Other hobbies and interests??

[crazy4salmon]

I am right there in the boating, fishing thing. I love the saltwater. Tend to spend as much time as possible on it with my boys and wife. She thinks trolling around for salmon is boring. That works out fine for the boys and myself. I own 4 boats 13' whaler, 14' gregor aluminum, 17' whaler, and 24' robalo with a fuel sucking 275 merc o/b. I need to downsize that collection to increase my airgun collection. I used to upland bird hunt a bunch, and golf. When I started having kids I had to pick just one, so my wife could stay home with the boys. This airgun thing can be addicting. :p  My fishing rod collection is out of control.

Dan  L

Nuclear radiation, geiger counters, radioactive things (all low level and legal!).

I've been absolutely fastenanted by radioactivity as a result of 2 events in my early youth:

I remember being in the kitchen with my mother, I was 7 or 8.  Radio was on, the news.  They were discussing talks between Reagan and the soviets, arms reduction talks.  I asked mom what it was all about, and she explained that some countries had bombs that could destroy the whole world (her words, clear as day!).

Then, on my 10th birthday, Chernobyl popped.

built a geiger counter in high school electronics class, and bought a CDV-700 (civil defence counter) a year ago.  You can learn alot with a few old coleman lantern mantles (radioactive, thorium), and a few old radium dials and americium smoke detectors.

Surprising what can be found out there if you have the equipment to look!

J

Fascinating!!!  I recall Chernobyl, but don't.  Despite me being ~10 yrs older than you I've always lived in my "own little world."  I've never paid much attention to the goings-on locally let alone afar.  But your hobby is interesting.  I'd love to know more about what you have learned in your time spent.

[PeakChick]

Motorcycling, riding my 2000 Kawasaki ZRX1100. Traveling in the region.

Yup, it's a strange, but interesting hobby!

First thing just about anyone who has an interest in it does, is take their geiger counter around and try to identify radioactive stuff.  There's really not alot of really hot stuff around (good thing), but once you learn to use your instrument, a bunch of warm stuff does present itself.

Coleman lantern mantles, pre about 1995, are a common one.  A few in contact with the tube makes the geiger counter sound alot like radio static.  Radium dials, of course, are even hotter.  Some ceramic glazes, some bricks, etc. are low level emitters.  Background radiation is almost double in my basement (uranium or thorium in the concrete, I live in a low radon area).

The dust on your TV screen is radioactive.  It's a result of the decay products from radon collecting there (they have a static charge, so they get stuck to the staticy screen).  You can swab that dust, and detect it with the counter, about 5x background at the start.  Decays away in a few hours, so with some simple software, you can get a good value for the half life, and make some educated guesses about what isotopes are in there.

I could go on for hours, but noone wants to hear it all.  There are lots more involved in this stuff than me, I have so many hobbies I only get middling expertise in any one of them.

You could visit the Yahoo groups "CDV-700 Club" or "GeigerCounterEnthusiasts" to see what folks do with this hobby.  Some are fine scientists in their own right, some cobblers like myself!

Thanks for your interest!

J

Just realised, I forgot to include Astronomy!

It's really nice to spend an evening under the stars, observing planets, nebulae, galaxies and star clusters for hours.  I have an 8" truss tube dobsonian telescope, built by a friend of mine.  A fine and simple instrument!  Imagine optics like this in your scope!

[brokenarrowjbe]

hydroponic gardening, fishing, work, airgunning, wishing I still lived in Hawaii, building bird houses watching red state update on you tube want to take up scuba, john

[r1derbike]

Peak, I came thisclose to buying an ZRX1100, in Eddie Lawson colors, of course!  I went over to the dark side of hi-perf sport bikes in the early 80s, and my first real widow maker was the original 1984 Kawasaki ZX-900 Ninja.  Have ridden since I was 14.  52 now.

I've got to sell my YZF-R1, as my bones can no longer take the punishment.  The FJR1300 stays, however!

Charles

[PeakChick]

Charles I have been riding since I was 11 years old. First ride was a Honda SL70. I've owned more bikes than I can count. I worked in the motorcycle industry for 10 years, roadraced regionally for 7. I have noticed your avatar on your profile, cool. Seems like there are at least a few other riders around the forum too.

Here's a pic of my scooter:

I've been riding dirt bikes for more than 25 years now.  Back in the mid to late 80's I took up racing MX and Hare Scrambles.  I was fast in the woods and deadly on the MX track... deadly only to myself.  After breaking too many bones I gave up MX but it was too late.  I wake every morning hurting here or there from the biggest mistake of my life.  What if??  What if I would have stayed on rather than bailing off over those triples that Wednesday afternoon back in '87.  My brother is still racing and has been for the past 25 years or more.  He's regarded as one of the best MX bike mechanics around despite he doesn't work for a bike shop.  He gathers more work than most bike shops simply by being at the races each weekend.  His abilities are spread by word of mouth only which is a good thing as he has a real job as an engineer.  Nuff ramblin'.... only if.....

a few years back, one of your fellow Geiger Counter Enthusiasts built a self fueling reactor on a garden shed from smoke alarms and touch up for mantle clocks etc. etc., started off as a SCOUT PROJECT, dangerous but very impressive, now that boy knew how to do research, pity he was not into air guns

fin

Ah, the radioactive boyscout....

He never did succeed in creating a reactor, though he did heavily contaminate himself, and his parent's home.  His home became an EPA Superfund cleanup site.

He was unable to procure large enough quantities of material to create anything more than a mess, but the things he tried to do (and some with success) were technically fairly impressive!

He was arrested late last year, again, several years after the last incident.  Was caught stealing the smoke detectors from his apartment building, each of which contains a small amount of americium 241, a reactor byproduct material.  Disassembling a smoke detector to access the radioactive contents is a gross violation of NRC regulations!

We try very hard in our hobby to avoid the sorts of results he achieved.  Radiation is misunderstood enough in our society that we don't need to help stoke the irrational fears and misunderstandings.

Knowledge is power.  A little knowledge is dangerous!

J

ahhhhhh, i was just checking the battery, honest  

fin

[howie1a]

Scuba , Fishing, Photography,airguns I'm a master carpenter and cabinet maker by trade but I also have been in the boat repair industry everything from 8 to 10 stories up a mast to under the boat in scuba, as well as replacing engines in sport fisherman to custom wood work , I started in the home industry and ended in boat work 3rd generation carpenter and cabinet maker.

[NMCA_Ron]

Howie,

Do you use a digital camera or do you still use a 35MM?

Ron