what are you hobbies besides R/C?

[ICUBoy]

aqwut
Yep the new Crees are brushless, while the old incans are nitro.
Soon the power balance will tip there as well!
Elektrolumens make some nice stuff- it is sad but I get a kick out of it everytime someone sees a 10cm torch, picks it up, looks into the business end, and THEN turns it on....dumb....dumb...dumb (and blind!)

[sikeston34m]

Originally Posted by aqwut

Oh yeah... I forgot.. I'm into flashlights as well.. I have every flashlight made by elektrolumens.com :)

I really like the new cree LEDs.. and candlepowerforums.com is awesome...

OMG! I'm into flashlights too. I bet there is 100 different types of flashlights around the house here. We don't fear a power outage much at all. LOL

I have a thing for battery powered fans too.

One of my loves, is going out in the boat and fishing. Mother Nature is Beautiful!

[Serum]

I made a LED light for my bike, it's somewhere close to 420 Lumen, (from only two 3W led's)

Led's rock.. The only problem is the color of the light IMO.

[BrianG]

Couldn't you use tinted plastic to get the color you want?

LEDs are nice, especially for flashlights. More power goes to providing light than heat, last longer, and mechanically sound. I don't know how many times I dropped a regular light and broke the filament.

Recently, I picked up a bunch of 5mm white LEDs to play with. I then made a switching power supply (converts 12vDC to ~60v DC) and ran 5 strings of 16 series-connected LEDs with a 25mA constant current circuit for each string. Got the switcher to be right at 83% efficient, which wasn't too bad considering. Makes a neat bench light for the track pit.

[Dafni]

Speaking of LEDs, I just finished an RC18 Body for a mate with LEDs and all. Those new white LEDs are amazing! Little lasers almost.

[Serum]

Using tinted plastic would remove the strength of the LED, you can't add what's not in the spektrum, you can only remove what is too much.

We need PICS daf.....

[ICUBoy]

Originally Posted by BrianG

Couldn't you use tinted plastic to get the color you want?
:

Yeah the problem is white LEDs are not white- they are blue and yellow in a ratio that tricks your eye- try shining them on a red object and you'll see what's missing. A filter won't help, but true RBG high-power LEDs are on the way...
You're right about the efficiency: high and getting higher!

[aqwut]

that tyros GLass lens makes a nice LED beam IMO.. made by inova.. the T4 is an awesome Rechargeable LED light... working at the mushroom farm and being the grower, I use a lot of different flashlights.. and different light waves as well.. I use the UV LEDs to find diseases bacteria blotch.. it turns bright green... but for now, I'm in love with the fenix cree 2AA light... 2 hours of bright light with some cheap 2600 mAh AA.. about the same size as a 2AA mini Mag...

[ICUBoy]

Yep- really nice aqwut.
Try strapping a couple of Cree Q5s driven at 1000mA in some nice deep reflectors on the top of your truck for a twilight ride- looks like some real headlights on a real truck. Good fun!

[BP-Revo]

Used to ride dirtbikes, stopped after my dad injured his knee (tore his ACL - has had 2 orthoscopic surgery's and 2 ACL replacements since - this one is finally sticking). He says we will ride again...we'll see...

After I got my license cars have become a big part of my hobbies. Even going for cruises is enjoyable for me - and in those quick instants where I get to open her up and listen to her scream and maybe even chirp the tires into the next gear, its just a blast. I also enjoy working on them. I'm like the mechanic of the family. I recently popped in an HID kit in my brother's Evo 8. His first set (which I also put in) burnt out, so I put in a replacement haha. Its a PITA though, have to take off the bumper and all this other junk...

I also used to paint miniatures (Warhammer 40K, if anyone is familiar). I got into it because a bunch of my friends were (and are) into it. I just couldn't get into the gaming, but I sure did enjoy painting them...I'll post up some pictures of some guys later.

Computers. After my laptop's HD died in April and I asked for a new computer, my dad said get a desktop. He said he wanted me to have something where we could upgrade components. So, I ordered the parts and me and my bro got it running (put it together one night, then loaded up the software next day). Its running a 3.0ghz Core 2 Duo (overclocked 2.4ghz E6600), GeForce 8800GTX vid car (A BEAST), 2gigs of ram, SoundBlaster XFi Gamer, and 4 160gb hard drives (1 pair in RAID 0 the other RAID 1). It's a hell of a computer and I suspect it will last a while before I need to upgrade it again.

