Just A Suggestion

[ka3jjz]

Y'know, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a beginner's forum - somewhere that folks can go that don't know a scanner from a hard drive, and start asking questions. Links could then be put in as a sticky into the wiki or other places, depending on what's needed. That's food for thought.

As for the wiki being tough to use - yeah, when you have over 800 articles indexed, it does become a bit hard. It's set up, in some respects, to mimic the structure of all the forums, and also to have topics sorted in alpha order. However, at this size, it does tend to get a bit unwieldy. If someone has some suggestions on better organizations, then by all means speak up.

It should be also noted that you can build your own 'front page' in your user area; this would enable you to quickly find article(s) that you want handy with a couple of keystrokes.
Your user area is labeled with your user name; if you click on it, you will find, in most cases, it's empty. Whatever you want to put there to index the wiki differently - for your use - is certainly welcome, and given the sheer number of articles, probably a very good idea. Just keep your user area pointing to communications-related topics, please - no spam permitted.

73 Mike

 

[lugoffman]

well my point again if every one would start a fourm for us newbiess than there would be less bull crap said so why dont the forum manager or who ever has to do this set it up this is nonsence people all you do is spend more time argueing about he said she said THAN YOU DO HELPING OTHER PEOPLE. stop it and act your age its nonsence not every one on here is perfact if they was than we wouldnt need this forum so enough of the im better than you act that goes on around here and make up a solution to the problem and lets FIX (FIX)!!!!!! THE PROBLEM CAN WE START UP A NEWBIEE SIGHT OR SOMTHING ?????????????????

 

[AZScanner]

well my point again if every one would start a fourm for us newbiess than there would be less bull crap said so why dont the forum manager or who ever has to do this set it up this is nonsence people all you do is spend more time argueing about he said she said THAN YOU DO HELPING OTHER PEOPLE. stop it and act your age its nonsence not every one on here is perfact if they was than we wouldnt need this forum so enough of the im better than you act that goes on around here and make up a solution to the problem and lets FIX (FIX)!!!!!! THE PROBLEM CAN WE START UP A NEWBIEE SIGHT OR SOMTHING ?????????????????

Dude, seriously. Read your incoherent rant above. You've answered your own question as to why there isn't a newbie forum - it would be filled with posts like this and would be a moderation headache. Simply put, if you want help, let me offer you 3 pieces of advice:

1. Write clearly and coherently. Instead of "dudecould someone give me the frequency to the mallcopss because they harassed me about my scannor have you ever seen these mallcops i think they like donuts becuz most of them our fat slobbs and i have a pro123 scanner is that a good scanner what do you think of it i have 3 of them and i paid fifty bucks each is that a good deal maybe you could recommend an antenna for them..." try something like "Hello, I'm looking for the frequency for mall security at the Anytown Mall in Anytown USA. I've looked in the database and forums and didn't find anything. Thanks!" Short and sweet, you know? Don't overwhelm people with a thousand misspelled and unpunctuated questions.

2. SEARCH FIRST. Seriously, I would have KILLED for a site like this when I first started scanning. All I had was a printout from the local Rat Shack, a copy of police call, and my humble 10 channel programmable scanner. That was it. By contrast, there is a TON of information here. Between the database, wiki and forums I seriously doubt there's much you can ask that hasn't already been asked AND ANSWERED here before. Why wait for a newbie forum to be created when a simple search can yield the answers you need right now?

3. Most of all, RELAX! I know that you're new and want to learn this stuff as quickly as possible, but coming in here demanding this and that be done is not the way to get what you want. Besides, this is a hobby and learning is a part of the fun. Yes, that's right - learning it on your own is FUN. Try it. That's one of the things about scanning that attracted me to it in the first place. It offered an opportunity to LEARN SOMETHING NEW.
This is a complicated hobby, much like flying remote controlled aircraft or building your own computers. It takes time and research to learn everything - no one is going to just hand you all their knowledge for the asking, especially when you can get the answers yourself online with very little effort.

