Trials & Errors #79: Our Expensive Hobbies

This is the forum discussion for the "Trials and Errors -- Ham Life with an Amateur" column entitled Our Expensive Hobbies. Use this forum to comment on the article or add your thoughts on your OWN hobbies (besides radio) and tell us more about what satisfaction you get from them. The article can be found at this link.

Of course, if you're part of a couple, tell us how you manage to keep both parties happy when one of you keeps jumping into new gear and related expenses. Thanks, Dave W7DGJ

 

Spending money is often the point of a hobby! Amateur radio isn't expensive, compared to classic cars, auto racing, horses, golf, scuba diving, flying airplanes, model trains, tropical fish, high power rocketry, travel and cruises, sailing and power boating, live steam RR engines...

Feels great to adorn ourselves with luxury goods, beyond the basic necessities.

 

Ah Dave...now you want me to start down a path where I can pontificate on all the hobbies and pass times that fill my life? We don't have that much time....nor server space!

You already know about my main pass time pursuit: building precision long-range hunting rifles & precision custom ammo, and applying those in the field (ie, hunting). There's a reason my nickname is "The Killer-Bee", with Avatar logo to match.

BUT, my first love was classic British cars, specifically MG's. It came from my mother, who always had a thing for British cars (particularly Morgans), probably in part from her love of the the Ian Flemming/James Bond 007 books and movies. Also, my uncle (her brother) apparently owned a Triumph when he was in high school, and that may have played into it.

For me, it was MG's. My very first car, given to me on my 15th birthday, was a 1968 MG Midget (pictured below). It was a "project present": I had a year to get it up and running before I got my driver's license. This is where my uncle's previous experience with British cars paid off!!

I have owned an MG of some sort, different models, continously since high school; I trade them off for something different. The two I currently have now I completely restored myself (except the paint; I can't lay down a good paint job to save my life!). And as anyone who ownes a classic British car will attest to...you spend a LOT of time fixing, replacing, repairing, upgrading, tinkering, etc etc with these cars. If you don't learn how to do it all yourself, you better be one extremely wealthy SOB...or find a less expensive hobby!

I would like to say: your comment earlier about those people with classic cars have a need/desire for competence, is precisely why I am currently struggling with my journey to learn Morse code. I keep falling off the dit train (as they say) when trying to copy code, and can't cut myself any slack. I've got all the letters & number down pat, instant character recognition @ 20wpm...when they're heard individually. Throw them at me as words or callsigns at half that speed, and I get all flustered and confused, fall off the train, lose the flow, etc. The need for perfect competence sucks!!

Now, on the topic of maintaining balance and spousal harmony in the home. Obviously, the two hobbies I've listed can be pretty expensive. When my wife and I first got together, I was already heavily into both...and she knew what she was getting into. Years later, when she retired, she was looking for a hobby for herself, and fell into quilting. After borrowing a friend's sewing machine for a few months, she decided it was time to get her own....to the tune of $7000. I didn't even blink an eye. Yeah, the price of her sewing machine was more than what I originally paid for ANY one of my MG's, but so what? I had/have MANY times that amount invested in all my stuff...and this was even before I got into ham radio!

The bottom line is, we have three bank accounts: hers, mine, and ours (joint). The bulk of my pension payments go into the joint account (like 75-80%), the remaining into my personal account. My wife does likewise. The joint account pays for EVERYTHING household related: mortgage, utilities, food, taxes, etc. I do whatever I want with the money in my personal account; my wife does whatever she wants with hers. And this is how WE avoid conflicts and arguments over spending money on our hobbies and interests. (FYI: My wife upgraded to a newer model sewing machine last year; I won't even tell you what THAT one cost! )

Great article as usual. 73
Brando

 

You might be interested in this: https://carl-walther.com/hunting. I buy their handguns. I haven't hunted in decades, but still like shooting my rifles on occassion.

 

Woodworking! I have an expensive Sawstop table saw that is wonderful to use! And a room full of tools, jigs, and gew gaws that make woodworking more enjoyable. My lovely wife and I balance it out, though, with camping in our travel trailer (this IS the southwest after all!) which is, all told, an expensive hobby too! (Ask me sometime about the amount of money I've spent on the Ford F-150 to tow the trailer...)

 

Oh Crikey, my other hobby is aviation! It seems that I have the desire to spend every penny I have earned before I die - hopefully not falling to earth or getting electrocuted.

