Virtual Center Tap Resistor Value

[R.G.]

Let me insert a personal opinion. One of the great values of a forum like this is that the technical information is usually correct.

Occasionally you get a poster that posts things that are either very incomplete, subtly wrong, or completely wrong; and these will sometimes be posted as facts.

This is a problem. One of the values of a forum like this is that it's a good research tool. However, if incorrect or incomplete technical information remains here simply stated as fact and never commented on, search engines will find and disgorge that as undisputed fact forever. Subtly or incompletely wrong technical information is worse than no information at all.

The quality of the information is important in a technical forum. IMHO, things that are factually incorrect must and need be corrected; other stuff does not.

[Chuck H]

+++

If we were able to limit the conflict to technical disagreements. But it's too easy to lose control. I've been corrected here a few times. It was usually gracefully administered and gracefully accepted. But there have been times when someone making a correction is curt or even condescending. These are often incorrect corrections and I'm very quick to lose my cool under these circumstances. The recent rash of disputes here have this characteristic. Either a correction, correct or not, is given in more than the spirit of accuracy and includes some degree of angst or the correctee (my word, you can't use it) finds that they are wrong and is a poor sport and continues to try arguing in favor of their incorrect information as a means of personal validation. of course this never ends well, is never handled gracefully and doesn't advance anything. But we're only human. And humans sometimes drink a little too much, just have a crummy day and run out of patience or whatever and we lose our cool. When, like we have here now, there is an on going rivalry it's especially easy to excuse yourself from cool.

The people responsible for the recent ongoing conflicts know who they are. And though I'm not one of the primary players I am not blameless. I decided after one of Cminor9's posts on another thread not long ago to stop participating and work harder at keeping a standard of etiquette more befitting this forum. No promises though.

[cminor9]

R.G. I understand. But does every perceived* bit of misinformation have to be fought with such vigor**? I have learned a lot from many of the more experienced guys here, and that means you. But what kind of fool just takes some advice from a forum, without exercising a modicum of thought, and follows the recommended course of action? These same people might use wikipedia as a primary resource for school research papers. These people are in other contexts called fools and deserve what they get. They are also missing the point of a forum like this, where the purpose is to learn. Learning is a cognitive process. Blindly doing what people to tell you is the opposite of learning, unless you are trying to learn the consequences of being a fool.

The rule of thumb when dealing with advice of any kind, especially on the internet: caveat emptor. If you, R.G., were to tell me to put a gold plated 15 amp fuse on my mains to make my crappy Valve Jr sound like a dumble, and I do that, and then my amp catches fire, who is to blame? Then perhaps I am a dullard who cannot grasp the notion of personal accountability, so I hire a lawyer...do I sue merlinb for not stepping in and correcting you?

This is the internet. The signal to noise ratio here is ridiculously low. You cannot fight the noise, and you certainly cannot counter it by yelling louder. All you can do is quietly say your piece, avoid being baited by trolls, and hope people are intelligent enough to sort out the wheat from the chaff. As I said, I am a relative n00b. So I have built a few guitar amps. I am certainly not an EE and I haven't been around since the heyday of vacuum tubes. Every time I read a tube datasheet, I have to look up what Vg means. I sort of understand how to calculate how much a power tube is dissipating. Yet, I have a pretty good idea of who knows what they're talking about.

* perceived, because while facts are consistent interpretations of them vary.
** I too am guilty as charged, see http://music-electronics-forum.com/t22879/#post193926

[cminor9]

I decided after one of Cminor9's posts on another thread not long ago to stop participating and work harder at keeping a standard of etiquette more befitting this forum. No promises though.

uh oh, what'd I do?

[Chuck H]

You've mentioned the recent disturbances more than once. Others have too.