Divided forums, same talk?

[kkrafs]

Why are the drawing board and the lab different forums?

Many things talked about in each forum belongs to both forums!!

 

[kvintus]

In the beginning there was only one forum. Then the problem was that many of the theoretical (and IMO more interesting) threads were buried in two or three pages of "hey, check this out! can this be cloned?"-threads. The Lab forum has a much faster pace than the drawing board. There can be a whole page of new threads everyday. The topics discussed in the drawing board requires more thinking and often longer posts and therefore the tempo is slower.

Also, there are many different interests here. I think that many of the members of this forum are not as interested in theoretical stuff as they are in "what opamp is used in XXXX?". Some of us are more interested in "why and how?"

Then there was the problem with all the commercial stuff and buying and selling things which resulted in the market place forum.

Personally, I think this is a very good solution.

/Anders

 

[NewYorkDave]

The idea was to keep clone-building in the Lab and use the Drawing Board to discuss general theory, new designs, etc. But not everybody has bothered to adhere to that general guideline.

 

[ToobieSnack]

yes I agree the seperate forum is a good idea.

it makes it easier to find data on "specific" items for which there may be an existing schematic.

now of course there are items that may "cross over" and would be relevent in both areas...my latest ribbon mic (RCA clone) might be a good example.

Since this was done with a thoretical approach and with the goal of finding readily available material ... i though it best to post it at the drawing board.

the outcome is subject to the actual design with consideration to the materials used.

the materials used are experimental and the approach is eperimental.

therefore... i think it was the best choice....

Also: the search option levels this out a bit.

I hope I have not caused any confusion with this decision and hope my post fall within acceptable guidelines.
thanks
ts

 

[PRR]

> Why are the drawing board and the lab different forums?

One for thinking, one for doing.

As kvintus says: different pace.

> Many things talked about in each forum belongs to both forums!!

Some people can do both at once.

 

[CJ]

It takes a while for new people to catch on to the difference that is supposed to exist. I was a skeptic, but now am convinced that it was the right move.

Maybe a bit of coaching by mods every blue moon would help keep things organized a bit.

 

[PRR]

> Maybe a bit of coaching by mods

OR the regulars.

This isn't a police state, or a class system.

We "moderators" don't really moderate. More like: when a member makes a mess (offensive remarks, personal attacks, profanity), somebody has to have a bucket and mop to clean-up. But this place is really run by the members.

Long ago I moderated a forum on another subject, one that could be cleanly divided into 10 or 12 sections and where most threads had an obvious "best-fit section". There I was more active in moving messages to the "best" section.

But here there isn't such a neat sub-division. Having a section for every different old and new toy would be absurd. Lumping all limiters together, from RCA-BA to WHAT, doesn't seem to make sense. Splitting into "thinking" and "doing" does make some sense: in one, many brains can grind together over several weeks; in the other discussions tend to be a day or three.

 

[ToobieSnack]

while we are on the subject and....
well since someone suggested a semi-self moderated forum..

for future reference ..... anything that would be discussed over a beer should be posted at the brewery....much like this subject.....right? :wink:

so to continue and quote:
one section for thinking .....
one section for doing...
and one section for expressing thoughts philosophy and beer preference :grin:

later
ts

 

[PRR]

> anything that would be discussed over a beer should be posted at the brewery....

In my youth, I did a lot of DIY audio electronics over a beer.

In that other long-ago forum, the guideline was "off topic". It was a computer technical forum, so if it wasn't about computers it went to the "Inn".

This place is not so clearly defined. We talk about audio that isn't always DIY, we DIY things that are not audio. No reason to split hairs or crack whips: mostly people have been sorting-out without any confusion. Maybe we could have a "not-DIY audio" section for musical-influences, and a "not audio at all" section for cars and knishes and beers. Doesn't seem necessary at this stage.

> much like this subject.....right?

Point taken, but I think mis-taken. It seems quite appropriate to start a discussion of a section's purpose IN the section. If it grows or drifts to a whole-forum all-sections discussion we might want to assemble over at the Pub, but not yet.

 

[kvintus]

anything that would be discussed over a beer should be posted at the brewery....much like this subject.....right?

Last time I had a beer with someone we discussed low-noise transistor amplifier design and drawed graphs and equations on the back of a cigarette box. But I'm not like the other kids, I know...

