Neets Master Glossary

1-2 AIR-CORE TRANSFORMER—A transformer composed of two or more coils that are wound around a nonmetallic core [2]. ALLOWANCE PARTS LIST (APL)—Repair parts required for units having the equipment/ component listed [14]. ALLOYED JUNCTION—A junction formed by recrystallization of a molten region of P-type material on an N-type substrate, or vice versa [7]. ALPHA—The emitter-to-collector current gain in a common-base circuit [7]. ALTERNATING CURRENT—An electrical current that constantly changes amplitude and changes polarity at regular intervals [2]. ALTITUDE—The vertical distance of an aircraft or object above a given reference, such as ground or sea level [18]. ALUMINUM CREEP—(1) The movement of aluminum wire from a point where pressure is applied. (2) The "retreat" of heated aluminum wire as it cools [4]. AMBIENT TEMPERATURE—The surrounding temperature such as the temperature of air surrounding a conductor in a compartment or within a piece of equipment [4]. AMBIGUOUS RETURNS—Echoes that exceed the prt of a radar and appear at incorrect ranges [18]. AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE (AWG)—The standards adopted in the United States for the measurement of wire sizes [4]. AMMETER—An instrument for measuring the amount of electron flow (in amperes) [1] [3] [6]. AMPERE—The basic unit of electrical current [1]. AMPERE-TURN—The magnetomotive force developed by 1 ampere of current flowing through a coil of one turn [8]. AMPERITE (BALLAST) TUBE—A current-controlling resistance device designed to maintain substantially constant current over a specified range of variation in applied voltage or resistance of a series circuit [6]. AMPLIDYNE—A special dc generator in which a small dc voltage applied to field windings controls a large output voltage from the generator. In effect, an amplidyne is a rotary amplifier that often times produces gain of approximately 10,000 [5]. AMPLIFICATION—(1) The process of enlarging a signal in amplitude (as of voltage or current) [8]. (2) The ratio of output magnitude to input magnitude in a device that is intended to produce an output that is an enlarged reproduction of its input [6] [7]. AMPLIFICATION FACTOR—The voltage gain of an amplifier with no load on the output [6] [7]. AMPLIFIER—The device that provides amplification (the increase in current, voltage, or power of a signal) without appreciably altering the original signal [7] [8]. AMPLITRON—See CROSS-FIELD AMPLIFIER [18].