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- N
- Electronics, Semiconductors: see Semiconductor, N-Type.
- Measurements: see Nano- (n-).
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- NAM
- Acronym: Number Assignment Module
- Telephony: The electronic memory in the cellular telephone that stores the telephone number and electronic serial number. Telephones with dual- or multi-NAM features offer the user the option of registering the telephone so that it will have two or more telephone numbers.
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- NAND
- Electronics: An AND logic gate followed by a NOT gate. It outputs "False" when both inputs are "True"; otherwise, the output is "True".
-
- nano- (n-)
- Measurement: SI / Metric unit of decimal measurement, equal to 10-9 or 0.000000001.
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- Narrowband
- Communications: A signal whose bandwidth is on the order of its information bandwidth.
-
- Narrow Response: see Response, Narrow.
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- Navigation
- GPS:
The science of getting vehicles from place to place; especially the
method of determining position, course, and the distance traveled.
-
- NAVSTAR
- Acronym: NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging
- GPS: The official U.S. Government name given to the GPS satellite system.
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- NC
- Acronym: Normally-Closed
- Electronics: A designation indicating that the contacts of a switch or relay are closed or connected when at rest. When activated, the contacts open or separate.
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- NEC
- Acronym: National Electrical Code
- Electronics: The NEC is the electrical standards guide established by the IEEE.
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- Negative Ground: see Ground, Negative.
-
- Negative Response: see Response, Negative.
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- Network
- Computers, Networking: A group of two or more computer systems linked together. Networks are of varying types (LAN, WAN, CAN, MAN, HAN) and topologies (Bus, Ring, Star, Mesh, Tree).
-
- Network, Circuit-switched: see Circuit-switched Network.
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- Network Interface Card: see NIC.
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- Network, Packet-switched: see Packet-switched Network.
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- Neutral Ground: see Ground, Neutral.
-
- Neutral Response: see Response, Neutral.
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- Newton
- Weather:
The unit of force giving a mass of about one kilogram (2.205 pounds) an
acceleration of about one meter (1 yard) per second per second.
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- NFPA
- Acronym: National Fire Protection Association
- Electronics: The National Fire Protection Association is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to developing worldwide standards for fire safety.
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- NIC
- Acronym: Network Interface Card
- Computers, Networking: A computer card designed to allow the computer to connect to a network, such as an Ethernet, ARCnet, or token ring card.
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- Ni-Cd
- Batteries: A secondary battery type that uses a nickel oxide positive electrode and a cadmium negative electrode.
-
- Nickel-cadmium: see Ni-Cd.
-
- Nimbostratus
- Weather:
A cloud exhibiting a combination of rain or snow, and sometimes the
base of the cloud cannot be seen because of the heaviness of
precipitation. They are generally associated with fall and winter
conditions, but can occur during any season.
-
- Nitrogen (N2)
- Weather: A colorless, tasteless, odorless gas that is the most abundant constituent of dry air. It comprises 78.09%.
-
- NMT
- Acronym: Nordic Mobile Telephone
- Telephony: The Scandinavian cellular telephone system, that uses 30 KHz channels and 1200 Hz and 1800 Hz signaling tones.
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- NO
- Acronym: Normally-Open
- Electronics: A designation indicating that the contacts of a switch or relay are normally open or not connected. When activated the contacts close or become connected.
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- NOAA
- Acronym: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Weather: An administration within the United States Department of Commerce.
-
- No Answer Transfer
- Telephony: A feature that allows calls to a mobile to be transferred to a predetermined number if the mobile does not acknowledge an incoming call or is not answered.
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- Noise
- Digital Video: Misinterpreted pixels found in a digital image, usually occurring in longer exposures, that appear as misplaced or random bright pixels in the picture.
-
- Noise Filter: See Filter, Noise
-
- Noise, Pink
- Audio: A type of sound with higher power at the lower frequencies but equal power per octave.