/Anders

 

[Rossi]

First of all I agree that the separate "Drawing Room" forum is a good idea. Stuff there usually moves slower than threads in "The Lab". Before the separation design threads often disappeared from the first page, and it was hard to have a continuos discussion.

I would even suggest another section "The Library" for the meta threads. I think that would help to have a better overview. What do you guys think?

 

[soundguy]

the llibrary is a great idea, but its achieved better I think with the new meta sticky at the top. Getting people to read the meta is the problem as opposed to not having it organized logically, IMO.

dave

 

[bcarso]

"Last time I had a beer with someone we discussed low-noise transistor amplifier design and drawed graphs and equations on the back of a cigarette box. But I'm not like the other kids, I know... "

The late great Bob Widlar was famous for drinking at local bars in Silicon Valley and discussing IC design with other engineers who flocked around him. It was said that management for whomever he was working at the time didn't mind that much, since he was usually a few steps ahead already of what he divulged.

He also kept a double-bitted axe behind his desk, he said only for chopping firewood, and would take to the woods with rifles and tin cans, the latter on which he would place the names of whatever executives had been annoying him of late.

 

[NewYorkDave]

Widlar is a legend! Bob Pease relates some great Widlar stories. Ever hear the one about the "squawk box" Widlar built to keep his coworkers from yelling at him?

Edit: I just found a page about it. It was called the "Hassler"

http://www.elecdesign.com/Globals/PlanetEE/Content/3080.html

 

[bcarso]

Heh--hadn't heard that one yet Dave---I'm all ears. {ah I see the link now thanks]

I regret I wasn't quite old enough or in that milieu at the time to have met Widlar. By the time I knew anything he had already retired to Mexico and then decided the money was running out, so started to do some work for National again---that was 1973 if memory serves. I still have a copy of Electronic News (?) describing his decision to return: "Widlar will have no computers or other equipment in his bungalow in Puerto Vallarta. 'What I design on paper will work' ".

He was rumored to have had an intake of certain other substances besides alcohol which, especially in combination, hastened his demise. As I understand it, he died running in the hills near the beach, as was his custom.

 

[kkrafs]

What i find quite annoying with this type of forum is that
sometimes topics get rolling over time (quite natural
since people are interested) and the replies might
expand to 25-40 even more then 100 replies!!! :shock:

Its so darn time consuming, not to say "expencive" being
on line looking trough each and every reply for the topic with
many replies! For example in this topic:

http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=5743

the forum settings alow only 15 replies to be shown, now
since there are 162 replies the rest are sub divided into pages!! :evil:

I want all the replies in one long roll so i can either scan the
replies quick or so i can save the entire roll of replies in one
mouse click it for off line wieving, as it is right now i cant do
that wich makes me skipp long time subjects wich might lead
to that i in turn ask silly questions again that might have been
examined in such long topics allready!

I think it would be more pleasant for the forum members
if this long reply roll could be implemented!
:thumb:

 

[NewYorkDave]

I think "one long roll" is a bad idea. When bozos insert big images into their posts--instead of linking off-site as they should--the pages take long enough to load as it is. Imagine how long an entire thread, filled with these big inline images, would take to load!

 

[Mbira]

It would be really cool if somehow you could print or save all the pages quickly without having to open each page. I am guilty of not reading the full (40 page!!!) 1176 thread when I had a problem. I got thru about 4 pages before my head went numb. If I could have easily killed a few trees and printed and read offline-I could have saved some redundancy. Maybe this is possible and I didn't know?

 

[ToobieSnack]

funny you should mention the active ribbon mic thread...
I have wanted to read this (well... the technacal data...)
I had hope that it could be condensed ..if someone were to be up to such a large undertaking. just for easier readability...edit it a bit...but leave the original too..... a synopsis of sorts....
maybe a synopsis section would be cool...like the top of the food chain above the metas...:grin:
i dunno ...just an observation
later
ts

 

[Rossi]

If you want to read stuff offline, you can simply open the various pages of a thread in separate windows. Right click on the number of the respective page and select open in new window (or open in new tab, if your browser supports tabs.) I used that technique a lot when I was still a modem user. And of course you can also save those pages to your hard disk for future reference.

There's quite a lot of useful information in those long threads. It would be hard to condense that stuff, though. Often silly ideas (such as mine in the active ribbon thread) lead to brilliant answers & comments (such as PRR's and Brasco's). Yet without the silly asking it would probably be hard to follow.