Hobby or Obsession

[mendipviews]

Hobby of obsession I often find myself asking when purchasing another radio.

I recently started trying to sort out my old workshop at the end of the garden and its when complete shelves of valves need sorting I wonder why I started in the first place (see picture).

What sort of collections do other people have (number of radios, tvs etc)
I am sure its been asked before on the forum but I am just curious.

Regards
Luke
M3VHV
Collector of all things valve and interesting looking

[JoshWard]

Hmm after my recent 'clearout' I still have about 80 radios and several stored at other peoples' houses awaiting collection!

Two vintage TVs as well (one awaiting collection!)

Valve sorting is fun! If you don't want to sort 'em send 'em down here Stick the McMichael in with them too...


Josh.

[Peter.N.]

Having been repairing radios and TVs for the last 50 years or so, I have rather lost interest in them now apart from the vintage aspect, I now have a collection of Citroen XMs - stick to the radio's its much cheaper.

Peter

[Mike Phelan]

I'm not really a collector (of anything). Any radios I have are in use, waiting to be restored or waiting to be sold.
The same applies to my other interests.

Our USA friends seem to be more of the collecting type - it's not unusual for them to have every space on every wall of every room in their house covered in unwound clocks.

Cannot get my head around that.

[Darren-UK]

Originally Posted by mendipviews

I am sure its been asked before on the forum but I am just curious.

We have this thread which is along similar lines and there is another entitled something like "Photos of our hoards", but I can't be bothered to look for it.

All that aside, I'm like Mike in that I want everything I have to be in fairly regular use or, if it isn't, awaiting repair for eventual regular use. This is especially true of my clocks and, as much as is practical, also true of my radios and record players etc. I therefore view myself as a 'practical collector' rather than a hoarder of dilapidated old dinosaurs which would likely be in the 'to do' pile for eternity.

I did, however, once go through a phase of hoarding. I retrieved almost any old radio, or whatever, and just stashed it away with no real intention of ever getting it running again. That all had to cease; space reasons, practicalities of cleaning and, quite frankly, embarrassment. Such a situation is how I interpret 'obsession'.

To a degree I've also lost interest in recent years. I began to feel the need for external aerials was a nuisance and also interference from modern electronic equipment has become a nuisance. Living in a small urban terraced house makes the latter difficult to avoid.

Storing items in external buildings (sheds etc) isn't a brilliant idea where I live; the environment is damp, the air dirty and salt-laden.

So in summary, the 'obsessive hoarder' phase had to terminate and I'm now merely a 'practical collector'. I fail to see how hoarding each and every old wreck that turns up and which will probably never work again can be classed as a hobby. 'Hobby', to me, means practical and hands-on, not obsessive hoarding.

Of course, everyone is different and nothing I've said is meant to offend or criticise anybody.

[Brian R Pateman]

I keep saying that I'm not going to "collect" any more until I have sorted out the sets I have waiting.

That doesn't explain why I'm picking two more radios up at the NVCF, and some more bits and pieces no doubt.

Space is a problem. That's why we built the extension three years ago. It is full. Can't get the car into the garage, mind you that isn't all my stuff.

I keep thinking about having a massive radio clearout - I stopped counting at 120 sets - and concentrating on test equipment. And, yes, I'm still gathering that into the fold.

The trouble is, I can't really bear to part with any of it.

Obsessive, yes, I think that I probably am!

[Steve_P]

How about saying Both? It's a hobby, but one radio or TV, Tape Recorder, Record Player, Video or Old piece of test gear is never enough is it?

Then there are spares, records, tapes, a pantry transmitter or Aurora, tools, a workshop, display areas....

It's a hobby and also a touch obsessive like any hobby is. The difference is space it takes up. And, unlike the collectors of Key Rings, Dolls and Teddies, we have stuff that works and can be used and the skills that go with that.

When I was young, many years ago, one of my less liked cousins collected Key Rings. I was starting the massive collection I have now. She told me that I 'didn't need all that stuff', etc etc. so I shot back with my comment about her having 200 key rings and only one house.

'It's OK for me but not for you', she shot back. I'll draw a veil over the rest of it for reasons including bad language, but I'll end with this comment...

If we're happy, then to heck with the rest of the world. Everybody's different and what the hell is 'Normal' anyway?

And we would have a better chance of surviving if the bomb dropped....

Cheers,

Steve P.

