When I was a writer for Test&Measurement World magazine, we had a couple of great editors that made sure that all the Is were dotted and the Ts were crossed. I don’t have that luxury now that I’m a self-publisher. I have some volunteer proofreaders, and I’ve paid proofreaders from time to time, but errors still creep in.
Overall, I think I’ve done a pretty good job, so imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail from Bruce, N7RR, detailing a number of instances where I misused the notation for International System of Units (SI). The first one, from the Tech study guide, really is an error on my part:
p. 1:
currently reads:
the 160m, 80m, 60m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, and 10m bands.should read:
the 160 m, 80 m, 60 m, 40 m, 20 m, 17 m, 15 m, 12 m, and 10 m bands.One of the most basic SI standards is that an SI value and an SI symbol should always in all circumstances be separated by a space, and never anything else, including cases where the context is adjectival. Between an SI value and an SI unit in an adjectival sense in English there should be a hyphen: the 160-meter, 80-meter, 60-meter, 40-meter, 20-meter, 17-meter, 15-meter, 12-meter, and 10-meter bands.
Mea culpa.
Other errors he cites are problems with the question pool, however. This one is from the General Class study guide:
p. 6:
In order to avoid capitalizing an SI unit as you have with, “Ohm is the unit used to measure impedance,” I would write, “Impedance is measured in ohms.”
While he is technically correct, I wrote this the way I did because question G5A10 reads, “What unit is used to measure impedance?” and the answer is “Ohm.” Throughout my study guides, I have tried to keep the wording in them as close as possible to the way that the questions are worded in the question pool.
While I fully support Bruce’s desire to have the question pool be as correct as possible, I do think that my study guides should reflect the question pool as closely as possible, even if it’s not technically correct. I’ve suggested that Bruce contact the Question Pool Committee directly, and he’s done that, but hasn’t yet received a response.
This is kind of a dilemma for me. What do you think that I should do?
btw, if you’re interested in how the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommends that we use SI units, download their Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI). It’s not light reading, though. It’s 77 pages long! If you’d prefer not to wade through that document, here’s a one-page summary by Bruce—International System of Units Check-List—that covers most of the units we use in amateur radio.
Larry Koziel says
While we’re on the subject of proofreading, how about these errors:
While I fully support Bruce’s desire to have the question pool be as correct as possible, I do think that I should my study guides reflect the question pool as closely as possible, even if it’s not technically correct.
and
It’s 77 page long!
Larry K8MU
Dan KB6NU says
Yipes! Thanks, Larry.
Rick says
Dan, I have trouble reading the list of bands when written “properly”. It’s likely due to the common usage in the Ham universe being just what you first published. I’d keep it like it is, after all, you are not writing the questions for the test pool, you are reflecting what the prospective test taker must learn… BTW, thanks! Both your Tech and your General study guides helped me immensely.
Rick
KD8AQT
Bob, KG6AF says
I think you did the right thing when you suggested that Bruce contact the question pool committee at ncvec.org. A draft of the new Extra question pool for 2016 should be ready soon, and if things go as they have in the past, there’ll be a file of those questions available to anyone. I’d suggest that Bruce mark up the file with his corrections and send it back to the NCVEC question pool committee. Better to close the barn door *before* the horse escapes.