Resistor color codes...

[W7IQ]

 I might be giving some radio classes in the future to some people who will, of course, need to learn the resistor color code numbering sequence. When I learned it, we had to use the rather naughty statement: Bad boys r#@& our young girls, but violet g%$* willingly.

This won't do, as the statement will be used by some church people. I once heard a 'not so offensive' sentence to use in learning the color code sequence, but didn't hear it clearly enough to write it down. Does anyone have a better sentence-learning tool for the color code?

  Thanks.

[K4LIX]

Why teach a two step learning process - just teach them that black is zero, brown is one, red is two, etc.Much easier this way.

73 de Jim K4LIX

[W7IQ]

Two steps:

Bad    boys   r#@&  our     young   girls  but   Violet  g&%@*  willintly
Black  Brown  Red   Orange  Yellow  Green  Blue  Violet  Gray   White


Ten steps:

0 = Black
1 = Brown
2 = Red
3 = Orange
4 = Yellow
5 = Green
6 = Blue
7 = Violet
8 = Gray
9 = White

[RAD1OMAN]

Better Be Right Or Your Great Big Ventue Goes West

The "bad boys" version IS REMEMBERED, just look at the replies so far...

HEY! A eHam Poll idea... which saying do you think of first? Bad Boys, Better Be Right, or Black Brown Red.

[KE6PKJ]

Betty Brown Raises Our Young Girls But Violet Goes Wayward (Wandering?)

[VE6ADD]

From the current (March 2003) CQ Magazine. Page 86.

Bad Beer Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well.

- Herman, VE6ADD

[WA9SVD]

I never learned that way, and I'm still a bit curious about the "naughty" version.
    I never heard it, and I'm still trying to figure out part of it...  I always learned that it was "Black and white at the extremes, and the rainbow follows in betweens. After brown..."  Not real catchy, though.  If anyone wants to e-mail the original version, I won't be offended.  (But I assume it's something that isn't legal[?] or at least not appropriate over the air!)

[N6AJR]

from the electronics school in mississippi USAF
Biloxie beer rots our young guts but violets gives willingly

[AD6JN]

A better way would be to allow students to look up and verify each time a resistor is selected followed by a quick DMM measurement.

Precision resistors don't use color codes - the value is clearly written on the device.

I still keep the color code chart near my bench at eye level.

Bob AD6JN

[WB2WIK]

Of course, memorizing a catchy phrase to remember the color sequence is cute, but doesn't really teach anyone much.

The way I taught my students was with a big chart that showed the colors and corresponding digits, and I had them each actually sort 500 color-banded resistors into little parts trays (muffin molds used for baking -- really cheap, and do the job well).  By the time each student had actually sorted the 500 resistors, he or she knew the code perfectly by sight and didn't have to remember anything.

"You can't teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar."

WB2WIK/6

[W7IQ]

  I really can't see any true wisdom behind such a statement.  This is the way I was taught and learned the color code, including every fellow pupil in electronics class.  To get people to learn it by sorting 500 resistors will work ok, but test them 37 years from now and they will probably not remember the sequence.  That is, unless they are constantly using resistors.  I still remember the phrase that I was taught 37 years ago in high school electronics class and use it to calculate the value of resistors today.

[KF6ZLB]

In kindergarten, I learned a song about the rainbow:
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple
Make a rainbow bright

From there, black is nothing (0), white is the most (9),  brown is almost black (1), gray is almost white (, and the six colors above are in between (2-7).

I was taught to read the color code by my grandmother when I was about 9 and had to come up with my own memory trick.  I didn't learn of the "Bad boys . . ." memory aid until high school electricity shop.

To remember the fractional multipliers, gold and silver, I remember that gold is worth more than silver.  Therefore gold is X 0.1 and silver is X 0.01.

For tolerance, gold is better than silver, and silver is better than nothing.  Therefore, no band is +/-20%, silver is +/-10%, and the best is gold +/-5%

The next challenge is remembering the 10% value series, and the 5% value series when it comes time to pick a standard value.

When I need a 1% resistor, I run a BASIC program that starts from 1.00, successively multiplies by the 96th root of 10, and displays each product rounded to 3 digits.

[N2MG]

For those wondering...

Bad boys rape our young girls, but violet gives willingly.

 - PCers be damned!  :-)

You still need to know how to arrange black, brown and blue with the 3 b's...

Mike N2MG
webmaster

[AE0AL]

Bashful Boys Romance Our Young Girls Behind Victory Garden Walls. Is another one.
 I have yet to see another addition to the original Bad Boys,  Ending in GET SOME NOW for the Gold Silver and None for the 5%, 10% and 20%.