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My other interests and hobbies

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Bird-Dawg

Tue Oct 06 2009, 11:58PM

Registered Member #2360 Joined: Sun Sept 13 2009, 05:43PM
Location: Kennesaw, Ga USA
Posts: 14

When i am not in the shop tinkering away at something HV. I am usally tinkering with my computer. I buid my own computers matain the family machines and do repairs for other people. However, i also rather enjoy cooking. I am not to shabby in the kitchen if i don't say so my self:-p. I perfer to cook Italian, Manicotti Formaggio anyone?

VulcanBB18

Wed Oct 07 2009, 12:10AM

Registered Member #2376 Joined: Mon Sept 21 2009, 05:13AM
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 14

No-one here really knows me here, being new, but here goes anyway...

Working life is being a systems administrator for a government dept, been working in IT roles for about 15 years, everything from hardware repairs to enterprise support.

When not playing with electronics in my shed, I spend a lot of time working on a 1:1 scale model railway, in other words a preserved railway line. see :

I helped to restore this steam loco, as well as painted it, and continuing heavy mechanical repairs. Makes a great break to get away from computers and work on a device that barely has any electricity near it at all (32V DC for the lights, that's it!).

If there's any spare time after that I enjoy working with my 1970s reel-to-reel units digitising old tapes so their content is not lost to tape degradation, but that gets me near computers again....

Myke

Wed Oct 07 2009, 03:49AM

Registered Member #540 Joined: Mon Feb 19 2007, 07:49PM
Location: MIT
Posts: 969

Besides messing around with electronics, I like to solve twisty puzzles, play with magic cards, go running, and play piano.

I mostly like to solve and collect puzzles because it's always fun to see what happens to the pieces of the puzzle when you apply certain algorithms to it.
I have a fair collection of magic cards mostly because someone gave me their collection. I sometimes go to my local games shop and play magic with the people there. I made a "club" in school where we play magic at lunch. Even though the club officially exists, I don't take attendance because it doesn't matter. This year I hope to have some club activities to make it more interesting.
I run mostly for the exercise because otherwise, I would just end up sitting around which isn't all that great. It helps clear up my mind somewhat and helps me sleep better.
I used to take piano lessons about 6 to 7 years ago (I think) but then I stopped because I didn't practice outside of the lessons. I started playing piano again about 3 years ago and I mostly play video game music or some classical pieces. I'm not all that great but I find it fun anyways. In this clip, I'm playing the first half of To Zanarkand from FFX

lpfthings

Wed Oct 07 2009, 09:19AM

Registered Member #1361 Joined: Thu Feb 28 2008, 10:57AM
Location: Cairns, Australia
Posts: 305

VulcanBB18 wrote ...

No-one here really knows me here, being new, but here goes anyway...

Working life is being a systems administrator for a government dept, been working in IT roles for about 15 years, everything from hardware repairs to enterprise support.

Not EQ I would hope?

I'm still a student, just finishing off year 10, year 11 next year. My main interest is lasers, which I have been mucking around with for about 3 or 4 years. I also enjoy doing lighting and sound for performances etc, along with HV, computers, spending hours on end on IRC (Sssshhhh

) and all electronics in general.

My first HV device was a single ignition coil jacobs ladder kit, which never seemed to have an arc capable of climbing (Not hot enough) At that point I found this forum, and discovered you could throw 2 in anti-parallel, that fixed it

Kind of got addicted to HV after that.

Z28Fistergod

Thu Oct 08 2009, 03:33AM

Registered Member #2040 Joined: Fri Mar 20 2009, 10:13PM
Location: Fairfax VA
Posts: 180

I'm 22, I spent the first three years of my adult life in the Army, one of which in Iraq. Nowadays I'm collecting the educational bennefits of my military service; this is my first year towards an EE degree.

My other hobby is motorcycling. I enjoy off road riding the most, although if I'm too hurt from a recent get-off I find myself on the sportbike more. I like off roading more because it presents so many more challenges. Crawling through rocks at 5 miles an hour is alot more demanding than cruising along doing 70 on the highway. That, and it's impossible to get a ticket on a dirtbike, as long as your not riding in the wrong place that is.