-AZ

 

[lugoffman]

Dude, seriously. Read your incoherent rant above. You've answered your own question as to why there isn't a newbie forum - it would be filled with posts like this and would be a moderation headache. Simply put, if you want help, let me offer you 3 pieces of advice:

1. Write clearly and coherently. Instead of "dudecould someone give me the frequency to the mallcopss because they harassed me about my scannor have you ever seen these mallcops i think they like donuts becuz most of them our fat slobbs and i have a pro123 scanner is that a good scanner what do you think of it i have 3 of them and i paid fifty bucks each is that a good deal maybe you could recommend an antenna for them..." try something like "Hello, I'm looking for the frequency for mall security at the Anytown Mall in Anytown USA. I've looked in the database and forums and didn't find anything. Thanks!" Short and sweet, you know? Don't overwhelm people with a thousand misspelled and unpunctuated questions.

2. SEARCH FIRST. Seriously, I would have KILLED for a site like this when I first started scanning. All I had was a printout from the local Rat Shack, a copy of police call, and my humble 10 channel programmable scanner. That was it. By contrast, there is a TON of information here. Between the database, wiki and forums I seriously doubt there's much you can ask that hasn't already been asked AND ANSWERED here before. Why wait for a newbie forum to be created when a simple search can yield the answers you need right now?

3. Most of all, RELAX! I know that you're new and want to learn this stuff as quickly as possible, but coming in here demanding this and that be done is not the way to get what you want. Besides, this is a hobby and learning is a part of the fun. Yes, that's right - learning it on your own is FUN. Try it. That's one of the things about scanning that attracted me to it in the first place. It offered an opportunity to LEARN SOMETHING NEW.
This is a complicated hobby, much like flying remote controlled aircraft or building your own computers. It takes time and research to learn everything - no one is going to just hand you all their knowledge for the asking, especially when you can get the answers yourself online with very little effort.

-AZ

yea i see were you are coming from now but like i was saying earlyer if a thread or forum was made up for us newbeeies and you didnt like what you saw in it then dont respond to it let others who care to answer respond and for the know it alls that get mad when we right somthing stupid in there they can set back and laugh or shake there head and another thing im not damanding nothing its just a seggestion im not having much problems on here getting info i just seen some people asking general questions and they get jumped on like the person here ownes this sight the way i look at it if you dont like it then make it a paied sight even then you still going to get the same old stuff and another thing im not here to make enemies just tring to get every one to realise that if you dont like what you see man just take it easy on them help them out

 

[gmclam]

As for the wiki being tough to use - yeah, when you have over 800 articles indexed, it does become a bit hard. It's set up, in some respects, to mimic the structure of all the forums, and also to have topics sorted in alpha order. However, at this size, it does tend to get a bit unwieldy. If someone has some suggestions on better organizations, then by all means speak up.

Whenever I try to search for something in the Wiki, I get "not found" and no suggestions. Just for kicks I just did a search for "TRS" (Trunked Radio System), a fairly common term used here (and there are 100s). One idea of what should happen (if nothing is found) is a way to "report" that this search term came up empty so that someone can add it to the index. There might be other or better ways, I don't know enough about how it works to make a better suggestion. I just know that when I try to look stuff up, it comes back empty more often than found.

Thanks!

 

[loumaag]

Whenever I try to search for something in the Wiki, I get "not found" and no suggestions. Just for kicks I just did a search for "TRS" (Trunked Radio System), a fairly common term used here (and there are 100s). One idea of what should happen (if nothing is found) is a way to "report" that this search term came up empty so that someone can add it to the index. There might be other or better ways, I don't know enough about how it works to make a better suggestion. I just know that when I try to look stuff up, it comes back empty more often than found.

Thanks!

Try reading this page, which is suggested by the "nothing found" Wiki page (right at the top.)