[Welsh Anorak]

Hi
Someone I know collected those Beanie Baby things. They don't float my boat, but live and let live - and they're smaller than a G6! However, she then had to have every new one that came out, every limited edition and so on. Again, fair enough - the name for a person like that is a 'completist'. However - and here's where the distinction occurs - she used credit cards, borrowed money, lied to her family and eventally ran up many thousands of pounds of debt to fulfil her obsession. Eventually it all came crashing down.
Now that's the difference between a hobby and an obsession - we'd all like to have a round Ekco or a pre-war TV - and we could have - but we need to keep a degree of perspective. And if the alternative to our hobby is sitting in an armchair watching daytime TV - well, you get my drift.
Glyn

[newlite4]

By the time I started collecting TVs and radios in the mid '70s, I was already an avid junior antique collector. I often felt at the time that I could never pass-on any of my sets since I was becoming attached to them. As I got older, I found it easier to do this since it was the only way to clear space for new items. Of course, I still get that overpowering sense of relief and well-being upon aquiring a new set, the bigger the better, but I just go for the sets that I like and have room for. Call it mental illness or whatever, collecting certainly helps to make sense of an otherwise mad world.
Neil

[Peter.N.]

Its called 'adrenalin'.

[ajs37]

Originally Posted by Brian R Pateman

I stopped counting at 120 sets

my advice is to stop counting and deny everything - you can never have enough! It's an obsessive hobby!
Cheers
Andy

[Hybrid tellies]

I think it was starting to be come an obsession but due to severe space limitations its back to a hobby, although I do need to clear out some stuff perhaps even have a stall at one of the Wootten Bassett do's. Looking at my collection there is only about 10 items that I would never get rid of but the rest I could clear out without any loss of sleep.

[mark pirate]

I too have stopped counting my collection of radios
But have realised how many there are, (let alone the tv's!) now that I am getting ready to move house, I think the time has come to keep what I really love, and sell the rest, so watch out on the Sets & Parts Offered section soon.

Mark

[brianc]

It is really easy to get carried away with the collecting "thing". Eventually, if it continues uncontrolled, then a clear-out becomes necessary. This can be very painful! I recently sold 200 radios at auction and it was unbelievably hard! The radios ranged from the late 1920s to the late 1960s, both valve and transistor. The sale was an awful experience for me with most sets going for an average price of £5! The only reason for the sale was because I let the collecting thing get out of hand. BE WARNED!
I now think several times before a purchase and have a list of desirables (only TVs now) and try not to step out of the box. Will it work? I don't know, but my hobby certainly became an obsession. Hopefully, it's now back to a hobby.

[JoshWard]

I have now drawn up a list of sets that I actually want, still worringly long

The McMichaels are an obsession, I'm happy to admit that

[murphyv310]

Originally Posted by brianc

Hopefully, it's now back to a hobby.

Hi Brian.
Indeed it's very worrying when it gets that way Since I left the trade it has indeed got like that for me, and I feel sorry for the wife and other people, I used to work on the car and do lots of DIY but thats forgotten now.
Perhaps I should do what you did and get some of my stuff away and also clear out the loft.
Maybe there should be a forum shrink!

[ppppenguin]

Originally Posted by murphyv310

Maybe there should be a forum shrink!

He could do a lot of business round here. But only if we really wanted to be cured Most of us are probably quite content with our assorted vintage kinks and have no wish to be "helped". Some of our partners might disagree.

[Count Moriarty]

I think the forum shrink would merely lead to confusion. Questions about changing a valve would inevitably degenerate into a debate about whether the valve wanted to change.

Back to topic, however. The collecting is certainly not an obsession for me at present, although a few years ago it was getting out of hand, and a lot had to be reluctantly disposed of when I moved to a smaller house. I also have too many other commitments to devote the time, money and effort to the hobby that I used to, though I suspect if circumstances were different I might become consumed by it once again!

[predoodlebug]

Collecting to excess is a disease caught from a virus.
This virus can be found in the back of car boots or on the things stored in them.
Also found in some Antique shops or jumble sales.
A rarer, more resistant strain of this virus is also to be found at the large London Auction houses.

Anti biotics will not cure this virus and Paracetamol will not reduce the pain any.
My doctor says that the only sure cure is death or a large bonfire.
Richard.

[QQVO6/40]

I have a back yard shed 6m wide and 12m long and some years ago I had to put a mezanine floor in the back half so I could get into the shed. I now find myself in the same position of having to set up an extension to the upper floor because I now have just a little track up the centre of my shed. Obsesion?? maybe!!
I have two thoughts: some years ago I sold a heap of gear at an amateur radio field day and I have regretted it ever since. I can be taught. I will not make that mistake again!!
The sort of stuff I accumulate (old electrical instruments) is going to be some day non existent. as in we will sometimes only have dusty old photographs of most of this stuff. Someone has to do it.
Lets be honest, this stuff just looks good when done up doesn't it. Really. The modern test equipment just doesn't hack it for looks does it?
Another point is I actually use quite a bit of this stuff. For example, to calibrate a strain guage I dig out one of my Cambridge potentiometers and it is done. This gives me an accurate means of measuring dc voltage to six decimal places. The equivalent digital meter costs over $AU1,000. The Cambridge cost me $5 oh and a little furniture polish.
Anyway I will now stop raving.