I'm studying electronics in college (I live in Europe), and they are teaching us we should form our reference designations of elements when designing a circuit as according to EN 81346.
This seems absurd to me, because it might be OK for a meat grinder and a generator to have the same designations (G) in some sort of a big automation system, but in a small electronics circuit to name both a diode and a resistor with R, just because they do something to current.. i can't accept that. After looking it up on wikipedia, it seems to me that the classical designations R for resistor, D for a diode, etc. are from the American (ANSI) standard.
I know this sort of thing is entirely voluntary, but I just want to know: Does that standard (EN 81346) really apply to every type of electrical circuit? Are there any other European norms or ISO standards relating to reference designation?
Best Answer
Naming all your resistors R... and your diodes R... is silly, yes.
However, you are forgetting the "table 2" that I have heard tell about. (I can't see the exact content of it to get the "real" designators they suggest because I'm not willing to pay for it.)
This allows you to have a second character... so your resistors could be "RR..." and your diodes could be "RD..." etc.
The meat grinder could be "GM1" and the generator "GV1" for example.