If you are new to the forum you may find the sheer wealth of information presented in these pages daunting but luckily there are several tools to help you locate almost any specific piece of information, easily, and effectively.
Before you post a question on the forum, you are strongly encouraged to conduct a search of your own first. The members in this community are generous, both with their time and their expertise but you are less likely to get a response - or the response you would like - if it is clear you haven't first tried to find the information for yourself.
Finding information on this forum
There are several ways to find information on this forum.
First, you can just open one of the sub forums from the 'Board index' and scroll through the hundreds of subjects presented across hundreds of pages until you find the subject you are interested in. A nice way to spend a rainy day (or three) but not the best use of your time if you want answers quickly.
At the top right of the page you will find two search boxes.
- Search boxes.jpg (39.88 KiB) Viewed 101905 times
Both are effective and will bring up dozens, if not hundreds, of hits to a query with the most relevant solutions towards the top of the lists.
Google Search is especially handy if you want quick, relevant results but the top search box has a gear icon which, when you click it, takes you to the advanced search page where you will find clear directions on how to use a variety of search terms for more specific results in both search engines.
Some hints to help you on your way
- Always try finding the information yourself, first.
- Try to be both explicit and unambiguous in your search query. If your search query is too broad or generic, the results will reflect this.
- When typing your search term, double-check your spelling. Or, try alternative spellings if the first doesn't work.
- Think outside the box - if your first search term (e.g. 'rectifier') doesn't provide satisfactory results, try a different, more particular search term (e.g. 'full wave bridge').
- Be aware that you may not initially find an explicit answer to your question, but instead an answer within the context of a conversation - or set of conversations. A very great number of issues have already been dealt with in these pages. "Seek and you shall find."
- Avoid such pointless questions as: 'What am I wearing?' [Answer: Your face!] Real answer: 'We don't know, and we don't care.'
- Remember to stay civil. Trolls are not welcome on this forum and you will be given short shrift if your views are in any way abusive or derogatory. Beginners with genuine questions however, are always welcomed.
There is no bar on what projects you can post about, as long as they are relevant. Nonetheless, if you are experiencing a problem with a project and you have searched, and still haven't found the information you are looking for, go to the appropriate sub forum and post a 'New Topic'. If words are not your strong point, or you are a non-native English speaker, the following tips are especially useful to note.
- Use a relevant subject line and try to be as detailed and clear with the question or description of the issue as possible.
- Have all the information peculiar to your issue ready to go.
- Provide a brief summary of the context/background of your issue.
- Provide voltage information. This can guide members to solutions you may not previously have considered.
- Provide pictures. Photographs often reveal salient details which can assist the members in identifying a problem.
- Provide schematics and/or layouts where necessary. It is much easier to see a problem when the blueprint of a design is provided for reference.
- Include links to recordings. Words are the poor cousins of sound, and the adjectives we use can differ exponentially from the actual sounds we hear. If you don't have access to recording equipment, just try to be as detailed in your description as you can and be prepared to provide more information.