bobm
Contributing Member
Posts: 36
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Post by bobm on Nov 4, 2006 19:17:52 GMT -5
I'm into motorbikes and have a Triumph Speed Triple, other interests include old reel to reel tape recorders and aeromodelling.
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jmi
Senior Member
Posts: 60
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Post by jmi on Nov 19, 2006 7:54:06 GMT -5
As many of you know I'm also an astronomer but got started as an amateur so it remains a hobby/other interest too... Thought I might share this one with you: This is a 17/24 inch Schmidt camera at the Institute of Astronomy. Made by Grubb Parsons in 1953. To put the size in perspective the mount extends into the lower floor of this 2-storey building, and the tube you see is about 3m long... Been disused for the last 15 years or so, but I intend to play with it a bit more in the near future. I have already successfully exposed some photographic paper in it, waiting for a reasonably good free night at the weekend to run some film. I also took up playing bass guitar, but not very well yet
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rover
Lifetime Member
Dad with a Camera, or two, or...
Posts: 101
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Post by rover on Nov 19, 2006 12:41:37 GMT -5
Very nice jmi. I am a very passing hobbyist astronomer, but I have a friend that put a dome in his back yard and permanently mounted a 12 inch Schmidt in it with a fully networked computer to run it. He will sit out in good weather, but when it is too cold he will stay inside and drive in the comfort of his office.
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Post by John Parry on Nov 19, 2006 17:18:29 GMT -5
Knew you were keeping something up your sleeve!
Show us some photos from that baby if you get the chance.
Regards - John
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casualcollector
Lifetime Member
In Search of "R" Serial Soligors
Posts: 619
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Post by casualcollector on Nov 19, 2006 19:50:07 GMT -5
I've attended the Stellafane telescope makers convention on several occasions as I happened to live near where it is held. A friend who is a broadcast engineer has set up a 'scope much like Rover has mentioned. The scope is several miles from his home and linked via the web. James Hartness, inventor, corporate pres. and one time Gov. of Vermont, didn't like venturing out in the cold to stargaze either. He built an enclosed turret-equatorial telescope in the front yard of his residence and could access it via underground tunnel from the house. One of his employees, Russell Porter, did much of the design work. Porter later did some of the design work on the 200 inch Hale telescope. The Hartness residence is now an inn. They used to give tours of the tunnel and telescope to guests. Don't know if they do, still.
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chrisy
Senior Member
Not another camera! Sorry dear....
Posts: 66
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Post by chrisy on Nov 20, 2006 16:39:44 GMT -5
Well my other interests are playing the drums (43 years and counting) I play in a Big Band, two jazz quartets, and I recently joined a rock band doing sixties and seventies covers, I did play professionally in the early seventies mainly summer seasons pantomimes and a brief spell on a cruise ship. Strange how photography and music go hand in hand; I know so many musicians who are keen photographers.Oh and we also own four dogs which keeps us fairly busy! regards chris
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Post by physiognomy on Nov 22, 2006 17:46:02 GMT -5
Other than accumulating cameras (mostly rangefinders) I have a few other hobbies that keep me from getting bored (one of the worst afflictions possible imho). My pets probably take the most of my time & I have about 8 tropical fish tanks ranging from a couple of gallons (Betta tanks) to 40 gallons. I keep a range of fish including cichlids, livebearers, tetras, rainbow fish, killifish & some catfish. I have also kept birds since I was a kid & after moving to the US it was hard living without one. I have 4 birds now - 'Buddy' is my budgerigar that I got last Christmas and recently 3 little Bronze shouldered Mannikins (a type of finch) came home with me from the pet store. Other than fish & birds I love reptiles. I have two Garter Snakes & a Bearded Dragon. Quite the menagerie!
I also enjoy growing tropical plants... especially orchids. I am lucky in that the lounge/dining room in my apartment is glass walled & I have probably around 70 orchids on wooden stands. I have a wide variety of types & that ensures that I nearly always have a few of them in flower. During the summer most of my plants go out on the balcony & grow quite well outside when the weather is nice. From time to time I set up a black velvet backdrop & photograph my orchids. I usually take a few digital snap-shots for emailing/web stuff & a couple of frames with a film camera. One of these days I'm going to get around to making some reasonable sized prints & putting them up on the wall... I find comfort in knowing that my hobbies will keep me with a never-ending list of things to do!
