Diagnosis at a distance

[ukcol]

There are very many forum members who give us the benefit of their knowledge and experience to help others with solutions to various problems. One of the more difficult to help with is fault diagnosis.

I often enjoy trying to help people with fault diagnosis, using my past years of experience as a radio and TV service engineer and I get a real buzz if I succeed.

In another thread I notice a regular contributor, who's advice is always good and well thought through, remark that others had diagnosed the fault better than he had. I got the impression that he was almost apologising for not being "right".

Although I am sure the remark was light hearted I would like to say that nobody should feel the need to apologise in those circumstances. Diagnosis at a distance is difficult and depends upon a number of factors; the quality of the information you are working with, the range of your experience and chance. This last factor is one you cannot allow for, if you make a perfectly rational suggestion and it happens that in the particular case the cause is elsewhere it doesn't make your advice is wrong; someone else may read your post when they have the same symptom and you have the answer.

I am not supporting the school of wild guesses here of course, but those of you with good well thought through advice, KEEP IT COMING.

Colin M

[Paul Stenning]

Can I also ask that the person requesting the help tries to carry out the tests and suggestions given, and indicates clearly the results etc. If for some reason you can't complete the test please say so and why. If you don't understand what is being requested please ask for clarification.

We do have a few threads where a number of suggestions are made and the thread starter then seems to ignore them. This is obviously frustrating for those who are trying to help.

I know people would like a simple definitive "change the xx valve" type response, but it often isn't that simple. Some diagnosis is often needed to narrow down the likely culprit.

[Station X]

Following on from the above, if you take measurements and post the results please quote the units used, so "25 Volts" rather than 25.

Resistance measurements can be problematic is this respect. "No reading" could indicate a short-circuit or an open-circuit.

[JoshWard]

I'd just like to say thankyou to all those who offer help on here. I still don't know a lot but I wouldn't know anything if it wasn't for this forum. So many members have helped me solve problems and given me knowledge that I have been able to apply to other sets and then fix them. I have even had members come to my house and work through the fault with me!! Combined with Paul's information pages on his website and Tony Thompson's books on a good day with the wind behind me I can just about get a radio working (well, some of the time, still a long way to go!).

I must admit in the past I have ignored advice, simply because I haven't understood how to carry out the test or why the test was being done. I then discovered it was a lot better to simply ask rather than ignore, that way you learn and you may just solve the problem!!

Well put Josh, there is no such thing as a stupid question, they only get daft if asked twice by the same person.

I have learned a lot from this forum and hopefully given a bit back too.

[Welsh Anorak]

Hi
When giving advice, it would be helpful to know how experienced the poster is. As a rule of thumb I tend to think the more times they have posted the more experienced they are, but that's perhaps more than a little flawed. I tend to give advice on TVs old and new and, while someone may be a dab hand with valved radios, they may understandably panic at the thought of replacing an SMD IC or partially dismantling an LCD screen.
Of course how this would be implemented is another thing!
Glyn

[Bazz4CQJ]

Originally Posted by Welsh Anorak

Hi
When giving advice, it would be helpful to know how experienced the poster is. As a rule of thumb I tend to think the more times they have posted the more experienced they are, but that's perhaps more than a little flawed. Glyn

What really strikes me is that on this forum there are some people who are very experienced professional radio/electronics people who are also hobbyists. At the other end of the spectrum (standing with me) are the "hams"; often people who were interested in radio as a hobby some decades ago, and much of what we know still dates from that time...and hasn't necessarily increased much since then .

[Station X]

At the other end of the spectrum (standing with me) are the "hams"; often people who were interested in radio as a hobby some decades ago, and much of what we know still dates from that time...and hasn't necessarily increased

This is a vintage radio forum so such knowledge should be very useful.

[Bazz4CQJ]

Originally Posted by Station X

This is a vintage radio forum so such knowledge should be very useful.

Oh yes, but the "pros" very often have that knowledge, and so much more theoretical stuff and modern technology on top of it.

It is very pleasing to get benefit of some of their inputs on issues, but it really makes me realise that having got distracted by other things for a couple of decades, I've fallen a "little bit behind" in some areas.