VU-1MK500 VU Meter Parts Identification and Assembly Notes
For the newbies, this is not meant to be a full tutorial about electronics. But I want you to be able to identify
components, recognize them and know what their basic functionality is.
Resistors
All resistors used in the VU Meter Kit are 1/4 watt Metal-Film type, 1% resistors.
Resistors provide resistance, and are measured in OHMS, the unit of resistance.
1,000 OHMS = 1 KOHMS (pronounced KiloOhms, where kilo = 1,000)
If you see a resistor value marked “1K”, it means 1 Kiloohm. Sometimes, you would see values written as 6K8,
or 3K3.
6K8 is also the same as writing 6.8 Kohm. The decimal point position is implied by the “K” letter.
3K3 is also the same as 3.3 Kohm, or 3,300 Ohms.
I don’t need to teach you how to read resistor color codes since all the SC-1 parts are already labeled for you.
But if you’re curious on what those bands of wonderful technicolors mean, you can go here.
http://www.samengstrom.com/nxl/10116/5_band_resistor_color_code_page.en.html
Capacitors
There are two kinds of capacitors used in the VU Meter Kit project. We’ll discuss the di
ff
erent types here.
Ceramic Capacitors
Ceramic capacitors look like the picture on the left. On the VU Meter kit, these are
colored “yellow” and are very small in size. Ceramic capacitors are non-polarized, and
therefore it does not matter what orientation they go in.
They are rated in microfarads (abbreviated as “uf”). They also have a voltage rating
(abbreviated as “V”). In a design, the voltage rating must not be exceeded. Otherwise,
you’ll ruin the capacitor. Either short it out, or blow it open.
Capacitor parts are therefore rated with their capacitance (in microfarads, uf) and voltage… specified like this:
0.1uf 100V