-
- Noise Reduction, Active
- Audio:
A method of noise reducion on headphones that samples the ambient
outside noise and uses an active electronic mechanism (usual feeding in
inverse wavelengths to cancel out the noise).
-
- Noise Reduction, Passive
- Audio: A method of noise reducion on headphones that uses baffles or padding to insulate the ear from outside sound.
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- Noise, White
- Audio: A type of sound with all frequencies evenly distributed at equal power.
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- No Motion
- Metal Detectors: A mode of operation that does not require search coil movement to trigger target response.
-
- Non-ferrous
- Metal Detectors: Metals and alloys not composed of iron. This includes gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, brass, bronze, etc.
-
- NOR
- Electronics: An OR logic gate followed by a NOT gate. It outputs "False" when one or both inputs are "True"; otherwise, the output is "True".
-
- Nordic Mobile Telephone: see NMT.
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- Nor'easter
- Weather: A cyclonic storm occurring off the east coast of North America. These winter weather events are notorious for producing heavy snow, rain, and tremendous waves that crash onto Atlantic beaches, often causing beach erosion and structural damage. Wind gusts associated with these storms can exceed hurricane
force in intensity. A nor'easter gets its name from the continuously
strong northeasterly winds blowing in from the ocean ahead of the storm
and over the coastal areas.
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- Normalize
- Audio: The process of boosting the signal of an audio file to its maximum level without causing distortion.
-
- Normally-closed: see NC.
-
- Normally-open: see NO.
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- NOT
- Electronics: A logic gate
with only one output. It converts the input to the opposite: if the
input is "True", it outputs "False" and vice versa. Also called an Inverter.
-
- Notch Accept
- Metal Detectors: A mode of operation where all target responses are 'tuned out' except those the instrument is adjusted to accept in the notch window.
-
- Notch Discrimination
- Metal Detectors:
A mode of operation that uses circuitry to allow a desirable window of
targets to be accepted within the rejection range of unaccepted targets.
-
- Notch Filter: see Filter, Notch.
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- Notch Level
- Metal Detectors: A control used to select the target level of conductivity that the notch filter will act upon.
-
- Notch Reject
- Metal Detectors: A mode of operation where all targets within the notch width (at the chosen notch level) will be tuned out.
-
- Notch Width, Notch Window
- Metal Detectors: A finite discrimination range of target conductivities ("window") at the chosen notch level.
-
- NPN Transistor: see Transistor, NPN.
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- NPO
- Acronym: Negative and Positive to zerO
- Electronics: A capacitor with both the negative and positive leads set to zero.
-
- NTSC
- Acronym: National Television Systems Committee
- Video:
1) The color television standard or timing format used in North
America, most of South America, and most of the Far East. It encodes
all of the color, brightness, and synchronizing information in one
signal that uses a total of 525 horizontal lines per frame, with two
fields per frame at 262.5 lines each. Each field refreshes at 60 Hz
(actually 59.94 Hz). Compare to PAL and SECAM.
2) The standardizing body that created this system in 1954.
-
- n-type Semiconductor, n-type Semiconductor Material: see Semiconductor, n-type.
-
- Null
- Metal Detectors: 1) The zone just below audible threshold in detector tuning.
2) The momentary drop, or quiet response, of threshold audio as the search coil passes over a discriminated or rejected target.
-
- Nulled Out
- Metal Detectors: The term used to describe the effect of a coin not being detected because of interference or a piece of trash metal located too close to the coin.
-
- Null Tuning
- Metal Detectors: Tuning so that the effects of mineralized ground have been nulled, making the detector most sensitive to metals or minerals.
-
- Number Assignment Module: see NAM.
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- NWR
- Acronym: NOAA Weather Radio
- Weather: A national weather broadcast from various local stations under the National Weather Service.
-
- NWS
- Acronym: National Weather Service
- Weather: A division under NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the NWS is responsible (among other things) for administrating the NOAA Weather Radio system and local NWS broadcast offices.
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