Your toys/hobbies ?

[doneat54]

Just put a deposit on a travel trailer. 8 months, 25 days to go. But who's counting........ ME!!!

[6miths]

A few hobbies but the most expensive one is gardening. Just arranging to put up some fence in my never ending battle with the evil deer nation. Last summer got a Kubota BX-25. Go big or go home!

[kgtest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator I was planning on getting back into Falconry and Pigeon Racing after FIRE. But it limits the amount of time I can be away. Both are great sports, and not as many people in them. Hunting with a raptor is one of the best types of hunting there is. Or seeing your racing pigeon set it's wings as it comes home after a 600+ mile race, on the same day, is a great feeling.

My friends are active in Pigeon Racing out of Roseville. They've actually done quite well...to me I would consider there mode of operation a business as they always try to make money, not lose money.

They recently took up horse racing and board 3 horses right now at Canterbury.

The pigeons are fascinating...I would laugh when we dropped them off at the post office for shipping...I had NO idea you could ship a live pigeon via USPS.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgtest ....The pigeons are fascinating...I would laugh when we dropped them off at the post office for shipping...I had NO idea you could ship a live pigeon via USPS.

But... is it live when it is delivered?

[Nodak]

Right now I am restoring an old E.H. Scott radio I've had since I was 13 years old. It hasn't been turned on in about 20 years and before I use it again I am replacing the capacitors. Also waiting for better weather so I can get back to astrophotography.

[M Paquette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nodak Right now I am restoring an old E.H. Scott radio I've had since I was 13 years old. It hasn't been turned on in about 20 years and before I use it again I am replacing the capacitors.

Heh. I just finished the electronics restoration of a Heathkit SB-301 receiver that was new when I was 13.

Attachment 23578
Real radios glow in the dark!

Now I'm working on the companion SB-401 transmitter, which is a bit of a basket case. Some of the capacitors were dead shorts, so applying power before I do the first round of repairs and tests would have been a bit destructive.

It more or less keeps me out of trouble. (Less, recently...)

[6miths]

There is nothing quite like the warm glow of radio tubes. I was gratified about a month ago when my 18-year-old daughter took a keen interest in her great grandfather's old Stromberg-Carlson radio and asked if she could have it one day. I used to have it beside my bed as a kid to listen to hockey, baseball and above all else, the CBS Radio Mystery Show. Still works fine.

[ElizabethT]

Our primary toy is our RV - the second one we've owned, with more to follow in the future I'm sure. We so enjoy life on the road.

Hobbies - lots. Road bikes, hiking shoes, running shoes, dancing shoes, yoga mats, tennis rackets, camera equipment, backpacking equipment, and lots of foreign language dictionaries. They all get utilized regularly, though which exactly are being prioritized does change.

We are actually somewhat cautious about taking up new hobbies in light of the time and expense that is required to do so. As much as we love to kayak and scuba dive, for example, we don't do either on a regular enough basis to justify making a capital expenditure on equipment. The old 'money vs life energy' trade off, if you will.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6miths There is nothing quite like the warm glow of radio tubes.

And all the other extremely reliable old gear.

When I was really active as a ham, I became fascinated by RTTY (radioteletype).

Back in those days, companies were dumping all their old RTTY gear in favor of the newfangled fax machines, and literally giving them free to amateurs just to get them out of the building.

I got a tremendous amount of use out of my big ASR-35 (although I'm slightly ashamed to admit how many RTTY "pictures" it sent and received). But my favorite was the cute little "portable" Kleinschmidt machine.

Both are long gone now (given to other hams when I was transferred overseas), but fondly remembered.

[Souschef]

I would love to own a plane, but I calculated that the initial outlay would pay for over 300 hours of rental aircraft.

[DrRoy]

My main hoppy is landscape photography. After a trip, I Photoshop and my wife and I create a coffee table book. For example, this is Franchere Mountain in Alberta, Canada.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef I would love to own a plane, but I calculated that the initial outlay would pay for over 300 hours of rental aircraft.

Well, then you simply have to arrange your flying schedule so that you fly more than 300 hours/year. Then the numbers justify ownership.

BTDT - in the mid 1970's I owned a Piper TriPacer, breakeven then was ~100 hours/year and and in two years I flew it ~300 hours. So that can be hard to do.

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6miths A few hobbies but the most expensive one is gardening. Just arranging to put up some fence in my never ending battle with the evil deer nation. Last summer got a Kubota BX-25. Go big or go home!

Big, but old. 1965 2.5 ton dump truck, old Ford 3000 tractor with a front end loader, 1992 Ford F250 pickup with and extra heavy weight package and Myer plow. Toys just for fun - 2004 Audi TT, a whole bunch of wood working equipment. I guess I better include the chain saw.

I've been building my house so long, I think I'll have to classify it as a hobby.

On my list: a fast side-by-side ATV (or two), a new pickup and slide-in camper.

[Bamaman]

We have a lake house on the Tennessee River and a fifth wheel trailer (RV) in the No. GA Mountains. I'm into fast boats and have a Waverunner. We also have a couple of ATV's and a Jaguar convertible to play with.

We travel too much in Spring & Fall. Otherwise, never leave town.

[Fedup]

I spend lots of time gardening. Next hobby is quilting.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nodak Right now I am restoring an old E.H. Scott radio I've had since I was 13 years old. It hasn't been turned on in about 20 years and before I use it again I am replacing the capacitors. Also waiting for better weather so I can get back to astrophotography.

I used to have one of those but in the 1960s the wiring began to loose insulaton, so that I did not feel it safe to turn it on, (It was bought by my great uncle in the 1930) In particular the wires that went to the caps on some of the tubes lost a lot of insulation. So since I was still living at home in Mi, it was trashed in the early 1970s (my parents moved to Tx in the 1980s so it would not have moved to Tx in any case).

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nodak Right now I am restoring an old E.H. Scott radio I've had since I was 13 years old. It hasn't been turned on in about 20 years and before I use it again I am replacing the capacitors. Also waiting for better weather so I can get back to astrophotography.

Anyone interested in old electronics might also like this thread/forum I stumbled upon.

https://www.physicsforums.com/thread...gs-etc.755959/

I swear, in a couple of those pictures I could actually smell the odors the hot tubes, solder flux and oiled wood give off.

Around page 6-7, he starts firing up on old 1900's era X-Ray tube (and he takes precautions)! Ever see a picture of the early X-Ray diagnosticians? After about 5 years of 'calibrating' the output of the system by placing their hands in front and adjusting to see their bones, a large % of them had their hands amputated!


-ERD50

[check6]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef I would love to own a plane, but I calculated that the initial outlay would pay for over 300 hours of rental aircraft.

Build one.

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by check6 Build one.

It takes quite a while to build one, and at my age I do not even buy green bananas

[samsterdog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrRoy My main hoppy is landscape photography. After a trip, I Photoshop and my wife and I create a coffee table book. For example, this is Franchere Mountain in Alberta, Canada.

Beautiful shot! I have a similar mirroring one from Maroon Bells in CO.