Video editing/production. I'm taking a Digital Video Production class at school, and its awesome. Part of the class is putting out a news-like cast every 2 weeks (but its on school news, sports, etc).

I've also gone airsofting a few times with buddies, but not really my thing - but hooking up 3S Lipo to my friend's guns was a blast hahaha... (I dont have a gun as I'd rather spend it on RC)

I'm also quite a bit into music. I love nearly all types (can't stand rap or country).

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by BP-Revo

Used to ride dirtbikes, stopped after my dad injured his knee (tore his ACL - has had 2 orthoscopic surgery's and 2 ACL replacements since - this one is finally sticking). He says we will ride again...we'll see...

My dad fractured fractured a vertebrae in his back about a year ago while we were riding in the dunes. The first doctor told him all he did was break a rib and x-rays weren't needed, just take it easy for a couple of weeks.
A few weeks later dad went to see his normal doctor because he was still sore. He ended up getting x-rays and the doctor told him he had "spinal explosion", where one of the vertebrae just kind off explodes from the impact. He'd been walking around, playing golf and doing all the normal stuff for a few weeks with a bit of broken bone sitting next to his spinal collum, so that freaked dad out a bit, because it could have easily turned more serious. Don't always believe the first doctor you see.

Anyway the reason I posted is because I tore my ACL on the 14th of October when I was riding my YZF426 through the bush when the ground disappeared, and I haven't been to work since then. It was the 15 of November before I got surgery. I haven't decided if I'll sell my bike or not yet.

[nastety92]

I'm big into cars and trucks of all types. My father has a 40 Chevy sedan, 48 Chevy 5-window pickup. I have a 92 GMC Typhoon that I race at our local 1/4 track. I like the brute acceleration and I love turbo vehicles.
Heres a pic of my Typhoon.

Thanks,
Nick

[BP-Revo]

Originally Posted by Patrick

Anyway the reason I posted is because I tore my ACL on the 14th of October when I was riding my YZF426 through the bush when the ground disappeared, and I haven't been to work since then. It was the 15 of November before I got surgery. I haven't decided if I'll sell my bike or not yet.

I know what you are saying Patrick - my dad went to a couple doctors to make sure.

And, interestingly enough, you and my dad have the same bike!

[aqwut]

Originally Posted by BP-Revo

3.0ghz Core 2 Duo (overclocked 2.4ghz E6600), GeForce 8800GTX vid car (A BEAST), 2gigs of ram, SoundBlaster XFi Gamer, and 4 160gb hard drives (1 pair in RAID 0 the other RAID 1).

Nice Rig dude.. I have an O/C core2duo as well.. those things love to be O/C'd..
E4300 1.8 =>> 2.9GHz
4GB DDRII 800mhz
2x 7600GTs.. still working goot.. :) waitin' for the 8800GT
Xi-Fi Elite Sound Card
1x 15K SCSI U320 Cheetah 36GB, 1x 15K Fujitsu 36GB, 4x 10K Atlas U160 36GB, 2x 10K Fujitsu 147GB, 1x 500GB WD SATA
All fan cooled with Delta Fan & XP-90 inside a custom case and running XP64. I use to collect coins too... I still have all of my hockey, baseball & basketball cards from 1990..

[ClodMaxx]

you boys and your silly PCs....

i'm a 110% apple guy, and have been for the last 20 years or so. always had 'em. the latest rendition:

* dual 2 ghz Power PC desktop system (it's a few years old - not one of the new quad core beauties)
* 8 gb. DDR RAM (did high end video editing at one time on it)
* 250 gb internal hard drives - TWO of 'em
* single 500 gig external drive (again - all that space for the video editing)
* superdrive (burns dvd +/- R's, and cd's)
* i don't remember what the video card is, but it was a $300 upgrade when i ordered the computer from apple

oh - all on a 23" high definition flat panel apple display. and i just bought the new 160 gb. ipod classic as soon as it came out - that sucker will hold all 6,000+ songs i have, over 1,000 high res digital photos, about 8 movies and it's still only half full!