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Currently we have and . Currently the questions are about someone's shack.

Do we want to use a tag for these?

There are 582,000 google hits for: "Amateur Radio" shack

There are 6,310 google hits for: "Amateur Radio" "ham setup"

I think we should be focusing on SEO.

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  • $\begingroup$ Was already working on a fuller answer dcaswell! And yes: ask ten random people on the street for the meaning of the amateur radio term "shack" and I can almost guarantee that no one would get even close. That, to me, is a jargon test! $\endgroup$
    – user
    Oct 24, 2013 at 9:26

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I'm kind of in favor of operating-area myself, with a synonym shack. That would be approachable by people who are not familiar with the jargon, as well as provide the (largely) equivalent term for those who are familiar with the jargon. The tag wiki could go something like the shack, or operating area, is the space where... (fill in the blank). It also allows for both those who are lucky enough to be able to dedicate a room to their radio operating, as well as those who are stuck at the kitchen table with a handheld radio.

Google for "Amateur Radio" operating area returns about 5.6 million hits, whereas "Amateur Radio" "operating area" gives me 21,300 hits, including a number of fairly official-looking pages on the first page of hits.

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  • $\begingroup$ My only concern with this suggestion is that it could be confused with "the geographic area in which you operate". Maybe operating-space instead? $\endgroup$
    – Amber
    Oct 24, 2013 at 17:38
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    $\begingroup$ @dcaswell I'd probably use "shack", but then again I know the jargon. If I was a newcomer, I'd probably start out by searching for something like amateur radio operating place, area, or a similar term, yes. But then again, English isn't my native language. My issue is with the term "shack" being jargon; while it's perfectly usable as a tag synonym (and probably should be, given its prevalence in the community), I don't think it's the word someone not in the know would use to search! $\endgroup$
    – user
    Oct 24, 2013 at 20:53
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seems like it should be avoided in general, since it could refer to either the noun form or the verb form (which have fairly significantly different meanings).

I actually like as a more neutral and approachable tag. Yes, would be the jargon equivalent, but I think we should try to avoid embedding too much jardon in the tag system itself.

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    $\begingroup$ I don't like "ham-setup".. It just sounds weird. $\endgroup$
    – Seth
    Oct 23, 2013 at 21:05
  • $\begingroup$ @Seth If you can think of a better option, add an answer. The more alternatives available, the better we can make decisions. $\endgroup$
    – Amber
    Oct 23, 2013 at 23:54
  • $\begingroup$ setup, IMO, has the same potential dual meaning as installation so I'm not sure ham-setup would be a good name for a tag. Besides, we're already at ham.SE; my feeling is that tags shouldn't need to add redundancy just to be understandable. (Consider: "what other kind of setup is discussed on ham.SE?") $\endgroup$
    – user
    Oct 24, 2013 at 14:21
  • $\begingroup$ @MichaelKjörling I think the addition here is more to help distinguish between the noun and verb forms (e.g. "ham-installation" would also be clearer that it's the noun form being discussed). That said, I like your suggestion above, with caveats. $\endgroup$
    – Amber
    Oct 24, 2013 at 17:39

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