As for the wiki being tough to use - yeah, when you have over 800 articles indexed, it does become a bit hard. It's set up, in some respects, to mimic the structure of all the forums, and also to have topics sorted in alpha order. However, at this size, it does tend to get a bit unwieldy. If someone has some suggestions on better organizations, then by all means speak up.

Here is one, take the FAQ link out of the "RR Admin and Special Services" box and place it between the welcome message and "If you are new to Wikis...". The FAQ is not dealing with RR Admin or Special Services, it should be the very first link on the page in the "Welcome" box.

 

[ka3jjz]

That's a valid point, Lou. Let me take a look into that tomorrow. That certainly is something that can be easily done

73 Mike

 

[WayneH]

Why should people check their sensitivity at the door when it comes to people that 'run' the site?...If you ran a business, would you want your customers to check their sensitivity at the door? This is after all a subscription based site for those that want to donate (with extras I know)

First, the Forums aren't a business. Nothing is charged to use them. They were added as basically an accessory to the database. They originally weren't meant to become as large as they were. Secondly, my advice to check your sensitivity was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Just because I'm a moderator doesn't mean everything I say is telling someone what to do; I am also a regular user of these forums. The moderation team is also not some paid customer support team. When someone acts impolite, shows a lack of etiquette or shows impatience someone is going to react to that; this could be a regular user or a moderator. And that's a common thing on other forums, unless you visit Hello Kitty forums.

Btw, this is the INTERNET people. The way things are written aren't always the way you think they are. Everyone has a tendency to forget this. So here's your reminder.

I've got no further comment on this as it's taking away from the OP's topic.

 

[gmclam]

Wiki, Glossary or ?

Try reading this page, which is suggested by the "nothing found" Wiki page (right at the top.)

Thanks. My example here (TRS) was not a good one because I only used a 3 letter search term. My point was that lots of things being searched come back empty, and when they do there should be a way to suggest getting them into the index/etc.

I see there is a glossary. But the glossary does not list many of the acronyms that people constantly ask questions about. For example, CTCSS is listed (the full name), but CT is not - which is what people want to look up because that's all our scanners display! Or going back to my earlier example, TRS is not listed. So if these short terms can not be searched in the Wiki, people should be able to find them in the glossary. Asking a newbie to figure out they should enter 'trunked radio system' into the search field is silly because that's what they are trying to learn. So the next easy alternative is to post these questions over and over. And that get's back to the original point of this thread.

 

[ka3jjz]

And here comes my favorite reply;

If you don't see something in the wiki, and it needs adding, I have 2 words for you;

DO IT!

'nuff said

73 Mike

 

[blantonl]

yea i see were you are coming from now but like i was saying earlyer if a thread or forum was made up for us newbeeies and you didnt like what you saw in it then dont respond to it let others who care to answer respond and for the know it alls that get mad when we right somthing stupid in there they can set back and laugh or shake there head and another thing im not damanding nothing its just a seggestion im not having much problems on here getting info i just seen some people asking general questions and they get jumped on like the person here ownes this sight the way i look at it if you dont like it then make it a paied sight even then you still going to get the same old stuff and another thing im not here to make enemies just tring to get every one to realise that if you dont like what you see man just take it easy on them help them out

Sorry lugoffman, I couldn't resist... that was one entire sentence you wrote there.

 

[lugoffman]

Sorry lugoffman, I couldn't resist... that was one entire sentence you wrote there.

yea pretty funny though isnt it lol !!!! sorry i get finger pushing happy lolhaha!!

 

[gmclam]

And here comes my favorite reply;

If you don't see something in the wiki, and it needs adding, I have 2 words for you;

DO IT!

I am talking about adding to the SEARCH index; not to the data of the Wiki.

 

[ka3jjz]

When you add something to the wiki, the index for the search should be updated at the same time.

73 Mike

 

[ka3jjz]

Lindsay, can we add a link to the following underneath, or somewhere around, the search box - this might prove helpful, as the search box really doesn't quite work the way one would expect it to, like a Google or Altavista search...

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/The_RadioReference_Wiki:Searching

73 Mike