Other hobbies and money-pit obsessions...

[daction]

My stereo. Better part of 12 years of wheeling and dealing .

[hitekvoop]

Jeez, seems we're all cut from different parts of the same cloth!

1. R/C Cars: 80's: Tamiya: Frog, Hotshot, Wild Willys, Kyosho: Optima, Optima-Mid, Ultima 2000's: HPI RS4-Pro2, RS4-Pro3, RS4, Xray T1, Xray T3 (I'm mainly an on-road guy, but I'm just about to sell my last touring car chassis and buy some obnoxious monster truck!)

2. Real Cars: Currently have a 2004 VW MK4 R32. Bought it new, dumped more than the original purchase price into it and now have a 550HP AWD monster that just LOVES to drain my wallet.

3. High-end Stereo: Heard my first Boothroyd-Stuart Meridian system in '95; Instantly hooked. Since their prices are astronomical ($65k list for their flagship pair of speakers) I've been collecting their analog gear from the late 80's/early 90's. It still sounds incredible.

4. Computers: This is my day job. I used to build all manner of insane computers, but when you do it all day long @work, the last thing you want to do (for me anyway) is come home and troubleshoot a bunch of broken/breaking shit. I've finally moved over to Apple (I'm an ex-unix admin) and have a dozen or so laptops/desktops hanging around.

5. Electronic music: I have a degree in music and this has led down the path of multi-channel audio recording (so happy I don't have to align 2" 24 track tape machines anymore!!!) and lots of musical instruments: drums, guitars, vocal gear, tons of software DAWs: Reason, Logic, etc.

6. Lasers: Duh... This one, I think I played about as smart as I could've. little HeNe back in the 80's, then went and did other stuff while all you ion heads emptied your wallets. Just got back in recently to diodes and the tail end of DPSS. This could've been so much worse for me if I'd been engaged solidly through the 90's/2000's.

7. Camp Hellman: That's what we're calling it. My first foray into home-ownership. Beautiful little compound on an acre here in TX. We close Monday 3-Mar.

Counting down the days to SELEM '14!!!

[TechJunkie]

My stereo. Better part of 12 years of wheeling and dealing .

Does it have speakers so loud they could blow a woman's clothes off?

Damn, some of you guys really spent some big bucks. I was always the guy who bought your left over hobbies for a fraction of the price after you got bored with them. I rarely spent any money on "off the shelf" hobbies. The trouble with hobbies is there is always the next big thing on the horizon. You never get back what you put into them. I spent most of my time, and money traveling around, and having a good time. I've moved 22 times in my life, no BS. I guess you can call that a hobby too.

I invest in collections now as a hobby. Cuckoo clocks, wooden radios, robots, uranium glass, plastic model car kits. Pre-1930s 32mm film, and slide projectors. Pre-1940's lighting. Pre-1950 furniture, phones, camping gear, cameras, suit cases. and electrical/electronic parts (meters, gauges, knife switches, panel lamps, vacuum tubes, ect). I have a weakness for vintage jointed wooden boxes, and cases. Vintage art, and drafting equipment. Once again the list goes on. I've been antiquing for 20 years now. My girlfriend and I do a 50 mile radius around our house, anywhere from 4 to 10 times a month.

[loopee]

You never get back what you put into them.

Isn't that the point of the hobby, otherwise it would be a job

I invest in collections now as a hobby. Cuckoo clocks, wooden radios, robots, uranium glass, plastic model car kits. Pre-1930s 32mm film, and slide projectors. Pre-1940's lighting. Pre-1950 furniture, phones, camping gear, cameras, suit cases. and electrical/electronic parts (meters, gauges, knife switches, panel lamps, vacuum tubes, ect). I have a weakness for vintage jointed wooden boxes, and cases. Vintage art, and drafting equipment. Once again the list goes on. I've been antiquing for 20 years now. My girlfriend and I do a 50 mile radius around our house, anywhere from 4 to 10 times a month.

I think your mistaking hobby for hording, next thing you'll be on one of those TV shows

For me
- Lasers: Dumped more money into this than any other interest
- Computers/networking: Maintain a fairly decent Cisco wireless lab (better equipped then most enterprise networks) luckily I get access to Not-for-resale pricing so makes it cheaper (also my day job)
- Diving: try and get out every weekend when the weather is fine and I have no other plans
- 3D printing - have owned a Makerbot Replicator for over two yer now, looking at buying a laser cutter (but running out of space for it)
- A little RC: Just ordered a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter to complement my Gopro3+

[Bradfo69]

After today.... Buffo is buying a plane. :0) We took a break from lasers this afternoon at FLEM and went up with Laserjock in his Cessna. I think a new money pit is brewing.

[Stuka]

After today.... Buffo is buying a plane. :0) We took a break from lasers this afternoon at FLEM and went up with Laserjock in his Cessna. I think a new money pit is brewing.

