devo 
I know some of you are into breaking down low value boards, and some of you want to, but aren't sure whats what. I thought with the recent break out of skippyism around here I would throw up a post that might be useful to one or two.
I'm not going to hand hold here, some of the stuff is pretty basic. If it looks like a big ball of copper, it is, take it. I'm hoping to help you identify some of the harder hidden stuff. Before I was a carpenter, I went to school and worked as an electrical engineer, just a little background for you.
A lot of the time there will be some sort of designation printed right on the board, this goes back to the days when boards were hand assembled. Here are some common abbreviations found:
BT = Battery
C = Capacitor
CB = Circuit Breaker
CR = Diode
D = Diode
F = Fuse
FL = Filter (also a coil - copper)
IC = Integrated circuit
K = Relay (copper coil inside)
L = Inductor (copper)
Q = Transistor, Semiconductor
QA = Transistor array (on older stuff this can look like an IC)
R = Resistor, Potentiometer
RA = Resistor array
S = Switch
T = Transformer
TB = Terminal Block
U = Integrated Circuit
VR = Zener Diode
X = Socket
Y = Crystal Unit
If there is no indication on the board, sometimes you can determine what the component is from the symbols on the side:
OHM : either written as "ohm" or more likely a symbol that looks like an upside down horse shoe. This is a resistor.
Farad: symbol (F) almost always preceded by a funny looking "u" (micro). This is a capacitor.
Henry: (yes really), Symbol (h), this is a coil.
This is far from a definitive list, nor is it always exact. If there is interest I'll add more with pics of the symbols. Anyway maybe someone can benefit a bit from this.
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