Page 80 - The Illustrated Dictionary of Electronics

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basic frequency • battery 65

basic frequency 1. The FUNDAMENTAL FRE- the speech level to be increased without overmod-
QUENCY of a signal, as opposed to one of its har- ulating a transmitter. It also allows smaller audio
monics. 2. See BASE FREQUENCY, 1. transformers to be used because transformer
basic protection Devices and procedures essential core size must increase as the frequency it passes
to minimize the risk of damage to electronic decreases.
equipment, and/or injury or death to its opera- bassy In audio and high-fidelity applications, a
tors, as a result of lightning. Hardware provisions sound in which the low-frequency components,
include a substantial earth ground, heavy-gauge below about 500 Hz, are overly predominant.
grounding wire, lightning arrestors for antennas, BAT Abbreviation of BATTERY.
and transient suppressors for power connections. batch fabrication process The manufacture of de-
The safest procedure is to disconnect and ground vices in a single batch from materials of uniform
all antennas, and unplug all equipment from util- grade. Particularly, the manufacture of a large
ity outlets, during electrical storms and/or when number of semiconductor devices from one batch
the apparatus is not in use. Radio communi- of semiconductor material by means of carefully
cations equipment with outdoor antennas, in controlled, identical processes.
particular, should not be operated during batch processing In digital-computer operations,
thunderstorms. the processing of quantities of similar informa-
basket The structure that supports the cone in an tion during a single run.
acoustic loudspeaker. bat-handle switch A toggle switch, the lever of
basket-weave coil A type of single-layer inductor which is relatively long and thick, and is shaped
in which adjacent turns do not parallel each like a baseball bat.
other around the circumference, but zigzag oppo-
sitely as a strand does in the woven pattern of a
basket. This reduces distributed capacitance.
bass Low audio frequencies (AF) corresponding to
low-frequency musical notes or sounds.
bass boost 1. The special emphasis given to low
audio frequencies (the bass notes) by selective
circuits in audio systems. 2. The technique of in-
creasing the loudness of the bass, relative to the
higher audio frequencies, to render a more faith-
ful reproduction of sound at low volume levels.
bass compensation See BASS BOOST, 2.
bass control 1. A manually variable potentiometer
for adjusting bass boost of an amplifier or sound
system. 2. The arrangement of components that
are required to achieve amplitude variation of
bass in an audio signal. bat-handle switch
bass port In a loudspeaker, a hole in the cabinet
that enhances the low-frequency (bass) sound
output. Used in high-fidelity audio systems. bathtub capacitor A (usually oil-filled) capacitor
bass-reflex enclosure A loudspeaker cabinet with housed in a metal can that looks like a miniature
a critically dimensioned duct or port that allows bathtub.
back waves to be radiated in phase with front bathyconductorgraph An instrument that is used
waves, thus averting unwanted acoustic phase to measure the electrical conductivity of seawa-
cancellation. ter.
bass-reflex loudspeaker A loudspeaker mounted bathythermograph An instrument that plots a
in a bass reflex enclosure. Also see ACOUSTICAL graph of temperature versus depth in a body of
PHASE INVERTER. water, such as a lake or an ocean.
bass-resonant frequency The low frequency at batten Supporting bars or braces that hold a loud-
which a loudspeaker or its enclosure displays speaker in place within its cabinet, and/or that
resonant vibration. hold the cabinet panels in place.
bass roll-off 1. The attenuation of the low-fre- battery Abbreviations, B, BA. BAT. A device con-
quency (bass) component in a high-fidelity audio sisting of two or more interconnected electro-
signal. 2. A control that allows adjustable attenu- chemical or photovoltaic cells that generate dc
ation of the low-frequency component in a high- electricity. The cells can be connected in series to
fidelity audio signal. supply a desired voltage, in parallel to supply a
bass suppression In speech transmission, the re- desired current-delivering capability, or in series-
moval of all frequencies below about 300 Hz, on parallel to obtain a desired voltage and current-
the assumption that those frequencies contribute delivering capability. Also see CELL, EDISON
little to intelligibility. This suppression permits BATTERY, LEAD-ACID BATTERY, PHOTO-