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Old 9th Oct 2018, 8:20 pm   #21
1100 man
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

The best thing I ever did was to get rid of the TV about 7 years ago. I found evenings just got wasted channel hopping trying to find something interesting to watch.
Due to house renovations, I've got a basic workshop set up in the garage and usually manage to go out and play for several hours on about half the evenings in a week.
I enjoy having multiple projects on the go simultaneously- keeps things interesting. These are currently 6 TV's in various stages of completion and one radio.

So in the words of a Saturday morning TV program that people of my age will probably remember:

"Why don't You switch fof your television and go and do something less boring instead!!" Remember that??

Cheers
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Old 9th Oct 2018, 8:47 pm   #22
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

I usually get 12 hours less than it needs to complete a restoration....
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Old 9th Oct 2018, 11:54 pm   #23
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

I retired earlier this year and there aren't enough hours in the day for me. My wife doesn't drive so I have to do all the running around, not to mention the endless home repairs and DIY jobs. Our loft space is boarded out as a storage area and I have enough "projects" to keep me busy for the next five years. I love repairing valve equipment as it brings back so many memories and gives me a feeling of self esteem.
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Old 10th Oct 2018, 1:23 am   #24
dave walsh
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

Blur had a 90's CD called Modern Life Is Rubbish! True in one way but not at all in another. ["A worried man with a worried mind-I used to care but things have changed" Bob Dylan]. It's important to be aware that few of these problems existed only 50 years ago or so. Most people were dead, often before retirement age or just after. A better deal for the [actually quite caring] Governments of the day than they could have imagined really. Nobody thought that Mobile Phones would be mainly a constant emotional prop either!

Based on areas of electronic interest and many others, the older section of the population seems quite sharply divided between people who have nothing to do and those that are more busy [and sometimes exhausted] then ever!

I was in the Bury Archive with my friend Mike recently, researching Family History, when we looked around and realised how very many people were free to contribute voluntary hours to their areas of interest and how new that all is. It's the same with Vintage Radio. On the other hand though, if you are struggling to balance work or survival with personal interests it's a very different situation!

It's hard to spot a period of great social change when you are in the midst of it!

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Old 10th Oct 2018, 3:07 am   #25
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

If you have a passion for something you'll find the time.
I work, have a family and quite a few other interests but I always find time to immerse myself in restoring an old set, because I find it very rewarding.
I'm quite methodical, I'll work on one set at a time and not have too many in the pipeline.
Having radios pile up faster than I can deal with them isn't something I'd be happy about.
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Old 10th Oct 2018, 7:20 pm   #26
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

I have a full time job, and plan ahead to the weekends when I think I can get on with a couple of projects, but when the weekend arrives, something else always gets in the way. So on that basis, things will never get done. The kids have all left home (most of the time) but I still find I am short of time. Summer time is consumed with grass cutting and gardening, DIY and the like. Winter time is taken up with gathering and cutting wood for the stove. The odd bits of spare time in the Summer when the weather is good are used for riding my motorbikes (my other hobby), and in the Winter it can get too cold in the workshop. So there you are, the reasons why I never get anything done in the shack, and I guess this is typical of a lot of forum members.
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Old 10th Oct 2018, 7:54 pm   #27
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

Exactly Alan, we all have our reasons why we can't work on sets as much as we'd like to, if at all sometimes. BTW, my workshop is unheated and as you'd expect, due to gaps around doors and under roofing etc it is pretty much the same temperature as it is outside - sub zero at times. I use a Calor type room heater and it works a treat. Not expensive to run neither. Not wanting to sidetrack the thread into heating territory, but just a quick tip based on my experience!
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 7:52 am   #28
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

Like many here I don't get as much time as I'd like. I still work full time & I'm fortunate inasmuch as my better half encourages my hobbies. Now the kids have left and are unlikely to return (fingers crossed!) I have the smallest bedroom as my workshop. But winter will be here soon and we'll all be confined to the indoors more. I can get lost for hours in these old radios, such a contrast with the fully surface mount kit I usually work with. The depth of knowledge on this forum never ceases to amaze me too, all freely given. Maybe one day I'll be able to return the favour.
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 9:37 am   #29
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

I work full time, so any spare time is spent helping with household chores and DIY jobs that have to be done. Like many of you I also have a space problem which means spending a lot of my precious time shunting things around in my small crowded workshop to make space for working on anything or finding parts that I have stashed away somewhere.
I think I need to invest in renting some storage space or looking into selling some stuff off to make some more space as my workshop is the small box room upstairs and there is only so much you can pile into it.
If I did retire I would have enough repair jobs to keep me busy for the next 5-10 years.
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 10:34 am   #30
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

Top tip- if you must have a clock in the workshop, remove the minute hand- doesn't make time elapse any slower (you have to approach light speed to do that) it just enhances the calm a little!

