User talk:Tophyr

Welcome to Wikipedia!
Dear Tophyr: Welcome to Wikipedia, a free and open-content encyclopedia. I hope you enjoy contributing. To help get you settled in, I thought you might find the following pages useful:


 * Five Pillars of Wikipedia
 * Community Portal
 * Frequently Asked Questions
 * How to edit a page
 * How to revert to a previous version of a page
 * Tutorial
 * Copyrights
 * Shortcuts

Don't worry too much about being perfect. Very few of us are! Just in case you are not perfect, click here to see how you can avoid making common mistakes.

If you are stuck, and looking for help, please come to the New contributors' help page, where experienced Wikipedians can answer any queries you have! Or, you can just type   on your user page, and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions.

Wikipedians try to follow a strict policy of never biting new users. If you are unsure of how to do something, you are welcome to ask a more experienced user such as an administrator. One last bit of advice: please sign any discussion comment with four tildes (~&#126;). The software will automatically convert this into your signature which can be altered in the "Preferences" tab at the top of the screen. I hope I have not overwhelmed you with information. If you need any help just let me know. Once again welcome to Wikipedia, and don't forget to tell us about yourself and be BOLD! - Ksbrown talk 13:52, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Edits to article Ripple (electrical)
Your recent edits to article Ripple (electrical) have been reverted. The text you changed was supported by a WP:reliable source and was correct as it stood. Your changes were in error. I am curious to inquire, what authority can you cite for those changes?

As you are new to wikipedia (though your userid has existed for 10 years, you have performed only 4 edits in all that time), I'll give you a few pointers on editing the encyclopedia.


 * the encyclopedia is a scholarly work - we cannot insert anything we want, even if it is true. No text can be inserted or remain in the encyclopedia without citation to a reliable source.  That such uncited text exists in the encyclpedia is a burden on all editors to fix, cite or remove.  That said, general policy heavily disdains arbitrary removal of existing text, unless it is demonstratably wrong.


 * when there is doubt or conflict over whether text is correct, the established procedure is to create an article talk page section describing the problem, and wait for other editors' input. If or when a consensus is reached, an involved editor will be nominated to make the appropriate change to the article.  No consensus means that the article will remain unchanged.


 * the requirements for changing text supported by a reliable source are especially stringent: you should be able to cite multiple authoritative sources (professional journal articles, etc) that contradict the existing text. Then, as above, take the issue to the talk page, and get the consensus of other editors.  There is a strong presumption for retaining the original text and citation, so that the encyclopedia remains stable.

You edited an article on electronics. Electronics is both a theoretical and experimental science. This area of the encyclopedia may contain poor quality work and outright error, presumably because at least some contributing editors do not have substantive knowledge or experience in this area. The proper procedure for writing or editing here is


 * work out any associated formulas on your own, from first principles. This will often involve proficiency in analytic geometry, trigonometry, differential and integral calculas, as well as specific electrical knowledge.


 * simulate the circuit in PSPICE or other electrical simulation software


 * Build the circuit on a breadboard, and test it with an oscilloscope, DMM or other instruments. Real life circuits often don't work as we think they should, so actually verifying the circuit in the laboratory is essential.  If the circuit involves high voltages or currents, especially if it is not isolated from the mains, you should be an experienced experimenter, or be supervised by one.


 * finally, if all the preceding things agree, and support what you intend to contribute to the encyclopedia, you must include a citation to a reliable source to validate your statement. If your work is correct, you were not the first to do it, and finding a reliable source should be easy. Failure to find a corroborating source usually indicates a problem.  It is not permissible to insert original research - that is, experiments or research we conduct on our own, even though valid - into the encyclopedia.

I also note that you have not created a user page for yourself. You should do that forthwith, and add relevant info about yourself, your interests, areas of expertise, and your experience editing the encyclopedia so that other editors can come to know and appreciate your contributions. Check other senior editors' user pages for ideas (you can link to them from the edit History of any article). There are a lot of preformed info boxes you can copy directly from their pages.

Sbalfour (talk) 18:49, 11 November 2017 (UTC)