[jeallen01]

Sounds like a fun project!

Many years ago I installed "dish farm" of 4 dishes between my garage and my neighbour's - one is Sky, but 3 are not, and have not been used for years and so, now I have the time, I'm getting them back in action! Now learning how much I have forgotten about setting up sat systems 😬

[BigMackCam]

Many years ago I installed "dish farm" of 4 dishes between my garage and my neighbour's - one is Sky, but 3 are not, and have not been used for years and so, now I have the time, I'm getting them back in action! Now learning how much I have forgotten about setting up sat systems 😬

I hear you. My other hobby, on and off, is ham radio. I took a long break from it - about 11 years - and started getting back into it early last year. Whilst I remembered a lot of the fundamentals, I was amazed at how much stuff around antenna design I'd forgotten, and also how rusty my morse code had become. Thankfully, it seems to come back quicker than it originally took to learn the first time, so the brain obviously stores this stuff away Good luck with your project!

[jeallen01]

I hear you. My other hobby, on and off, is ham radio. I took a long break from it - about 11 years - and started getting back into it early last year. Whilst I remembered a lot of the fundamentals, I was amazed at how much stuff around antenna design I'd forgotten, and also how rusty my morse code had become. Thankfully, it seems to come back quicker than it originally took to learn the first time, so the brain obviously stores this stuff away Good luck with your project!

One of my uncles was a ham before WWII and his callsign was G2WI (G2 "Wild Injuns" to most of you who might not understand the slang!), and when the war broke out he was co-opted to assist (I think) the Royal Signals with their work (he was a teacher, so he had a reserved occupation) - but when he went for training, it was soon clear that he and his ham colleagues knew more about radio theory than the RS personnel who were supposed to be training them, and so the "amateurs" soon took to training the "professionals"! It was through him that I got into electronics and did that at college, albeit that I might have been better to concentrate on what I was better at - which was, "sort of", the "arts" subject - nevertheless, it became an interesting (and very stressful because I was not that technically "good"!) career and lead me to being a bit of a jack of all trades and yet master of none

[BigMackCam]

One of my uncles was a ham before WWiI and his callsign was G2WI (G2 "Wild Injuns" to most of you who might not understand the slang!), and when the war broke out he was co-opted to assist (I think) the Royal Signals with their work (he was a teacher, so he had a reserved occupation) - but when he went for training, it was soon clear that he and his ham colleagues knew more about radio theory than the RS personnel who were supposed to be training them, and so the "amateurs" soon took to training the "professionals"! It was through him that I got into electronics and did that at college, albeit that I might have been better to concentrate on what I was better at - which was, "sort of", the "arts" subject - nevertheless, it became an interesting (and very stressful because I was not that technically "good"!) career and lead me to being a bit of a jack of all trades and yet master of none

That's a great story (and I know all about being a jack of all trades but master of none ). On the subject of the Royal Corp of Signals... my late grandfather was sitting an exam at OCTU (Officer Cadet Training Unit) before one of his WWII postings, and it was a radio related exam as he was meant to be responsible for signals in that posting. According to his story, one of the questions on the paper was something like "How do you cause a valve to oscillate?" - and with no idea of the correct answer, he wrote "Place it in an oscillatory circuit." Allegedly, the answer was marked as being correct!

[monochrome]

A crystal celery boat* at an estate sale i drove mrs. monochrome to because it was in an unfamiliar (to her) neighborhood, for $1. And a copy of the Oxford Annotated Bible, with margin notes by the Episcopal minister who had owned it, for another $1. I'll never understand how children aren't interested in keeping their parents' things.



* Don't laugh. It is just like one my grandmother had, and I always thought t was special.

[Nakedgun]

I'll never understand how children aren't interested in keeping their parents' things.

I operated heavy equipment in landfills for 30 years, and cannot tell you the number of times I've seen a roll-off dumpster unloaded that was full of some dead person's discarded belongings.
Seemed the families simply loaded up all the dwelling's contents and had them hauled away. We found many useful / valuable items in those piles.

[Jonathan Mac]

I've ordered an Auto Revuenon 50mm f/1.4 from a seller on another forum. I thought it was a good deal for a 50/1.4 (€46). Not much info available online but what I have found is positive. Sample pictures online suggest it has a similar level of sharpness at f/1.4 & f/2 to my M & K 50/1.4s.

