boring question about behavior in diyAudio's forums, (maybe something for Jason)?

[myleftear]

Good evening everybody!

First of all I'd like to say that this place and its community is just wonderful. There's no anger (at least, if there is, it's well contained), and everyone is very friendly even if the topic isn't, or is boring/off-topic/whatever. That's so good.

but I'm here for something else, here's my point, and question:
Being a complete newbie, barely understanding all that brilliant electronics-stuff but VERY fascinated by it (because I don't understand it? ), I often want to chip in and ask what's being talked about... which is a bit of a nuisance for the flow of the very thread I'm so fascinated of, so I am hesitating to ask "dumb" questions, and the gurus discussing their stuff are lightly annoyed.

Wouldn't it be kind of helpful if there was a kind of beginner's section, where I could ask stuff like "what's BIAS, what's xxx for, why is this, and can't I that?." (this of course would start to grow) and just insert a link to there into a thread?

(While I am writing this, I think of the Wiki, which seems to be a bit... abandoned?)

See my point?

best of wishes
enjoy the smell of quad eutectic solder

david

 

[U230421]

On behalf of the entire community many thanks.
A beginners section might be usefull for... beginners, but not for not-beginners.
You have the risk of asking about bias, a no one replies.
You would better put the question forward on the most appropiate section, introducing yourself as you did with your first post here.
Bias would fit best in solid state, as it is most discussed there regarding class A, AB and so on. Actually, all electronic circuitry is 'biased', or it would not work at all.
You may also find beginners books in libraries. In this way you have two tracks to compare.
Have fun!

 

[scottjoplin]

Hi myleftear. Finding reliable information on the internet can be very difficult, it seemed to me that many threads were started here asking very basic questions and I thought that might be the reason so I started this thread Yet another basic question It went quite well and there were some useful suggestions. It can seem daunting sometimes to ask what you might think are boring questions, but don't be put off, sometimes the simplest questions can require the most in-depth and informative answers and not just for the person asking the question.

 

[Galu]

Hi David!

I think a separate 'Beginner's Questions' (or whatever snappy and appropriate title we choose to give it) section is an excellent idea.

There's definitely room for a place in this forum in which to ask questions you would otherwise be too afraid to ask!

 

[myleftear]

Actually, all electronic circuitry is 'biased', or it would not work at all.
Have fun!

I consider myself biased, then.
But that might be phisolophical

 

[myleftear]

follow up

I didn't realize that a beginner's section would serve beginners (mostly).
My "inspiration" came from the reeeally long threads about the Amp Camp Amp, where's so much information, that many many questions are asked/answered many times over. Because one (I) wouldn't find a post even if it's in the browser-history (been read already).

Still, it's fun somehow

 

[PMA]

many many questions are asked/answered many times over.

Such is life in the forum and of the forum. It would not get any better and it probably cannot get any better. It is exhausting, but a result of forum discussion basis.

 

[myleftear]

Yes I know. I am on both sides, enjoying and in the meantime wishing for these redundancies being channeled...

 

[angrypat]

How about a glossary of terms, might be helpful for some, and may help threads stay on the rails.

 

[leadbelly]

I think the forum members don't mind answering newcomer questions, unless the newcomer ruffles feathers by asking a question asked very frequently or is easily answered by an internet search or is strongly opinionated without expertise.

That being said, I do belong to a forum that has beginner threads, and they do work effectively. That hobby is slightly easier to address by beginner threads, because the first questions are always "this is what I'm doing/how do I connect this/what else do I need to buy" whereas newbie questions in audio can really cover a wide gamut. I could see it working here, at least on a trial basis.

 

[johnego]

See my point?

Good point.
I think the problem is that we often have less than 100% interest in answering the original poster (OP). When someone answers, another one chimes in to respond to the responder, creating another discussion often in higher level which is not in the interest of the OP.
We have ICONS when creating a message. These can be completed with a new one called "beginner question". Then in the rules or somewhere, it should be mentioned that beginner questions should be answered with clear and simple languages, avoiding unnecessary jargons and abbreviations.