If ya'll want to try rotary wing, give me a shout -
Instructor for Uncle, still got a commercial license, qualified in a couple of models with with Bell Helicopter.
Dented a few over the years, but really only "broke" one ~ that I'll own up to...

Pretty sure they can carry a few GoPro's without any problem.

Personally, I don't trust those dang small manned fixed-wing contraptions.
Most of them don't hover worth a crap...

I'll offer my pilot services for free if some one comes up with the helicopter...

BTW ~
Awesome to see all the folks that have jumped in on this thread.
Pretty cool!

[TechJunkie]

Isn't that the point of the hobby, otherwise it would be a job

Nah, the point of the hobby is to enjoy what you have, not wasting money on what you dont need. The same mental programing that makes you think you need the next level in your hobby is the same programming that makes people buy new cell phones every other month. Bragging rights have no value other than to program the next chump into thinking he needs it too.

I think your mistaking hobby for hording, next thing you'll be on one of those TV shows

You may be right. But for the most part I only buy something that can generate me a 50-80% profit margin. So when I look around I dont see junk, I see $10s, $20s, and $100s laying around.

The old electrical stuff isnt worth much, but I like the "Mad Scientist" motif. My man cave is going to look like something out of the first Frankenstein lab, but with lasers added, LOL. I'll have a bank of knife switches to control the squirrel cage lighting, and Jacobs Ladders. I need to get some more lab glass to finish the laboratory part, and one day I'll finish the working electric chair. I'm still looking for a nice large old oak chair to use. I do have nice vintage brain, and heart jars, and a huge 100 year old volt meter to pulsate as the heart pumps. It wont be corny though. I want a real deal mad doctor lab. No plastics, or fake items. Well, except for the body parts.

[Stuka]

To each his/her own ~

I think most of us probably aren't worried about a profit margin, and if we really "needed" something, it would probably no longer be a hobby anyway...

I personally think the value of a hobby is the enjoyment you get directly from it, and while sharing it with others.
I gave up on making any money with my hobbies a LONG time ago, but still enjoy the time I spend with them.

[buffo]

After today.... Buffo is buying a plane. :0) We took a break from lasers this afternoon at FLEM and went up with Laserjock in his Cessna. I think a new money pit is brewing.

Oh shut the hell up!

Seriously, I called my wife when I got back on the ground and told her that I might have to start another hobby. She was not amused...

And even though I know it would bankrupt me to get into flying, I gotta say that it's probably worth it. Chris is a very patient teacher, and the flight was pure joy. I would have stayed up there all day if I could have. (Honestly thinking about another trip down to Florida just to get together with him on a weekend to go flying again!) My wife is gonna kill me though...

If ya'll want to try rotary wing, give me a shout -

Shouting loud and clear!

Though I don't think you'd be willing to hand me the controls like Brad did!

That being said, I did learn a valuable lesson this weekend. 100 series collective pitch RC heli's are a BITCH to fly, even for experienced pilots. Chris has been doing this for what, 15 years now? And he couldn't fly my Wasp Nano any better than I could. That at least made me feel better. (Right up until the point when I realized that I basically bought a piece of shit and now I've got to spend more money if I want to get a decent collective-pitch bird...)

But yeah, I've only been up in a full-size rotor craft a handful of times in my life, so if I ever got the chance to fly right seat with you Randy (even if it was hands-off), I'd be there in an instant!

Dented a few over the years, but really only "broke" one ~ that I'll own up to...

I wish we had video of DZ's crash... He honestly thought he had me in a compromising position when I agreed to the 30 second bet with him (see the FLEM thread for details), but I knew there was no way in hell he'd pull it off. Hell, Chris couldn't keep it in the air that long the first time he flew it! (Though in fairness, neither could I when I first flew it.)

Damned but we had fun tonight just horsing around with a mixture of mini-quads, mini fixed-pitch birds, and Aarons huge Patriot drone (also a quad) all inside that tiny boat club meeting hall... (Hint: don't ever get trapped under the Patriot, or the rotor downwash will slam you into the floor before you can pull enough pitch to save it!)

Personally, I don't trust those dang small manned fixed-wing contraptions.
Most of them don't hover worth a crap...

With a 65 knot headwind, the Cessna 150 will hover just fine!

I'll offer my pilot services for free if some one comes up with the helicopter...

Yeah, that's the hard part - coming up with the bird...

Got any old, rich uncles that are looking to get rid of some cash before it's eaten up by estate taxes?

Adam

[dsli_jon]

..I will say though that you dangled the magic word I've been holding out hope to hear all this time.

..Oh god.. you mean 'Woodchipper'??!! That was only a JOKE!!! jk..

Glad you got to see the wonders of an 'old-skool' analog-console in action, at FLEM.. Sounds like we might have a recipe for some interesting-possibilities (..with MaestroMark + a Z5, there.. for the ballroom... Safe flight, and will ttys..

j