Circuit Cellar’s foray into discussion groups started back in 1988, when people would dial in to the Circuit Cellar BBS. It was a unique way for engineers from all over the country to communicate with each other about pertinent issues. Later on, in the early 1990s, we implemented the NNTP news server.

Although the NNTP newsgroups eliminated having to dial in, it was difficult for some people to access during the day while they were at work, which was sometimes when the newsgroups were most useful. Additionally, using a separate news reader could be problematic. So, we’ve moved on again. In October, we switched over to the new discussion forums hosted on our web site at bbs.circuitcellar.com.

Flexibility was our chief concern for the groups; we chose to switch because this system is easier to access and avoids potential headaches caused by dealing with separate news readers. We invite you to come take a look and post your own question about embedded control. We have moved many of the messages from the newsgroups over to the new discussion forums so you can still access the valuable information that was shared.

You’ll notice that the setup looks different, but the discussion groups are essentially the same. They are a gathering point where engineers can get together to exchange ideas, share their experiences, and ask for advice from seasoned professionals. The forums cover topics as varied as analog design, programmable logic, and networking. As we’ve done in the past, we also present some forums dedicated to the magazine, where you can discuss the projects featured in our articles or the applications you’re working on for one of our contests. We encourage you to join the community, and let us know if there are more topics that interest you.

By the way, for anyone who misses the BBS, you can still read through the old messages online. When the BBS was running, paying toll calls for dialing in was expensive, so back in the ’80s, we also copied the material onto diskettes and offered them through the magazine. Over the years since the BBS ended, we have received letters from participants who noted they would love to have access to some of those discussions because of the valuable information that was traded. In response, we decided to put the BBS messages on our web site. You can download zip files from the various groups from www.circuitcellar.com/products/newsgroups.asp.