I balance my expenditure quite easily as she has a herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle that eat money faster than any radio.

Thanks for another thought provoking article.

 

Hi Cliff, you're right. Ham radio is on the low end of the scale when it comes to expensive hobbies. And, there are indeed a lot of us who remain satisfied with the inexpensive radios, ie QRP. But for me, there's something about my personality that gets me "sucked into" hobbies like this. I start at the easy-entry level and almost ALWAYS go full boat. (Hey, that's one I'm thinking about but haven't jumped into yet. Had a canoe and loved it. How about a nice one with a fast outboard motor . . . ) Dave, W7DGJ

 

Thanks Brando. Great post, and once again you have shown me how much us two have in common. We'll have to meet up one day at a Hamfest or something. When I was in High School, my first car (bought myself, but with a loan from Dad) was a gorgeous little shiny black TR-4. That baby got me my first girlfriend and took me up to Junior year in HS, when it started costing on repairs. I had to let it go as I am not competent (as I said in article) nor do I like doing anything with a wrench in hand. So, my lousy mechanic ability cost me my cool Triumph. The guys in the neighborhood laughed because I always had a handkerchief in my pocket and I'd whip it out and buff out any fingerprints from the finish when we were all sitting around admiring our cars. Also, your method of managing the finances -- that's great, best system I've heard about. Too late for me to start changing things here . . . Dave, W7DGJ

 

Graham, thanks for the post. That's hilarious - I had no idea that a herd of cows would cost so much, as I mistakenly thought that they were money MAKERS, and not money eaters. And boy are you right about aviation . . . that's in another league entirely. Far more costly than classic cars I'll bet . . . Dave

 

Now, woodworking is something that I could see myself doing if I had better eyesight. I'd probably cut off a finger within a week or two of the investment. Dave

 

I have a lot of hobbies to keep me busy in retirement. Unfortunately, the one I love the most, flying, is not among them any more after having a heart attack 16 years ago and losing my medical. I miss it more than anything. Never could afford the cost of ownership, but I rented a heck of a lot. $100 hamburgers were the norm on the weekends back then. Flew a C-172 clear to Key West from St. Louis for my Commercial cross country, and an M20C to Phoenix one year. Been to Oshkosh a couple of times too for the big fly-in. It's worse than going into O'Hare at rush hour, but damn is it fun.

In the mean time, I model HO and HOm European railroads (Swiss, German, Austrian), collect and shoot a large variety of handguns and several rifles. Photography is another hobby, but haven't done much lately other than the odd snapshot here or there. Music plays a large part in my life ever since I was five years old starting on piano. Guitar came when I was 11, and drums a few years later. Recording music first on a Ross 4-track started in the early 80s, moving to a TASCAM 38, DA-88, and now a TASCAM 16. Still have the TASCAM 24 channel, 8-buss console taking up space in storage. A TASCAM 16 channel console shares that space too.

Guitars are probably what I'm mostly focused on now beside radio. Seven guitars take up space around the house on the floor and on the walls, along with a 60 watt 2x12 amp and a 50 watt 2x12 amp that I recently re-capped and replaced tubes. I'll never be a rock star, but between my piano and my guitars, it keeps me entertained.

Astonomy using a 6" refractor mounted to a steel pier was (and is) a keen interest of mine, but the bugs and the weather chased me from that hobby. I keep up with the various space programs, and astronomy articles still, but that's nothing like peering into a 6" refractor. I also still keep up with the Minuteman III program with what's going on in former SAC. I was a Minuteman II G&C electronics tech back then.

I also tinker with older Lenovo laptops starting at the A31p (space rated) up through the T16. I also used to raise and train European bred German Shepherd Dogs, but those days are behind me now. I sure do miss them.

 

Mike, you and Brando have me beat with the sheer number of interests and hobbies. Love it. Model railroading is a big one with hams, as is music. But the cool equipment you've got in your garage needs to get back into the house. Leave the world with some cool recordings when you go -- that's what I'd do. Thanks for posting here my friend, Dave

 

Hobbies don't have to be expensive. I have one radio, piano, electric bicycle, and a kayak. None of these hobbies are expensive after the initial purchase. For me, the fun is becoming proficient with what I have. Not buying multiple copies of the same thing.

 

I live near a big lake and some of the bass boats, rigs, etc. some folks have... Whew.

 

That's a big "status" item at the lake, I'm sure.