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hobbies other than electronics

davenn

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Sep 5, 2009
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hi gang,

other interests for me include seismology/geology with a deep interest in rock/mineral/fossil and meteorite collecting

since I was a youngster, have also been into astronomy, have had a variety of telescopes over the years still have an 8inch Newtonian reflector

Amateur Radio in a major way but thats electronics related ;) callsign VK2TDN

and last but not least Storm chasing both here at home in Australia and also in the USA


cheers
Dave
 

Ian

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Aug 23, 2006
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I'm also interested in geology, although my rock/mineral collection is rather puny at the moment! Once we move house I'm really keen to get some nice items, especially a nice bit of labradorite :D.

My main hobby is aircraft, as that's where my education/training is - but I don't get as much chance to play with interesting aerospace toys as I used to nowadays. I still like to go to airshows and keep up to date with current tech, but I'm hoping to dabble with the rocket project I mentioned in another thread.

It's funny you mention astronomy as that's something I can really see myself getting involved in when we move out of the city. I saw some astrophotography images a few months ago and I was absolutely blown away.... these were photos people have taken in their back garden (albeit with long exposures) and the images were incredible. My other half is a keen photographer, so I'm sure I can get her hooked too ;). Have you taken many photos from your telescope?
 

davenn

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hey Ian

well one good way to mix astronomy and geology is collecting meteorites
As I say on my www site its pretty awesome to hold a chunk of rock that flew through
space for countles zillions of years before its firey entry into the earth's atmosphere
see my samples ..... http://www.sydneystormcity.com/meteorites.htm

another part of my rock/mineral collection thats cool (well actually probably not thermally cool) is the radioactive samples. They make the geiger counter click really well :D

Actually, on a side note I had a full body bone scan last year where they filled me with a radioactive tracer that totally drove my geiger counter nutz. much, much stronger than any of my samples but it only lasted a few days a very short 1/2 life.
Its a wonder I didnt glow in the dark hahahaha

What is your aircraft involvement, private or commercial pilot ? or maybe the engineering side of things?

I love flying, only twice have had the opportunity to take the controls once was a fletcher agricultural aircraft and the other a cessna 172. What I really wanted was to learn to fly a helicopter



cheers
Dave
 
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Ian

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I've just taken a look at your website - some great pics on there, especially the lava ones! I'm just reading up on the meteorites now, some of those are quite a size :eek:

I studied Aerospace engineering at university and then did a masters degree on a project relating to avionics / autostereoscopy for future aircraft design. It's been a few years since I've had anything to do with aerospace though, so now it's more of an interest in reading about new designs and coming up with some fun project ideas to build.
 

davenn

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I've just taken a look at your website - some great pics on there, especially the lava ones! I'm just reading up on the meteorites now, some of those are quite a size

Ahhh yes Hawaii 1999 one of the best experiences of my life walking around flowing lava

as for meteorites and their sizes.... from a purchasing point of view.... if you havent discovered already meteorites are usually sold by the ounce. Some of the more special ones can fetch up to US$2000 / oz pretty freaky.
there are plenty of samples from around the world that are very affordable tho, as in the ones represented in my collection.

another cool place to visit if you ever get a chance is Meteor Crater in Arizona,USA.
looking at the size of that hole blasted out of the ground 48,000 yrs ago by a sizeable impact of a nickel/iron meteor. visited there in 1999 and in 2006, it was on my must do list since I was a kid and my early days of astronomy

3 main groups of meteorites you should represent in your proposed collection

Stones, stoney iron, irons

.... wow some serious aviation study background there mate !!!

ohhh was just re-reading an earlier thread of yours ..... yes have done a bit of astrophotography over the years. mostly when back in New Zealand a good friend and I would spend many many hrs at the telescope on cold clear winter nights photographing comets, and other deep space objects. may get some scanned one day and get them up onto my site ... stay tuned :)

cheers
Dave
 

davenn

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other than electronics i love geology .

cool in particular what aspects ? are you a collector ? have you done university studies ?

tell us all a bit more :)


Dave
 

davenn

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ok a little bit of stormchasing fun :)

several cool images from some chases.....

ok
Pic 1 and 2 a couple of nice lightning pix, Pentax K10D DSLR 15sec exposure ~ F8 and focus set to infinity

pic 3 a supercell south of Sydney awesome cell, note the huge inflow band rising up into the base of the cell this is the moisture in the air condensing as its literally sucked up into the base
pic 4 a supercell close to home (inner west Sydney)
pic 5 an example of an anvil forming. You may have heard some one saying "did you see that awesome anvil on that storm" ? As the updraught punches higher into the atmosphere it can encounter upper winds, these winds can shear off the top of the tower and push them out to the side. Note, that the direction that the anvil is moving away from the cell can often be up to 90 deg's away from the ground motion direction the cell is travelling.
The shearing off of the upper part of the cell is good for strengthening of the cell as it helps draw up more most air from lower down. ie. it makes the updraught stronger.

