the rule.

As for electronics:

Horowitz and Hill, The Art of Electronics

[Jim Matthews]

I believe that the base level of technical writing has descended to English translations of Russian assembly manuals.

What starts out shoddy becomes incomprehensible, to the point of being obviously wrong.
I met the designer of a simple vacuum tube amplifier (his English is excellent), outraged at the persistent errors described in the assembly of his preamplifier.

On the assembly manual for one of his more complicated preamps he said,
"They throw this over the cubicle to the lowest paid intern who has watched re-runs of Sesame Street and expect accuracy?"
- Erno Borbely

Transistors, having three terminals have complex behavior which makes their application flexible.
They're now like plumbing or elevators, we only notice them when they fail.

I believe we've entered a dangerous realm, where most of us take for granted devices that function simultaneously beneath our notice, and beyond our comprehension.
http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/...or/tran_4.html

[Chuck Wintle]

Jim,
I don't know if you ever saw an operators manual for japanese motorcycles when they first started to arrive in North America but these were just awful to read and understand. The english language can be quickly learned but mastery takes a long time.

[Chuck Wintle]

Transistors, having three terminals have complex behavior which makes their application flexible.
They're now like plumbing or elevators, we only notice them when they fail.

I believe we've entered a dangerous realm, where most of us take for granted devices that function simultaneously beneath our notice, and beyond our comprehension.
http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/...or/tran_4.html

Thanks for the link to this site...lots of theory to explain the whys of electronics.

[Rick Christopherson]

A transistor is NOT an amplifier. A transistor is NOT a switch. Stop saying it's an amplifier. An amplifier is an amplifier. A transistor can be used to make an amplifier, but so can other things.

While it is marginally incorrect to say a transistor is an amplifier, it is definitely incorrect to say it is not an amplifier. One limits its function, which is much broader than just being an amplifier. The other blocks its function, which does include amplification of a signal. The same is true for calling it a switch. It is not always a switch, but it can be a switch.

I have never heard of any electrical engineer generically refer to all transistors as amplifiers (or switches) unless one was actually operating as an amplifier (or switch). I don't think you have either, otherwise you wouldn't have commented about both "amplifier" and "switch" in the same "pet peeve". When they are being operated as an amplifier or switch, I don't see a problem referencing them according to what function they are serving.

Identifying a component by the function it is performing is quite common, and saves a lot of needless explanation for that function. For example, a "pull-up resistor" isn't any special type of resistor, but the term is used quite frequently so the audience (colleagues) don't have to needlessly examine the circuit to identify that this is the particular function of that resistor.

[Chuck Wintle]

...and I feel I must share it with all the electrical engineers and teachers out there.

A transistor is NOT an amplifier. A transistor is NOT a switch. Stop saying it's an amplifier. An amplifier is an amplifier. A transistor can be used to make an amplifier, but so can other things. Not only that, it can be used as a buffer with unity gain, or it can even be used to attenuate a signal. In the case of a FET, because it's a voltage controlled device, it's not even proper to call it an amplifier even in the loosest sense. It's almost like it's meant to be confusing on purpose.

If you simply must have an analogy, repeat after me: a transistor is similar to a VALVE. Not a switch...not an amplifier....it's not like two diodes back to back (who comes up with this nonsense???). It's getting a bit tiresome explaining to people how transistors work when I first have to un-explain all of the incorrect analogies.

I just felt like I needed to get that off my chest

are you over reacting just a tad?

[Jim Matthews]

Thanks for the link to this site...lots of theory to explain the whys of electronics.

The writers of these technical descriptions leave out the most important factor in modern electronics, the smallest components
are made of compressed smoke. When the smoke gets out, the device is broken and cannot be repaired.

[Myk Rian]

I just felt like I needed to get that off my chest

Must have been bugging you for a while.

[Jim Koepke]

Having worked in electronics, it is easy to understand John's peeve.

More than once in my experience someone was having trouble with a light in their car. Some people only know one electrical term and think that makes them an expert. I have heard people describe; a broken wire, a non-functioning switch and a burned out light as a short circuit.

It seems impossible to remove this condition from their mind. I gave up trying to dislodge incorrect notions from their blocked minds years ago.

As to transistors, some are designed for switching off and on, some are designed for analog signal amplification, while others are general purpose. Some may confuse switching with amplification because a small binary signal into a switching transistor allows a higher magnitude signal to travel through the transistor to power some circuit or other device.

They think this is amplification of a signal when it is just the signal turning a switch on or off.

jtk

[John Coloccia]

are you over reacting just a tad?

What would have been a proper reaction? If Grumpy Cat can get a movie deal, surely I can vent in the Off Topic forum about lousy engineering analogies.

[Curt Harms]

They can't do electrical work for the same reason that the general population can't do much of anything. As people interested in woodworking, we are the exception to the rule. Curiosity, interest and willingness to give it a try are the exception today, rather than the rule.
<snip>

Boy, you ain't wrong about that! At least around here, many people are competent in their niche. Take 'em out of their area of expertise and they don't know enough to pound sand in a rat hole.