Lately I've resurrected one of my old hobbies, programming. I'm taking a programming class that uses java, which I've never dealt with before, so I'm writing various math programs to gain skill.

Aside from school I don't really have much time for anything else, I barely squeeze in my weekly off road ride. I have a 60J ND:glass laser project going right now, but between school, sourcing parts, and my DSO failing I haven't made much forward progress for a while. I guess that's the price of a good education though, maybe I can make time during Christmas break.

StevenCaton

Thu Oct 08 2009, 04:37AM

Registered Member #1845 Joined: Fri Dec 05 2008, 05:38AM
Location: California
Posts: 211

Right now I am a freshman at UCLA and majoring in EE, however I plan on switching into ME after the first quarter.

Hobbies, well lately I've been moving heavy concrete blocks.
First vid is my recreation of a "round road" (concrete block weighs 1 ton)

This video is of a new system I designed. The weight of the system ends up on a fulcrum point, and then I can set the road down, and move the block in any direction I want.

My other interest is building Trebuchets, which launch projectiles, like catapults. My largest trebuchet (27 feet tall) was constructed and designed by myself, and throws a 16 pound bowling ball 620 feet. (that is the record)

And then, of course, Tesla coils. I've built 3 spark gap coils, 2 VTTC's, and 1 SSTC. (I once attempted a DRSSTC, but it was a miserable failure, so I like to keep that quiet)

I just joined a club at my University called the "Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Project" so my new hobby will probably be figuring out how to seal motors from water.

Killa-X

Thu Oct 08 2009, 11:32PM

Registered Member #1643 Joined: Mon Aug 18 2008, 06:10PM
Location:
Posts: 1039

Well, I'm 17, turning 18 in December 09.

My main hobby has always been electronics, I have always been interested in how things works, taking stuff apart, and so on, which would explain why I like shows like "How its made" and the site "How stuff works". As a kid, I've always played with knex, doing things that most people havn't done with them, such as simple cars that are stick pulled, basket ball hoop-shooting (where you have the net that brings it back) and so on.

Besides electronics, My only true favorite sport to do is bike. I feel like I can ride for ever and never get tired. I havn't tested it yet but I have gone many hours at a steady speed, and i never get thirsty or cramps. usually my breathing rate stays about average. I tend to enjoy messing in forests, I use to always try to build forts out of sticks, or climb trees.

Other things, I program a lot, enjoy building things, and so forth. Computer gaming use to be my main thing until I came upon this site actually.

The name Killa-X? As a gamer I stole my sisters name TripleA, so i wanted to be Killer-X. Sadly, Anyform i could think of was already on every single forums. Killer-X, Killer)X(, Killer-}X{ never ending...so..Killa-X was always open, and thus I've stayed with it :D Wooo! Fav. music is techno :) Mainly Eiffel 65.

Zum Beispiel

Thu Oct 15 2009, 06:56PM

Registered Member #514 Joined: Sun Feb 11 2007, 12:27AM
Location: Somewhere in Pirkanmaa, Finland
Posts: 295

My other hobbies?

Oh, well, I quess... sitting at the computer? Drinking to exess? Hmmm. No, that's not right.

Come to think of it, I do have other hobbies, but they all involve technology in one way or another. I don't do sports, apart from the occasional bike ride to the pub and back on weekends. If it's mechanical, electrical, whatever, it fits my interests.

I do like watching old movies, good ones, bad ones, all the same, and have a special place in my heart for the art of traditional animation (not the cgi crap that is all the rage nowdays).

Also, due to some... unforseen circumstances, I haven't been able to really do any electronics work this year. The boredom was driving me insane, so I had to find something else to do... and I started writing. Not that I hadn't been writing before, just that, now I've been doing it alot more. A whole lot more. Some of the markings on my eeePC's keyboard are showing some serious wear (seriously, a few million key strokes and the keys are already worn? I guess you get what you pay for...). I'm not very good at it, though. It has been described as 'terrible/horrible/awful' on more than one occasion, but I like to take it as a compliment. And, well, it kind of is, horrible, my writing, that is.

I also like talking about philosophy, religion and politics with people, but this usually happens at around 2AM-ish on friday and/or saturday nights, so I don't really know if it counts as a 'hobby'.

Mostly I just try to keep myself busy, one way or another.

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