Dave
 

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davenn

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now a clarification or 2 :) ....

A Supercell. "is a cell that is showing visible rotation of the base". it DOESNT meant thats its a BIG cell you can have big cells that are not supercells and conversly you can have physically smaller cells that are supercells see pic 1 below.

pic 2 a close lightning strike. this particular storm had many intense strikes, a serious adrenain rush :)

pic 3 this cloud feature is called mammatus. often seen under the anvil as the storm is approaching or, in the case below, in the tail of the storm after the main cell has passed overhead. lit up with a wonderful golden colour of the setting sun
The cause..... well all that fast up draught air has to go somewhere ... it spills out the top of the updraught where is has cooled considerably and starts to sink through the cloudmass of the anvil producing all the rounded features.
and yes, before you ask ... mammatus = mammory shaped no coincidence :)

now to growl at the media....
there are NO SUCH THINGS as mini cyclones, mini tornadoes. its a cyclone or a tornado or its not ... PERIOD !! ... end of story. Us storm guys cringe when we hear those terms used on TV etc.

----------------
A tornado extends from the clouds to the ground. if there is a funnel cloud extending down from the clouds but there is NO disturbance on the ground, then its just that a funnel cloud.
A waterspout is just a tornado over water ( any body of water), sometimes they they can come off the water and over land as had happened in recent times in NSW, Australia. (They then are called a tornado) in the traditional sense of the word.
There are other rotating air masses that are not classed as tornadoes
Landspouts not associated with storms often seen on hot often cloudless days, in Australia called Willi willi 's seen spinning up dust into the air, usually relatively shortlived < 5 mins

ok there we go something a bit different ;)

Dave
 

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gadgetanny

Aug 24, 2010
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i am interested in a lot of things, like taking photos, drawing, hiking, new electronics, gadgets.
hope to have fun here.
and new member don't allow to insert links?
 

Militoy

Aug 24, 2010
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hi gang,

other interests for me include seismology/geology with a deep interest in rock/mineral/fossil and meteorite collecting

since I was a youngster, have also been into astronomy, have had a variety of telescopes over the years still have an 8inch Newtonian reflector

Amateur Radio in a major way but thats electronics related ;) callsign VK2TDN

and last but not least Storm chasing both here at home in Australia and also in the USA


cheers
Dave

Just dropped down to this part of the site for the first time - read your post, and thought "you've got to be kidding!". I should be a Geologist by education - but have never actually worked in my field of study. I kind of fell into Engineering work after I left the US Army in '74. I satisfy myself by weekend prospecting, fossil collecting and meteorite hunting here in the Mojave desert, and surrounding areas of California. Most of my fossils are cenozoic marine specimens - but I've picked up occasional Oligocene vertibrate and plant materials, and some Cambrian stuff up by Las Vegas. My meteorite collection is fairly small - since I only started searching dry desert lakebeds a few years ago. My biggest piece I'm sorry to say I bought - a 20 pound piece of stony nickel-iron, with beautiful Widmanstatten patterns. Unfortunately - unnamed, and pulled out of an unknown part of the local desert. The strewn field at Lucerne dry lake is about 45 minutes drive from here - but there are several good areas even closer. I use a Tesoro Lobo and a Tesoro Eldorado. Do you use a detector to hunt with - or just eyeball your finds? Ralph <Militoy>
 

davenn

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Hey Ralph,
good to see you active in the forum, dishing out lots of help to the masses :) the more the merrier.

to quote you.... Do you use a detector to hunt with - or just eyeball your finds?

for nickel-irons has a good magnet on the end of the walking stick, could poke at suspect rocks as I walked along a good way to find them
used to do in the field hunting but knees full of arthritis severely hinder all my field work these day :( You will find most of my meteorites are purchased they are from all over the world have a look at the link on my frontpage www.sydneystormcity.com

I have done a degree in geology but never worked in that as a career. The study was something I did more for the enjoyment and personal learning... to put some theory behind my very practical background.