 

[Enzo]

If you break into an ongoing thread and ask a question that was easily answered on the first page of google, it is irritating. At least TRY google first. But many questions are NOT on the first page of google. And not everyone is good at using google. If you ask "What does DUT mean?" I can answer "Device under test" and we can continue. At that point if you want more, start a separate thread and ask for details.

I generally resist adding new sections to forums as it leads to clutter, and often that great new idea thread sits unused after one or two entries. I suggest just start a new thread for a side question if it wants more than a very brief answer.

And we do have moderators to maintain order. If a question starts a whole side dialog, the mod team can slice it out and make it a new thread. it has happened in the past.

 

[DF96]

Yes, beginners are generally welcomed here. A few exceptions are:
1. questions which can easily be answered by a bit of googling or (shock! horror!) reading a book
2. questions relating to college home work assignments where the lazy 'student' wants us to do his work for him and tries to hide the fact that this is an assignment - fortunately some of us can 'smell' an assignment question
3. someone who is always asking questions but never seems to learn anything so again seems to want us to do his 'DIY' for him
4. naive questions like 'do cables really matter?' or 'what is the best type of loudspeaker?', when such issues have been debated for years with no consensus emerging
5. impossible questions like 'how can I fix my amplifier? PS I don't have a meter and I can't solder and I won't tell you what my amplifier is until you ask me for the third time'.
6. people who want to impress us with their new theories about electronics or physics, or even write 'tutorial' articles, when they really have not understood the basics and get upset when we point this out to them

Beginners need to understand that any question has one or two right answers and an infinite number of wrong or irrelevant answers. They will receive all types of answer on a public forum. It is up to them to sift them.

 

[Pano]

A Newb section has been discussed before. (Making this something of a meta post).
That section or sections will likely happen once we are on the new software platform. And because the new software will allow tagging, posts anc be tagged as #Basic, #Newb, whatever.

It's a good idea who's time will come.

 

[AllenB]

It will be a great place for newbs to be filled with misinformation. Some of the more knowledgeable may not find the time to be there often. I'm sorry for the OPs bad experiences, this shouldn't put him off.

 

[jjasniew]

I'm sure sometimes it's simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time. In other words, not every expression of ignorance nor even a direct question is answered consistently. Response can vary from "dial tone" to folks running simulations and reporting results for you - I assume arising out of an interesting proposal.

There's probably a few keys in writing style that can sway the probability (and it is a <1 probability...) of getting a response here.

1. TL/DR - If it's a chore to suss out what you need from 4 paragraphs, I'm sure many will give up before your question or issue is comprehended. (I'm guilty on both sides...)

2. Tone - If you can express genuine, heartfelt enthusiasm for what you're doing or want to do, people will respond to that better than a "please bail me out of my problem" type question.

3. Work - I believe people will respond better if you show you've actually done something / are doing something / have invested something in the context of your issue. "Please review my chassis layout" is generally more attractive than "Does anyone think I could use Google Sketchup for this?"

4. Attitude / Ego - This is delicate and cannot contain a sense of "poor poor pitiful me" nor "I'll show you idiots a thing or two". I'd assume most people would avoid responding to picking up on either sense - unless perhaps they're in a mood for a fight.

5. The completely unrealistic hypothetical - I'm sure few will bother with a response to stuff that's just too far out there; "what if I took every capacitor type available, soldered them all in parallel - would that sound better...?"

I'm sure there's many others that could be added to such a list. Hope this helps!

 

[johnego]

"what if I took every capacitor type available, soldered them all in parallel - would that sound better...?"

That's an interesting question.

 

[PRR]

> every capacitor type

I think he should patent it.

 

[Preamp]

How about a glossary of terms, might be helpful for some, and may help threads stay on the rails.

+1.

And make this glossary somewhat 'interactive', like auto-highlighting in every post. Like when someone writes nfb, that word becomes a hyperlink to the glossary (but with a different appearance than a normal hyperlink, like a different color or dotted underline or something), and as you hover your mouse over it, a little square shows up and tells you: "negative feedback". There must be hundreds of abbreviations and terms that could be added over time...

 

[Mooly]

There is no need to apologize, every person on this (or any other forum) started out with zero knowledge of the subject. We all learn through reading, doing and asking