[ChrisPlatt]

I'll never understand how children aren't interested in keeping their parents' things.

When that time came for us I was the only one (of five children) interested in having the family photos.

Chris

[monochrome]

When that time came for us I was the only one (of five children) interested in having the family photos.

Chris

The "useful items" I can understand - maybe they each already have everything they need. The photographs and things like the Annotated Bible I just cannot fathom, though I'm happy to have the Bible.

Thankfully, our families are more sentimental.

[vrphoto]

When that time came for us I was the only one (of five children) interested in having the family photos.

Chris

...and your grandchildren will be grateful!

[Sagitta]

So since its now official (yay!) I figured I'd share some shots of my latest (expensive) acquisition.

Its slightly used and abused, kind of old (made in 1925), but it won't actually take THAT much to get her liveable.

Front and back views. Not shown is the flat acre of an open yard (facing due west with very dark skies for shooting at night!).

You can see we need to replace some of the trimwork in this shot.



Back of the house (again, trim needs fixing) along with the outbuildings (have a detached garage and small barn)


The driveway and the front of the garage...


Heading inside, its the kitchen (the very red kitchen... we're wobbling between gutting it or embracing the funkiness of it).


Dining room/front room - the wood floors are amazing! I need to find something creative to do with that brick wall (actually the back of an unused chimney)


Downstairs bath and laundry room Someone actually had converted the front porch into these. So. Much. Wood.



Upstairs bedrooms. Ignore the moisture on the ceiling - we closed the windows the first time through after someone left them open without realizing the massive amount of ice in the basement (someone left the baseent door open and the snow melted in) would have nowhere to go once it evaporated. The wife and I freaked out until we realized the water wasn't coming from the roof but rather the cellar.




The master bedroom is enormous.


And what lurks under those ugly rugs?

Can we have a Hell Yea!?


And the centerpiece of the place... the living / family room. Those floors! That hearth! That drop ceiling that needs replacing!


So this is our project for the foreseeable future. Picked it up for an amazing price due to the work needed, but the schools are amazing, the location is amazing, those pitch black skies are amazing... this should be 'home' for at least a few decades for us now barring anything happening to uproot us.

[bertwert]

But where is the darkroom?

[BigMackCam]

So since its now official (yay!) I figured I'd share some shots of my latest (expensive) acquisition.

Its slightly used and abused, kind of old (made in 1925), but it won't actually take THAT much to get her liveable.

That's a great looking home - congratulations! What an opportunity to put your own stamp on it, make it truly yours. It only needs to be solid - everything else is cosmetic, right?

I've only been to Maine once, about eight or nine years ago, but it's probably my favourite state that I've visited. And I love the style of the houses there...

EDIT: Are you sure that's a hearth, and not some kind of altar?? (spooky!)

[Sagitta]

That's a great looking home - congratulations! What an opportunity to put your own stamp on it, make it truly yours. It only needs to be solid - everything else is cosmetic, right?

I've only been to Maine once, about eight or nine years ago, but it's probably my favourite state that I've visited. And I love the style of the houses there...

EDIT: Are you sure that's a hearth, and not some kind of altar?? (spooky!)

It was a foreclosure, so whoever had it before us scampered with the furnace and well pump. The only huge expense is going to be a bit of foundation work in the cellar. I'm not too upset with whoever had it for taking off with the heat and water, because befor ethey left they updated the windows (hence the moisture getting trapped - it had nowhere to go!) and the electric, which are usually the two biggest headeaches with 100 year old homes. Webasically just need to hire an electrician to recnnect everything to the breaker box and a plumber to reconnect some of the pipes and hook up a new well, and thats it. We should be able to do that, the wall in the cellar as well as buy all new appliances (we're coming off renting so have none) and STILL be a good chunk of cash under budget.

Also the alter-hearth is amazing. We plan to stick a pellet stove there and laugh at the cold in the years to come. Someone even drove railroad ties into the brickwork behind it which will make a perfect place for my kids to hang their stockings come Christmas.

[csa]

Nice!! That tongue & groove is an added bonus! I love that hearth! It will be a lot of fun for you to start making it "yours"; I hope you will share the updates with us as you go along with it!