I used to be a Medic and Firefighter-- in short I was an adrenaline junkie. And now I’m old and retired. And my body is bent and currently a bit broken. I seek to learn how to be dull.
Despite the enjoyment of watching the hummingbirds at my feeders and the light gardening I do. I still think I could become even more satisfied with my dullness.
Guide me to complete dullness!
Have you tried building a HAM radio?
No I have not. I’m not a particularly good hand with a soldering iron. Who would I talk to? But soldering might be a skill to practice. Somewhere around here, I have a couple of small Arduino boards, Zeros I think…
There are tons of web resources on building a project from scratch, with parts lists, or communities for help/support.
But I found this guys podcasts very informative for understanding all the different terms, components, regulations, and tips and tricks.
https://podcasts.vk6flab.com/
He also posts each of them on a Lemmy amateurradio group
https://lemmy.radio/c/amateur_radio
Soldering can be practised for sure. A good soldering iron makes a huge difference. I.e. my 30 year old one died, so I got an average one on amazon. I found it didn’t have enough thermal mass to keep solder flowing unless it was micro components, anything like larger wires and solder tip would cool off.
You rang? 😁 – thank you for your kind words
@Bluewing@lemmy.world, probably not dull, but I’ll carry on regardless … I started in amateur radio to get away from my day job in computing. I chose it because it was technically challenging, did science, had a large community and was something I’d come across several times in my life previously.
I discovered an amazing collection of humanity, some good, some bad, mostly amazing and a deep joy in discovering everything that it has to offer. I also have to admit that getting away from computers was clearly misquided, since there’s plenty of opportunity to integrate these with each other.
That said, there’s plenty of non computing activity to engage in. Amateurs are known for experimenting and testing. We find any excuse to “activate” (build and operate a radio station) anything, from Parks, to Peaks, from Bridges to Toilets, Carparks and Light houses (I maintain a list: https://github.com/vk6flab/activations-on-the-air)
I like to describe amateur radio as 1,000 hobbies in one, essentially it’s a glue (or an excuse) to do something, like go for a walk, camp out, do a competition, or a BBQ.
As for soldering. I’m not that great at it and my eyesight is making it worse, but a magnifying glass and a third-hand is still letting me melt components and the odd bit of solder.
As hobbies go, you can involve yourself as much or as little as you like and you’ll find people across the planet who are interested in the things you’re pursuing, plenty of opportunities to engage and have fun.
You can get started before you have a license by playing with things like WebSDR, KiwiSDR and plenty more.
If you have questions, feel free to ask.
73 de Onno VK6FLAB