Hi folks, I'm glad this subject came up, and am glad to offer some help. The subject of these units, notations, etc. has fascinated me for years, and finally I set about to get to the authoritative sources. Over the past couple of years, I've done the research and published the results.
Here are two documents that I'm sure will be helpful. There is NO original information here---it's all from well-recognized, world-class authorities. You'll find these conventions followed by most of the international companies that publish respected catalogs and technical brochures, such as Agilent, Tektronix, and others. These companies have obviously looked up the standards, as I have, and put them to practice. Because they are instrument companies, they deal with almost every electrical unit in existence. One important caution: Don't assume that what you see in print (trade press ads, articles, papers, etc.) is correct. Much has been written in ignorance of these standards, simply because the editors aren't aware that international standards exist. The first publication, "Units, Symbols and Style Guide," is available from the Power Sources Manufacturers Association. It's a heavy-weight, coated-paper card with index tab and three-hole punch, for use in three-ring binders. See the PSMA Web site, psma.com. You can buy copies, but here's the text---free. The second one, "Writing Guide," has not been formally published. I wrote it after realizing that there were some common errors that weren't covered in the "Units, Symbols, and Style Guide." Once you are familiar with the units conventions (i.e. Capitalize the symbols such as V, A, Hz and don't capitalize the units in text such as hertz, volts, amperes, even though they are names), the one page Writing Guide is about all you need to hang on your wall. Comments welcome. Chuck Mullett, P.E. Chairman, Power Sources Manufacturers Association ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: [email protected] with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: [email protected] Dave Heald: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: [email protected] Jim Bacher: [email protected] All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list"
