Next toy?

[beige_alert]

I visited my sweetie down in Louisiana where she has space to string up wire antennas for high-frequency ham radio and also where they like their guns.

I had the chance to play with her high-frequency ham radio rig, which was fun. I have an extra-class license but my old HF radio broke years ago. It was fun to use a relatively-modern radio with an accurate frequency readout. It took me a few days to realize that most people choose a frequency (on HF you usually use any random frequency you feel like within the proper range) that is an integer number of kilohertz plus/minus a tiny bit of imperfect calibration. My old analog radio couldn't even read out to better than maybe plus or minus tens of kHz so it was always a matter of manual fine-tuning, now I realized I could use the coarse-tuning control and then only sometimes touch up the exact frequency just a hair with the fine knob.

We also went to the shooting range she's a member of, with a few guns. I have very little shooting experience, she was a rifle instructor back in the day. She gave me a recurve bow and I live just a kilometer from an archery range, so I do some archery now and then. Target shooting is just like target archery only much, much louder. The .17 HMR bolt-action rifle was lots of fun. The old .303 British, well, that was the first full-power rifle I'd ever fired and it does give you the impression that you are really sending some metal downrange. (BANG!!! [lurch back under recoil] Holy crap! ... Give me another round!) (Also: BANG! "You're buying me dinner after shooting all my ammo, right?" BANG! "Sure!" BANG! BANG!)

So, do I need a new radio or do I need to get my first rifle? Or do I need more long-track speed skating stuff? These are hard decisions!

Comments

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

A radio. Musicians need functional ears!

Not that I get a vote, but you asked for opinions.

Archery, now, that's cool!

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

Archery is fun, plus I get to re-use the arrows up until I CLANG! one of them off of some hard thing I was not, technically, aiming at....

[rinioth.livejournal.com]

I'd say "radio" then you can talk to me (G8TMV), Rick (M0LEP) and Simon (M0TTE).

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

There is a lot to be said for that!

[barbarakitten-t.livejournal.com]

Radio. You are dangerous enough without a gun! Next time you talk to your sweetie, tell her "hi" from me. You ARE coming to MuseCon, yes?

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

We are currently planning on going to part of the airshow that week, and Musecon, but missing the running race, the other running race, the other running race, the cave convention, and I think one other thing that we are missing that I can't remember right now, that are also happing on The Week In July/August When Everything Is Scheduled.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

I'd say radio, too, if only because you're more likely to get a lot more use out of it than you are a rifle (but if you do get one, go for a Ruger 10/22)

[beige-alert.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there is the ease of use thing. The Ruger is well-regarded, but I did like the bolt-action Savage, too. The disadvantage of a bolt-action over semi-automatic is that you have to mess with the bolt between shots, the advantage is...you get to mess with the fine mechanism all the time between shots, and messing with the mechanical bits is, after all, a major part of the appeal of firearms.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

I vote for an interlooud, just to make trouble.