Would anyone be interested?
MarkS
Posts: 342
I am thinking about starting a general message board geared towards electronics hobbyists. I like this board and the one here and at Spark Fun but they are both geared towards the companies that host them. That's great if you have a question that is based around the company's products, but its pushing the line otherwise. I have yet to find a forum that is not tied to a product line.
I don't know if this is allowed here, and if not, please delete this thread. If allowed, and anyone is interested, please let me know in this thread. I'm more than willing to put up 100% of the money for the site and vBulletin, but I don't want to waste my money if there is not much interest.
I just want a site that a complete newbie to this hobby can ask how a capacitor works to advanced hobbyists/engineers getting help building the latest greatest robot/motherboard/embedded product/etc. There would, of course, be product-specific forums, but a good amount of general forums dealing strictly with the nuts and bolt of electronic design.
I don't know if this is allowed here, and if not, please delete this thread. If allowed, and anyone is interested, please let me know in this thread. I'm more than willing to put up 100% of the money for the site and vBulletin, but I don't want to waste my money if there is not much interest.
I just want a site that a complete newbie to this hobby can ask how a capacitor works to advanced hobbyists/engineers getting help building the latest greatest robot/motherboard/embedded product/etc. There would, of course, be product-specific forums, but a good amount of general forums dealing strictly with the nuts and bolt of electronic design.
Comments
The Sandbox is exactly the place for such discussion. You can post nearly anything here.
You can also post a poll, can't you? If not, I can post it for you.
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
Apparently not...
Besides, what if the project in question would compete with your own product line or use competing products? I do not feel that is fair to you or Parallax. I want something non-biased. There would definitely be a Parallax forum (probably several) and I would welcome any of your staff as moderators, but I don't want the members to feel like they have to make a product choice when posting a question. I feel that way here. I have ideas that do not fit well with your product line, but don't want to post hem for that reason.
I tried, but it would only allow me to add 0 (zero) poll options.
Post Edited (MarkS) : 10/28/2007 11:59:31 PM GMT
If your looking for electronics forums with a "robotics" orientation, check out Society of Robots's Electronic forum... http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?board=4.0
There is the Electronics forum at http://www.dutchforce.com/~eforum/index.php?showforum=17, and let's not forget ElectroTech Online at http://www.electro-tech-online.com/
I would see if any of these are of interest to you before you start yet another forum.
I've been using proboards.com for my forum software (free ad based) and have had a lot of success over time. But I'd agree with the poster before of looking carefully at what is there before jumping. Also, you might want to read my forum guidelines (google petscii forums) to get an idea of some of what I've had to deal with over the past few years. (Forums can be a big pain in the {pick preferred body part} and it's not fun to be responsible for cleaning up some days.)
As for what is allow or not allowed in the Sandbox... It appears to be pretty liberal.. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Calvin and Hobbes.
One of Parallax's great strengths is its resiliency in the face of competition. So I doubt that even discussing a competing product would be the end of the world. Heavens! I've even seen the PicAxe (shudder) mentioned in these forums!
-Phil
Post Edited (Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)) : 10/29/2007 1:56:16 AM GMT
I set the tone with our forum moderators. You can talk about whatever you want on Sandbox if it is electronic-related. Realistically, you're going to have better places to ask questions pertaining to AVRs, PICBASIC, and other products we don't make, so you'll find yourself on those forums to get better support. Our team probably won't provide many answers because they don't know those products, and they certainly won't delete threads and lock accounts. Just trying to make this a better place for you.
As for posting polls, I didn't realize that was restricted for our users. I'll look into it for us.
Ken Gracey
And Ken, there is nothing wrong with this place. [noparse];)[/noparse] No need to "make it better for me." I figured that it would be rude, disrespectful, insert favorite adjective, to bring up ideas that did not use a Parallax product. I do think the forum description needs to be adjusted to reflect this information. While the true general purpose nature of this forum might be known to long time members, it is not so obvious to new members.
-Phil