Dave
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 11:37 am   #31
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

Absolutely loads, I'm at it every night!

No internet at home, no social media, no mobile 'phones, no going to the pub, no interest in trashy 'must watch' TV shows, home from work just after 18:00, baby in bed by 19:30, LBC or BBC R3 on the radio, crack on. If you want to do something you can, its all a matter of choices. If you waste your time staring into a little plastic screen watching other people have fun, you'll never have any time to have fun of your own.

It helps to be organised though, tools and parts on hand, a proper space permanently set up as a workshop (I use a spare bedroom, so its nice and warm all year round), service data neatly filed, a plan in your head as to what you want to do. I like to do two or three 'good' repairs a week minimum, plus endless tinkering with other things.

Last edited by Studio263; 11th Oct 2018 at 11:47 am.
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 1:03 pm   #32
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

That is the Perfect life.
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 1:38 pm   #33
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

I also work full time but I start at 5 or 6am so get home early so manage an hour or two in the workshop maybe 3 or 4 days a week , in winter its more of a slog but the old fan heater does overtime so its not too bad.
Mine is most Radio and Video orientated .
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 1:49 pm   #34
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

It probaly is perfect stress wise Hamish and there are times when I "get in the zone" but about many other interests as well. Its probably a help if you've only got the one major focus [eg doing practical repairs] which is more than understandable if you're on this Forum and there aren't too many life issues that get in the way. I score about 4 out of five on Tim's check list for example but I do watch TV [especially BBC4] and listen to Radio 4 [although I use R3 for calmness as he suggests, especially late at night].

It's good to concentrate and relax but I don't want to be separated out from the rest of the world too much-unpleasant as it often is! I like to know what's going on generally-it's often quite amusing. A young woman called Juliet [not Desdemona] met a chap named Othello [not Romeo] on First Dates Hotel last night. She was a bit confused by his name at first but had obviously seen a film of some sort relating to his Shakespearean moniker and said "I think they did a play about that as well". Yes 400 years ago

I'm just about to flag up a sound recording item being Broadcast on 4xtra [another favourite] this weekend so "hear"we go again down the eclectic Yellow Brick Road!

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Old 11th Oct 2018, 2:36 pm   #35
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

Yes, the whole thread seems to illustrate very well that priorities are as various as can be and that how much time, and space, our activities get from us is for the most part an index of how much we care about them.

I'm not tempted at all to spend time watching television - the aerial fell down about five years ago and getting it put back up hasn't yet seemed worthwhile. Then, while I've earmarked a 15' x 15' room in our intended flat as a library, I'm wondering what sort of a workbench I may be able to rig up in the 6' wide room next to it, given that now and again the space will be needed for something entirely different. Which does rather betray that, while I love having a good many electronic artifacts around and am apt to be passionate about their preservation, actually getting to work on them isn't nearly my highest priority, and it never bothers me at all what proportion of radios are capable of being used as long as there's a good enough radio to hand to make use of when I want it. Those I'm at all likely to get around to restoring or even just repairing are those the prospect of whose standard of performance most interests me, or those one of us might choose to use even when many others are available.

Happily, we're a various crew here, and genuinely free time inevitably tends to flow to the pursuits and/or people we most love...

Paul
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 2:42 pm   #36
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

I've got a half-acre veg. garden/orchard that needs curating, a large dog who expects a couple of hours of walks a day, firelogs to saw, a 160-year-old house to maintain.... and even though I no longer need to work I still find there aren't enough hours in the day.

Nowadays I restrict my radio-restoration activities to radios I'm actually going to _use_ on a regular basis; I'm not so interested in cosmetic/cabinet-related stuff but a radio that doesn't function at least as well as it did when new is a source of frustration. So, for example, I don't waste time on 'restuffing' capacitors because doing so won't improve the performance when compared to a direct replacement.

As to _using_ the radios, well, I generally try to spend a couple of hours a day operating on HF; longer if it's wet outside and/or if the ionosphere and sunspots are playing along. For example this morning I had a nice half-hour QSO on 14MHz with a guy in St.Petersburg. Later this evening you may find me on 5MHz giving my PRC320 a bit of exercise.

