Other hobbies.

At the risk of invading a car forum :P...

Other hobbies I dabble in include photography, Home theater/speaker building, cycling (road), and I just started taking up some DSO astronomy.
 
thanks guys, my parents first comments were "at least now you won't ever be homeless" i guess they were worried there for a little bit i don't know.

what is DSO astronomy?
 
I dabble in wood work, Hi Fi equipment, and astronomy. Really anything I can build with my hands. Can't get into wood work or astronomy because of an injury that persistently does not want to get better. But I hope I can get back on the saddle again.

Here are some pics of my Orion Telescope. It is about 4' tall and on a very clear, dark night, you can see the rings on Saturn and the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. They just jump at you. I need to get a more powerful eyepiece. I also need to clean her. She has been neglected.:(

Here are some pictures of wood work that I do. I built a stand for a tank my wife and I purchased a little over a year ago--it was to good of a price to pass up on! Before we moved here, I built a custom bar in our old house. It was cherry. If I can find the pics, I will load them.

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Thanks for viewing!!!!
 
Very cool Hans :-D As I've just started, I got an 8" classic orion dobs waiting for me to unpack when i get home :-D
 
Gomer,
You will LOVE looking at the stars at night. I have stayed out in the dark for countless number of nights just viewing through the telescope. It makes you wonder with such a vast and infinite universe, if we are really alone. I am going to get an adapter for the scope for cameras. My big sis is going to give me one of her D SLR's and show me how to take pics at night. She is a very talented photographer.

I hope my injury gets better soon so I can take my scope out on road trips here in NM. There is a ton of empty land which means, no city lights!!!!! Just a quick 15-20 min drive either way and i am in the dark.

Hey, can you upload some of your speakers that you built? This is something I have always been interested in building but never attempted.

Thanks!!!
 
ok, found some :) I only have some of these guys. I wish I had all my speaker project photos.

The small guys (there are 5 total) have XO's by Geoffry Dillon. Drivers are Hiquphon and Focal Utopia.
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The stereo subs use custom XBL2 10's by Blueprint
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The cylinder sub is symmetric on the top and bottom and houses 2x 15" blueprint XBL drivers
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These MTs use Usher drivers and the XO is by Dennis Murphy
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The sub using Adire Audio's 15" Tumult and has a pair of 18" Stryke passive radiators
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These were back in the college days when I had to build anything to afford it.
I built a bunch of linkwitz transforms (specialty subwoofer circuits) to pay for some other goods :-D
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Now I'm looking into starting up again, but I need all new tools. After moving, I gave up access to all my father-in-laws tools.
 
Gomer, thats alot of sound for an old tv no?

Pedro, that's cold! It's not about the visual, it's about the sound yo. :)

Gomer, if you ever decide to sell your speakers, lmk!! I have convinced my wife to buy a set of hi end speakers but I would have to sell my set first. What are pushing them with, tube or digital amp? If you get back in the game, i would be more than happy to purchase a set.
 
Pedro, that is my old TV while in college :-D The first few things I bought when I finished and moved out were a washer/dryer, lawn mower, king bed and 52" aquos. I believe I had the TV while sleeping on an air mattress waiting for the new one to be delivered (other bed was still at my old place waiting for movers):-D

Hans, I'm holding onto the walnut speakers but might clear the 5 small ones when I get a bigger setup (I don't have the tube or stereo subs anymore). They do best near back surfaces and not in the middle of big rooms (partial baffle step compensation, not full like full field speakers
Feel free to read about them here :-D
http://www.diyspeakers.net/Projects/Dillon/Ego.pdf
I'm not 100% sure I am going to sell them, but if I do, I'll contact you. After you read the link, if you know the hobby, you'll recognize them as definite high end. They do require a sub though as they roll off around 80-100 hz (sealed 5" don't throw bass :P)
 
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Very nice work. and cool telescope. If your ever out by las cruces I know there is a bunch a guys that meet at the chiuahuan desert nature park every now and then. They have huge setups and toys like you.
 
Thanks for the heads up Ryan and Jay :) Its a bit of a way out for me but I'll be out that way eventually :-D

Had fun hunting the skys tonight. Not much luck beyond Jupiter and the moon, but that's how it goes when you go full manual and are learning the skys :-D That and it was a wee bit bright outside with the moon
 
haha, no worries. didnt mean it in a bad way. just people into electronics usually would be all in so i had to ask. i need to get some upgraded sound for my tv soon. and maybe an xbox for the new halo. hmmmm
 
heres one of my hobbies that has been lacking for a few years. fixin up 4x4s. decided to lift the ol h3.

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Thanks for the heads up Ryan and Jay :) Its a bit of a way out for me but I'll be out that way eventually :-D

Had fun hunting the skys tonight. Not much luck beyond Jupiter and the moon, but that's how it goes when you go full manual and are learning the skys :-D That and it was a wee bit bright outside with the moon

Wait till the winter months come around, the universe just opens up to you. You can also see the Milky Way as clear as day. Google has a pretty cool program for night watching. The one I use is Starry Night program which is a bit expensive but worth it. The program lets you "see" the heavens in real time through your computer. It is pretty accurate.

In Tucson, we had great weather along with clear skies. Believe it or not, there are more city lights here in Las Cruces than in Tucson. There is a law there that there can only be a certain percentage of light radiating out from the city because of Kitt Peak. It is one of the foremost telescopes in the world.

Anyways, i cant wait to heal up so that i can take this bad boy out. And start working on wood projects again.

Jay, Ryan--Thanks for the kudos and for the link. I will have to contact them to see when there meetings are. If we have a late night meeting for STARS, I will def bring the telescope.
 
Hans, I got Stary Night too :-D Came free with the scope!

If it wasn't for the moon right now, I'd see a ton. I'm out in the northern section of Santa Fe and overal, it is fairly dark. I did manage to see M13 and M92 around Hercules. I'm either inept or it's the moon, but I couldn't see find Andromeda and I thought it would be easy.
 
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