Open Letter From a New(Ish) Member

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Ashcat
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Posts: 419
Joined: Mon. Aug. 18, 2008 10:29 pm
Location: West Chester PA
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Hitzer 983
Coal Size/Type: Nut/Blaschak

Post by Ashcat » Mon. Nov. 17, 2008 10:08 pm

UpStateMike asked the question: At what point do you old timers get sick of us newbies?

As one of those newbies myself, I've wondered the same thing, so I looked at the Members link: 2909 users in all, at the moment. Two years ago, in the Fall of 2006, by my count the average number of new members added was about 1.75 per day. In the last two weeks, 117 new members joined, making the recent average number of new members 8.35 per day. An influx of that magnitude can change the dynamics of a community, even an online one.

Yet, I do not believe that's likely to happen here, due to first-rate NEPACrossroads website design and organization (I gather Richard S. is the main person we have to thank for that), present but unobtrusive Board Moderators, and most of all experienced and patient existing members (aka Old Timers) who are very generous of their time and expertise.

I don't imagine Richard (nor the other Moderators) does what he does here for the money, but as newbies—who as yet have relatively less to contribute in the way of experience and pearls of anthracite wisdom—we can contribute at least by helping to defray the costs of maintaining this site.

OK—not intending to get too mushy here—just wanted to express my appreciation.
(This probably doesn't belong here, but where?)

 
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gambler
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Joined: Mon. Jan. 29, 2007 12:02 pm
Location: western Pa

Post by gambler » Mon. Nov. 17, 2008 10:16 pm

We were all newbies once. :)

 
lincolnmania
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Joined: Fri. Jan. 26, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: Birdsboro PA.
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 350
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: reading allegheny stoker
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: alaska kodiak stoker 1986. 1987 triburner, 1987 crane diamond
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by lincolnmania » Tue. Nov. 18, 2008 2:36 am

only been burning coal for 3 years.....i'm still a newb to teh coal


 
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Freddy
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Location: Orrington, Maine
Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 130 (pea)
Coal Size/Type: Pea size, Superior, deep mined

Post by Freddy » Tue. Nov. 18, 2008 4:36 am

For sure, a BIG thanks to all members that take the time to share experience and knowledge. It's what makes this place tick. Also a special thanks to Richard & the moderators, their willingness to aid fellow man (and woman) seems boundless.

I never burned a nugget of coal in my life until four weeks ago today. Am I still a newbie? 22* at the moment, 73 in the house. Ahhhhhh, nice.

 
lincolnmania
Member
Posts: 2684
Joined: Fri. Jan. 26, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: Birdsboro PA.
Stoker Coal Boiler: EFM 350
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: reading allegheny stoker
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: alaska kodiak stoker 1986. 1987 triburner, 1987 crane diamond
Coal Size/Type: rice

Post by lincolnmania » Tue. Nov. 18, 2008 4:55 am

i think I burned about 30 tons of coal my first winter here (3 very worn out hand fed stvoves, and the kenmore) a ton a week
last winter a couple of the members stopped by to see what was going on after I had the efm running and got me set up with a manometer......burned alot less coal last yr.....maybe 18 ton.....so far this season i'm only on my second pickup load of coal

 
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coalkirk
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Joined: Wed. May. 17, 2006 8:12 pm
Location: Forest Hill MD
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1981 EFM DF520 retired
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Jotul 507 on standby
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh anthracite/rice coal

Post by coalkirk » Tue. Nov. 18, 2008 5:02 am

Ashcat wrote:I don't imagine Richard (nor the other Moderators) does what he does here for the money, but as newbies—who as yet have relatively less to contribute in the way of experience and pearls of anthracite wisdom—we can contribute at least by helping to defray the costs of maintaining this site.
An excellent point. I don't have any idea what it costs to keep a site like this going. I made a contribution but it's probably been about a year ago. Guess I'm due again. I see there is now a link you can click on to do so. If you think this site is as valuable as I do, then I'd urge you to also make a contribution.


 
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Richard S.
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Posts: 15183
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Tue. Nov. 18, 2008 5:07 am

Ashcat wrote:2909 users in all, at the moment. Two years ago, in the Fall of 2006, by my count the average number of new members added was about 1.75 per day. In the last two weeks, 117 new members joined, making the recent average number of new members 8.35 per day. An influx of that magnitude can change the dynamics of a community, even an online one.
For the record I prune the memberlist about every 4 or 5 months, people who registered and never posted get purged. The last purge I beleive was anyone prior to January of 2007. Lots of people join and never even login let alone post.
Yet, I do not believe that's likely to happen here, due to first-rate NEPACrossroads website design and organization (I gather Richard S. is the main person we have to thank for that)
I can't take full credit, I've only slightly altered the style. Most of the hard work was done by the developers of phpBB.
we can contribute at least by helping to defray the costs of maintaining this site.
I'm more than happy to accept donations especially from newbies. :lol: I've mentioned this before if you're a long time poster and spend a lot of time here don't feel you need to do that. That's why I don't have a "donor" list.The costs are not all that great but the time involved is quite a bit. As I tell people who want to purchase a website from me, having a site is cheap. It's the building and maintaining that costs money. I moved this site and my others to a VPS about this time last year and that itself has been a learning experience. AS far as the forum goes I have a couple thousand lines of updating I need to manually apply to the forum code, anyone interested? :P

Getting back to "At what point do you old timers get sick of us newbies?" question, I would think none of them get sick of it because if they did they would just go elsewhere. My personal pet peeve is poor titles.... Use a damn title that makes sense. :mad:

 
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Richard S.
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Posts: 15183
Joined: Fri. Oct. 01, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: NEPA
Stoker Coal Boiler: Van Wert VA1200
Coal Size/Type: Buckwheat/Anthracite

Post by Richard S. » Tue. Nov. 18, 2008 5:09 am

coalkirk wrote: An excellent point. I don't have any idea what it costs to keep a site like this going. I made a contribution but it's probably been about a year ago. Guess I'm due again. I see there is now a link you can click on to do so. If you think this site is as valuable as I do, then I'd urge you to also make a contribution.
Coalkirk, as I mentioned I appreciate it but it's really not necessary. It's frequent contributors like yourself that make this forum what it is.

 
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sterling40man
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Joined: Sat. May. 03, 2008 11:52 am
Location: Northern Maine
Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker K6

Post by sterling40man » Tue. Nov. 18, 2008 5:40 am

Freddy wrote:Also a special thanks to Richard & the moderators, their willingness to aid fellow man (and woman) seems boundless.
You guys are the best!! :clap:

 
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UpStateMike
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Location: South New Berlin, NY

Post by UpStateMike » Tue. Nov. 18, 2008 12:03 pm

As I've said before, I'm very appreciate of the level of help I've got here. I've tried to work with Heartland to find out info and they don't seem as willing to cough it up. I even emailed them directly stating their OVAL operators manual needs better explainations on the dampers and they just said "each stove set up is different. Figure it out." Well that's great, but when your manual doesn't even MENTION the side bell dampers, let alone why there's two of them, and when they should be used, etc... it's kind of making it hard for the owner to understand. :mad: I'm venting, btw. I feel better now.

I've been on other BB's like some cigar boards. What's nice is when noobs graduate to the point where they are answering basic common questions as the newest batch comes in. Then as the conversations get a bit deeper, the old timers can get in and offer either their support or their opinion.

One of the best things a new guy can do is SEARCH for the answers BEFORE making a new thread. Take some time to read and look it up. That way you can ask a very pointed question and get much better advice. Oh, and use accurate titles on those new threads! LOL

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