Overmod So you ask questions, don't get the answers you expected, and that makes you stop asking questions? That would be the time to post again saying some polite or not version of "that wasn't what I asked; how well did xxxxx work when you used it" -- and then using the delete key on email reflectors or backspace on forums if you then see further Facegotistic posts that ignore the honing-in. That they don't get it shouldn't damage your ability to get it.
So you ask questions, don't get the answers you expected, and that makes you stop asking questions? That would be the time to post again saying some polite or not version of "that wasn't what I asked; how well did xxxxx work when you used it" -- and then using the delete key on email reflectors or backspace on forums if you then see further Facegotistic posts that ignore the honing-in. That they don't get it shouldn't damage your ability to get it.
Overmod,
Irrelevant and unrelated replies to simple, precise questions are certainly "unexpected", even shocking and sad (talking about "X" when "A" was asked) to read.
I've also done as you suggested - repeating the question in the precise wording you used. That, however, almost universally leads to silence from those who replied with "X". Rarely have I gotten a "I misunderstood your question" response. (Kudos to those few individuals, for now we can have a discussion.)
Even so, many questions subsequently go unaddressed, perhaps because of their technical (usually electrical) nature. Those pesky electrons!
Sorry to say that in my experience the Facebook syndrome reigns.
BTW, what is an "email reflector"?
Ian R.I've also done as you suggested - repeating the question in the precise wording you used. That, however, almost universally leads to silence from those who replied with "X".
What I sometimes do when I don't have a good or detailed knowledge to post, or don't have enough information, is to 'first post' after a few hours, just to get things rolling among the actual knowledgeable people, or to 'bump' the topic periodically (hopefully in a nonannoying or nonintrusive manner!) to ensure the greatest chance of its being recognized. I also don't hesitate to suggest other places to try asking, even if that flirts with the Kalmbach TOS against promoting other forums in place of this one. (When there is a multi-year thread about an aspect of preservation, like the 'Rainier Rails' series on railroad-car documentation, there is little point in attempting to recap or summarize it, or try to copy more than a little information over, when the other community is the place to ask. I trust most of the people here would be no less inclined to return after their 'visit' ... )
Rarely have I gotten a "I misunderstood your question" response.
I do try, when I see that happen, to make a short post saying essentially "I think there is an answer and I'll try to find out", as I did regarding Arnold Haas' story about the S1 on the Trail Blazer exceeding 140mph and the "ICC" giving them some kind of enforcement action for it. That took the better part of a year to research, including a couple of trips to specialized libraries. Some of your more esoteric electronics-related questions might involve that level of research or tracking down. Fortunately the process could be greatly accelerated ... before the pandemic shut down many of the actual primary sources or put their staffs largely out of contact with the material. This, too, shall pass.
(Electrons of course are a special case -- they are very ill-understood even today, and are often just used as convenient black-box placeholders possessed of their external physical characteristics. What is still more interesting is that to my knowledge electrons are not observed to 'tunnel', protons have 10^32 year stability before tunnelling, yet the half-life of free neutrons (which are the equivalent of an electron associated with a proton) is only about 10 minutes... yet their decay follows an exponential characteristic. It would be nice to get answers to this behavior on a forum, but I suspect you won't...)
... what is an "email reflector"?
This subsequently grew into 'groups' software, where access and participation permissions, a presentation and threading interface, automatic conversion of different email client or composition protocols (much complicated by HTML conventions applied blindly to creeping-featurization of emails in the early years of the popular Internet and Web!) became added around the reflector idea, and the preservation of an 'archive' of past posts, and the ability of moderators to edit and amplify them, became of potentially tremendous importance.
I lurked for a while before I joined because I had not joined any online anything at that point and once I did join I was not sure of forum etiquette. I got some nasty comments at what I was doing as far as using foam and spline went, even though I explained I wanted to try something new. There were an army of moderators back then that compensated for the nastiness and offered me encouragement that kept me here.
Working on the ramp at the airport for 36 years with three radios and two phones hanging off me trying to communicate over these devices while wearing double sets of ear protection and standing next to running jet engines makes you say what you have to say in as few words as humanly possible. Away from work, I carried this habit of saying what I want to say in a very matter of fact way in as short of sentences as possible. My wife, kids and friends say I am softening and now use six or seven words where I would have used one or two in the past. That being said, it is, for this reason, I believe I have rubbed some people the wrong way and I feel bad for that, I am getting better, so I have been told.