My next big radio-project is a Hallicrafters S27 which I acquired from a fellow forum member quite a few months back. It's been 'got at' [the output transformer's not the right one, neither is the S-meter] but I'm hoping I'll be able to restore it to functionality. I've even been loitering round radio-rallies acquiring a set of brand-new-in-WWII-military-box 1944-vintage Acorns for the front-end.
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 3:03 pm   #37
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

I think being good at TV and radio repairs is one of those "10000 hour" skills, that's how long it takes to learn it properly. Our time on earth is about 5000 weeks, so if you only spend an hour or so a week on it you aren't going to make it.

People who do sports seriously get up early and have a go, do a bit at lunchtime, a bit more after work and no doubt devote a fair amount of their weekends to it too. All this just to hit something, throw something or do something that we all do every day, just a little bit faster. Proper repairs are much more difficult than this, simply because there are many more disciplines to master and so many more abstract pieces of information to remember in such a way that you can recall them quickly.

When I repair things for people they sometimes say something like 'you are so lucky to be able to do that'. Luck has nothing to do with it. Hours spent studying, reading boring books I don't understand at first, trying and failing, putting resources in place, practicing over and over again until its right. It is fun when it all comes together though.
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 4:15 pm   #38
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

I'm semi retired, 3 years to go before a pension, and took equity release to bridge the gap rather than end up working shifts at the Amazon depot. Had a contract before that, lovely place and people, manager who liked to bring people on, promise of stability. Then they took on a new CE, and nearly the whole department, previously considered excellent, were got rid of in various ways.

But so many things happening you can't call it retirement ... yes, backlog of house repairs, an elderly mum who is dependent and developing dementia, trying to earn a little, living on peanuts so everything needs doing by myself. I also need to keep fit and motivated, which involves going out. Spending time with friends who need support for their difficulties. I too have ditched the TV, disappointed in the 'choice'.

A problem seems to be that a project will sit on the bench and be pecked away at. Before it is done something else breaks and bench space is needed.
So the thing on the bench risks getting beyond the threshold of memory, where I forget where I am up to and it's hard to get back to it.
But a project is also therapy, something to develop skill (I am definitely a learner in the early stages), and a stable point in chaos. So some things get finished in a good week.
I enjoy the BVWS events. It's encouraging to meet people with a shared interest when friends and dear ones cannot comprehend it.
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Old 11th Oct 2018, 4:54 pm   #39
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

Quotes from this thread that I particularly like:

As a so-called 'baby boomer', I was brought up in an age when the 'make do or mend' attitude was prevalent. Consequently, that attitude was deeply ingrained and has been predominant in all my life.

It seems the last 20 years have been a permanent fight to get time.

I retired 2 years ago and wonder how I had time to go to work.

If I did retire I would have enough repair jobs to keep me busy for the next 5-10 years.

I'm not tempted at all to spend time watching television - the aerial fell down about five years ago and getting it put back up hasn't yet seemed worthwhile.

I've got a half-acre veg. garden/orchard that needs curating, a large dog who expects a couple of hours of walks a day, firelogs to saw, a 160-year-old house to maintain.... and even though I no longer need to work I still find there aren't enough hours in the day.

When I repair things for people they sometimes say something like 'you are so lucky to be able to do that'. Luck has nothing to do with it. Hours spent studying, reading boring books I don't understand at first, trying and failing, putting resources in place, practicing over and over again until its right.

A problem seems to be that a project will sit on the bench and be pecked away at. Before it is done something else breaks and bench space is needed.
So the thing on the bench risks getting beyond the threshold of memory, where I forget where I am up to and it's hard to get back to it.
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Old 19th Oct 2018, 5:00 pm   #40
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Default Re: How much time do you get to work on sets?

I am retired and have the most wonderful thing - my own 10sq m shed with power. So I can close the door. lock it and the radio is safe on the workbench until the next time. I also have quite a few larger plastic bins with snap on lids (40 litre ones) as I find you can put most radios in one to clear the desk when needed - just be sure to put some notes on what you've actually done to avoid repetition!!
Have a large garden and wife as well who can find one all sorts of jobs at the drop of a hat - and which must be done NOW!! LOL. But I feel like I get more then enough shed time and welcome the variety that comes with gardening, house maintenance etc etc. Of course I'm not running to any sort of deadline so that really helps.

As for the amount of stuff - umm I've erred on the side of excess here as I also bought a new 9sq metre tin shed to use as a sole electronic workshop (the other does a bit of meta1 and woodwork as well) and built it up on a nice wooden floor - and cleverly filled it with old electronic stuff to the brim!! Mostly ancient test gear (scopes, meters etc etc). So I'm still in my original shed for workspace.

Almost forgot to add I too have mostly given up watching TV as it's simply so much utter drivel all the time - youtube and internet does me for info/entertainment.

Last edited by avocollector; 19th Oct 2018 at 5:07 pm.
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