Peter
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casualcollector
Lifetime Member
In Search of "R" Serial Soligors
Posts: 619
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Post by casualcollector on Dec 8, 2006 21:08:43 GMT -5
The family hobby. Trains were always around. My brother built this HO scale railroad a few years ago to entertain dad. He did an impressive job. Features of the layout commemorate family members, friends and memories. Linda Rose is our sister and the model also commemorates an uncle who named two of his boats for her. The locomotive wears the livery of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines that ran through our hometown in "South Jersey". Bill
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Post by majicman on Jan 14, 2007 3:33:54 GMT -5
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Post by Just Plain Curt on Jan 14, 2007 6:48:00 GMT -5
Wow majicman, Those collections must keep you busy. Never thought of the investment possibilities behind collecting, guess that's the downside of my collection, I have plenty of low end cameras but nothing worth much. I collect or have collected coins, stamps, HO railway, Hot Wheels, action figures, photography books/manuals, slot cars, old photos/slides and the occasional camera/lens/adapter/filters etc. With all that firepower I'd guess your collections are pretty safe whereas mine are only safe due to sheer weight and bulk, LOL.
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Post by landsknechte on Jan 15, 2007 3:21:26 GMT -5
Majicman... Dig the P85. I have a P89 that I used to carry when I was a armored car messenger, and it still holds a special place.
I dropped out of a BFA program in photography to get a history degree. Vintage cameras are the conjunction of those two hobby veins. All manner of random antique things have managed to catch my eye at various times and earn a spot on an overcrowded shelf somewhere. Apart from the various animals running around my place, most everything I collect is older than I am. Little bits of history that I can fondle. WWI & WWII German militaria is my biggest collecting obsession, especially ribbon bars. Thankfully my wife is even more morbid than I am, and doesn't mind the WWI stalhelm with a bullet hole in the living room. (Most militaria collectors aren't so lucky.)
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Post by vintageslrs on Jan 15, 2007 13:41:24 GMT -5
Majicman
My kind of collector...especially the firearms...... Been a shooter, gun collector, reloader for many years.....either own or have owned most of those guns.....also I have a CCW here in N.H. and carry most often....
Good Job Bob
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wclavey
Contributing Member
Posts: 35
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Post by wclavey on Jan 15, 2007 15:22:11 GMT -5
Maybe there is some kind of genes that code for many of these other interests and they "travel together" biologically speaking (being a molecular biologist and mthematical modeler, by training...). When I am not practicing photography, you will find me pursuing one of my other related hobbies, in no particular order:
Amateur radio (wb2svf), licensed for 27 years Amateur astronomy, 3 telescopes, bad light pollution in the Houston area Model railroading, although I have gotten rid of most of my accumulated "stuff" and the outlier: figure skating
But I have to think that there is some reason that so many of these appear in the list of things all of us are involved in.
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Post by nikonbob on Jan 15, 2007 16:40:55 GMT -5
Any of you gun collectors/shooters out there have an interest in 1940/50 vintage Brno rifles?
Bob
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Post by John Parry on Jan 15, 2007 16:50:57 GMT -5
Well Wes,
Never did amateur radio (although I was a 'pro' for 11 years - still dream conversations in morse occasionally!)
Amateur astronomy - grew up with it and loved it, although some of the string theory makes my eyes glaze nowadays. Just as an indication of how popular it is, our 'flagship' astronomy program is "The Sky at Night", shown once a month on BBC2 - the BBC's second channel. It's normally at 12-30pm on a Sunday night. It recently showed it's 650th program - think about that, 650 monthly programs, but because of some reality TV show that had overrun, they put it back to 2.00AM. BBC2 had more complaints than they would normally get in a year!!
Model railroading? No I don't do that. Well - I say I don't do that, but I do happen to have a massive layout of Hornby Dublo 3-Rail packed in two suitcases in the loft, just in case the need overtakes me again.....
So really we don't have so much in common at all......!!
Regards - John
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