I am not sure how much I have contributed over the years, but this is a good place to park my butt when the Arthritis makes me take a break from moving.
I have left some MRR FB groups because of some of the sickos that were not dealt with and found them quite toxic. This forum is moderated well and I hope it stays that way as it is a good group.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
I lurk more often than not because I just enjoy reading and seeing what people are doing. I'm without layout at the moment, and sporadically have interest in seeing what's going on in the MRR world.
This space reserved for SpaceMouse's future presidential candidacy advertisements
I enjoy the many facets of the hobby and enjoy seeing the fine work done by others on the forum. Have a great deal from others reading a whole host of topics. When I have specific questions, I usually post them. Over time, a few posters stood out. They always gave me outstanding advice in my threads and have always been supportive to help me improve in knowledge, skills, and avoid some pitfalls. They are my "go to guys" and we connect here in the forums and also via email or MR forum messenger. No need to mention names, you see them all over these MR forums helping others. I am very grateful for them and would never have crossed their paths without these forums.
I have lurked for years, I love reading the forums. I also have not had a layout in at least 15 years but have continued reading magazines, visiting my local hobby shop, buying on ebay, and all the fun stuff other than having a layout. My son is now 6, loves trains, and we set up ovals in his room and the living room. Last week we had an oval of Lionel and an oval of American Flyer in the Living Room and HO and N Ovals in his room. We have the most HO equipment, but he enjoys all the scales right now. I love reading the forums to get inspiration and to distract from work. I have many home imporovemnt projects to get started nad finished before we can have a "real" layout, but we are having fun, and that is what counts!
Heartattack19 to the forum. That's a handle that gives most of us in this forum pause. Hopefully 19 was a year and not the quantity.
Your posts get delayed in moderation. I encourage everyone to post. Look at it as a learning experience.
I wish I had a forum in the late 80s when I build my first bigger than 4x8 layout. All I had was Kalmbach How To books.
Sons, grandsons, daughters and and granddaughters are all good reasons to build a layout.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Thank you for the welcome, my nickname is from playing baseball in High School, stuck through club ball in college and into my adult league teams. I moved form second base to the outfield as a junior and every time a flyball would get hit my way, i would give the coaches a "heart attack" because they never knew if i was going to catch the ball or not. I almost always did, but was just sloppy enough to make everyone wonder.
My favorite layout was from an old forum member named Electrolove, he was working on the Royal Gorge and the Hanging Bridge. I have searched trying to find more pics of the layout, but am not sure where he went.
alco's forever!!!!! Majoring in HO scale Minorig in O scale:)
I just realized that I kind of lurk in here.
I read all the stuff in the "Prototype Information" and "DCC" sections, but I rarely post in there. I learn an awful lot, but I rarely have anything to add.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
The reason I usually lurk are:
Having been in this hobby for more than 60 years, there were no forums on which to ask questions and seek guidance. If you weren't fortunate enough to have a club or a local hobby shop nearby, you were on your own to learn through experimentation. Failure was no stranger and, if one remained in this endeavor, the trashman was a busy fellow. That's how most of the knowledge taken for granted now, was accumulated. A lot of the questions asked repeatedly, could be answered by those asking them, in less time than it takes to post and get the answers on this forum if they would simply TRY. Our society has become risk adverse and fearful of failure. It is much easier to turn on the weather channel to find out if is raining, than it is to simply look out the window. After answering the same question for the sixth time in six weeks or even six months, lurking begins.
Another cause of lurking may be the inability to decipher the poster's intent. There are a number of people who post on here who's questions are clear, coherent, and concise, even though English is a second language for them. Having to read a post five or six times and still not being able to get the gist of it, causes lurking. My computer places a red squiggly line under misspelled words and, simply re-reading the post and making necessary corrections, would go a long way towards finding the information being sought. A person can be crystal clear in their intent in their mind but, that is not what shows up on the forum. Please reread before hitting submit, it may deter lurking.
One more reason some of us lurk is we have focused interests and don't participate in discussions where we have nothing to contribute. I will never engage in a conversation on DCC or double stacks because those topics don't interest me. Being in HO, I know nothing of N scale trucks or, Z scale couplers so, no comment. Rolling stock. The prototype from post WWII to the mid 1980s? Sign me up!
In closing, I had an uncle who was a man of very few words. When asked why he didn't say much, his answer was, you never gained anything because your ears close when your mouth opens. I guess that would equate to lurking.