Hi. I just joined the forum and want to know if there is any vital information i should be aware of before engaging in the forum. Guidelines, places, who to talk to, etc. Thanks!

 

Hello,

Welcome to the site.
If you have any questions, start asking.
We will be happy to answer the questions.

There is also the eBook, see the tabs on the top of the page.
The eBook can be downloaded using the PDF sign at the right top on the index page of a volume.
Did you also look at the useful websites thread:
Useful websites for electronics (Ver. 2)
Or the RF related links thread:
RF related links

For the forum rules take a look at the ToS:
Terms of Service

Bertus

 

Be good to each other. If someone is flaming you do not respond, press the in the corner instead. We do not mind questions from a beginner, as no one is born knowing this stuff, and the moderators and administrators insist on this being a flame free zone. If you watch the folks interact respect is the major watch word.

I have a blog set up here I am very proud of. Several other people do too.

Bill's Index

 

General questions are better served if you look into any established source of knowledge. Usually they do not fit in a forum. Nobody likes to type long text that most likely you will find somewhere else in the Web.

When you come to specific doubts then try your best and then come here where you have good chances of a short and to the point reply.

 

My opinion?
Go to user CP and write in vaguely where you live so we know where you can get parts.

Try to keep it short. If you need 500 words to ask your question, it usually indicates that you haven't thought it out very well. Good questions get good answers.

There is a range of styles, from simply practical to nit-picking detail, and everything in between. Try to keep the question long enough to indicate the style you want to work in and how much experience you have. If you kind of leave that blank, you'll get everything from simply practical to nit-picking detail...not that that's a bad thing. Your choice. Give us a clue.

 

There is a tradition with most beginners not to post schematic when they have a question about a specific circuit. Most of us take it in stride, as it is an old tradition. If in doubt post a schematic. It doesn't need to be fancy, hand drawn and scanned in works just fine. Use the .png format, it doesn't add anything and is clear.

About those who have done that, we ask for a schematic and wait till we get one of course. Being a Mason I understand tradition, but it will speed up the good type of input.

 

My opinion?
Go to user CP and write in vaguely where you live so we know where you can get parts.

Try to keep it short. If you need 500 words to ask your question, it usually indicates that you haven't thought it out very well. Good questions get good answers.

There is a range of styles, from simply practical to nit-picking detail, and everything in between. Try to keep the question long enough to indicate the style you want to work in and how much experience you have. If you kind of leave that blank, you'll get everything from simply practical to nit-picking detail...not that that's a bad thing. Your choice. Give us a clue.

Keeping it short is a good maxim, although it's one that I find very difficult myself. Having just spent some time on a post that now seems far too long, I wonder if I'll ever learn... That said, the opposite error of saying far too little can be very frustrating to people who might want to help. A clear but concise description of the problem should be the aim. A diagram is nearly always helpful as well.

I have just seen yet another one sentence enquiry from someone else, of the kind that can only be answered by a request for more information. It gets annoying, so do yourself a favour, and try to explain enough so you may get an answer right away!

Actually, maybe I'm repeating things that Bill Marsden and others have said already, but really these one-sentence wonders get me a bit wound up. Sometimes it's a case of EFL, which you have to allow for, but I'm a bit less tolerant of would-be homework cheats who are trying not to be too explicit in a bid to hide their enquiries from nosy teachers prowling the web. I'm dead sure the latter does go on.