I brought all my rock and mineral collection over to Australia from New Zealand when I moved over here 10 and a bit years ago, Unfortunately I couldnt bring over all my fossils I had collected , National Equities Act... blah blah blah hahaha

cheers
Dave
 

Militoy

Aug 24, 2010
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Very nice collection, Dave! Visiting your webpage has gotten my energy up to the point where I might have to fire up the old Jeep, and head out onto the desert tomorrow morning. I like your idea of the walking stick - I carry an Estwing bricklayer's (fossil) hammer with a rare-earth magnet "JB Welded" to the underside. It works well - but I do have to bend down to use it. Maybe I'll borrow your idea, and bond one to my ice axe. I also have a small Canyon Diablo in my collection - as well as a Sikhite-Alin. I've collected in the (legal) area around Meteor Crater - but so far only collected micrometeorites and "space dirt" there. I bought my nice little specimen on eBay. I use the detectors out on the lakebeds, where salt minerals fluff up and tend to hide the space rocks laying around out there. Also in areas like Gold Basin, where a detector is practically a necessity. Maybe I'll get around to posting some pix of my collection in the near future. At the present, the only stuff I have photographed has been for eBay auctions!

Best Regards - Ralph
 

piloteer

Jul 29, 2010
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My four loves are astronomy, aviation, electronics and target shooting.
Not very active in the astronomy where I live due to light pollution. Enjoyed finding asteroid and realizing this faint piece of rock barely visible is 300 miles across. Used a Meade 4.5 inch reflector for that. In aviation am a retired part time flight instructor. Enjoyed taking people through the courses. Two of my students are now airline pilots with one of them a woman.
Electrnics my first love. Repaired my first radio when 12 years old and first tv when 14. They used tubes at that time. Now have a small home based computer repair business. In my spare time enjoy competetive target shooting with pistols and rifles.
 

davenn

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hi guys,

@ Militoy --- Thanks mate :) its pretty cool hanging onto "space rocks" :) wow if they could talk, what a history lesson they could give of the solar system

still trying to decide if to photo my rock and mineral collection, doing it properly, sample by sample with decent lighting ... a serious undertaking!!

@ piloteer ---- Astronomy is a lot of fun, I live in Sydney a 4.5 - 5 million pop city as you could imagine light pollution is pretty bad, have to travel some distance to get away from it.
havent done any decent telescope work for a couple of yrs... getting soft in my old age cant stand the cold winter nites any more hahaha
had some really memorable astro events over the years

1985 Halley's comet
1987 SN1987A a naked eye (first in 300 yrs) super nova in large cloud of magellan on a couple of nites was able to photo it along with comet wilson in the same photo frame cool!
1991 a beautiful annular solar eclipse
1994 shoemaker-levy9 comet impact into jupiter ... to actually look through my scope and see the black impact marks on jupiter was awesome (1st place rating )
2002 awesome total solar eclipse wife and I viewed from outback south australia
2007 comet mcnaught very large/bright comet I viewed and photoed from australia and new zealand

not to mention some of the many stunning aurorae seen and photoed over the years ( from new zealand) that left me standing under them gasping "ohhh my God"!!

cheers
Dave
 

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
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OK, I'll admit to having a hobby outside of electronics... Photography.

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I just walked out the door Monday morning and saw it. By later in the day it was gone.

These were taken the saturday before at an orchard:

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Not everything I do is macro photography though :)
 

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Militoy

Aug 24, 2010
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Great flower shots, *steve*! We have a very talented young lady photographer living in our household, and though I don't share in that artistic gene, I can appreciate it. The center ones put me in mind of our local Dune Evening Primrose. The lower one an awesome fruit tree blossom (mulberries / cherries???), and the top one ???? a golf ball attacked by the corn cob indians ???? - what the heck is that?
 

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
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All the flowers are plums. The bottom 2 are the same flowers. The orchards were once apple orchards, but stonefruit is now the major crop in the area.

The mystery photo is something that I'm sure everyone has seen. You can make wine from them (but not from this part).
 

Mitchekj

Jan 24, 2010
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Those little white deals that you used to blow on as a kid to scatter the seeds into the wind? Aren't those dandelions?
 

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
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Those little white deals that you used to blow on as a kid to scatter the seeds into the wind? Aren't those dandelions?

They certainly are.

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