[Elecraft] Units

[Bill W5WVO]

There's another "K" (capitalized) -- other than kelvins -- that
has come up over the past few decades, and that is the use of the
term K for the binary magnitude 0100 0000 0000 -- that is to say,
400 hexadecimal, or 1,024 decimal -- APPROXIMATELY, but not
exactly, 1,000. This term is used to describe anything based on
the binary system in computer-related (and perhaps other)
disciplines.

So, for example, a memory space (addressed and thus measured using
the binary system) might be denoted as "256 KB". While one might
think of this space offhandedly as being 256 thousand bytes, it is
in reality 256 x 1,024 = 262,144 bytes. On the other hand, a
communications speed of 840 kbps is not binary-based, and
therefore means literally 840,000 bits per second.

Bill W5WVO

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Harris" <mike.harris at horizon.co.fk>
To: "Elecraft Reflector" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 9:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Units


> G'day,
>
> | The big "M" vs. small "m" is something I'm very aware of
usually, but
> I'm
> | not sure what a big "K" indicates vs. a small "k".  I've
always just
> | considered either to mean "kilo".
>
> Most prefixes which make a unit bigger are written in capital
letters (M,
> G, T etc) and when they make a unit smaller lower case is used
(m, n, p
> etc).  One of the exceptions is kilo (k) which is used to avoid
possible
> confusion with kelvin (K).
>
> Regards,
>
> Mike VP8NO
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
>  http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>