A lack of motivation, and laziness, are things I understand all too well. That said, if you have the parts and the time, quit whining and get to work! You'll be happy and proud of yourself when it's done. --Coach Angrypat, go team!
For me, it's just just DIY, lately I've just been unmotivated to do anything. I almost wish I could just go into a coma for a while...
I have been working outside for most of the past few days despite the cold trying to finish part of the never ending back yard renovation project. It was below freezing, very windy and snowing today so I set out to work indoors on a DIY project. My PC boards are not selling now because nobody can get the 10M45S chips that go into the two most popular boards. I had ordered up a bunch of alternative parts to try, and began to test some. I realized that I was a few parts short on some mosfets, so I attempted to place a $35 Digikey order, but the Tubelab debit card was declined. A check on the bank's web site revealed the worst, my last $400 was gone. Some lowlife had transferred $362 of it out using a service called Remitly, which I had never heard of. There were also a bunch of small debits by people with Korean sounding names to Google for online game playing. This put the card into negative balance which incurred a bunch of $34 overdraft fees on those $2 charges.
I spent about 2 hours with Remitly's worthless customer service on the other side of the planet. They could find no such transaction, nor could they explain how someone could suck money out of my bank account without me even having a Remitly account. They suggested that I call the number on the back of the credit card, so I did. The automated service could not find my account number or the card number in their system. After a few frustrating loops through their menu system I got the fraud team, and I was told there would be a 10 minute waiting time. Over an hour later I had a human on the other side of the world who also could not find my account. Two or three transfers later and several more long waits, I get another human who tells me that I had called the consumer card division, but I needed the business card division. I had called the number on the back of my business card. They promised to transfer me. After yet another wait I get a short recording that stated that their offices were closed for the day, please call back tomorrow. At this point the TSE-II board that was in my hand hit the concrete wall at high speed. 4 hours completely wasted except for raising my blood pressure......Don't quite feel like DIY right now. Didn't order the parts from DK, nor to I give a.......
The Dayton hamfest occurs in less then two months. I plan to stuff my van to well over it's weight capacity and sell off some of my "stuff." That will shrink the unfinished projects list.
I will be standing at the door of the bank tomorrow morning when it opens.
I spent about 2 hours with Remitly's worthless customer service on the other side of the planet. They could find no such transaction, nor could they explain how someone could suck money out of my bank account without me even having a Remitly account. They suggested that I call the number on the back of the credit card, so I did. The automated service could not find my account number or the card number in their system. After a few frustrating loops through their menu system I got the fraud team, and I was told there would be a 10 minute waiting time. Over an hour later I had a human on the other side of the world who also could not find my account. Two or three transfers later and several more long waits, I get another human who tells me that I had called the consumer card division, but I needed the business card division. I had called the number on the back of my business card. They promised to transfer me. After yet another wait I get a short recording that stated that their offices were closed for the day, please call back tomorrow. At this point the TSE-II board that was in my hand hit the concrete wall at high speed. 4 hours completely wasted except for raising my blood pressure......Don't quite feel like DIY right now. Didn't order the parts from DK, nor to I give a.......
The Dayton hamfest occurs in less then two months. I plan to stuff my van to well over it's weight capacity and sell off some of my "stuff." That will shrink the unfinished projects list.
I will be standing at the door of the bank tomorrow morning when it opens.
Wow. That's a crappy deal, George...
I've never understood why a bank will let a card go past the limit (or below zero) in the first place.
Once I had an over limit fee on a card. After the bank got an earful, they decided to reverse the fee and stop the card from going over the limit in the first place.
I've never understood why a bank will let a card go past the limit (or below zero) in the first place.
Once I had an over limit fee on a card. After the bank got an earful, they decided to reverse the fee and stop the card from going over the limit in the first place.
Arrrrggg. I once opened a bank account for my audio hobby. Ended up not using it. But the bank drained it dry - fees - then started charging over draft fees because they had taken all the money and there was nothing left to pay the fess. I came very close to punching the face of the very young and arrogant lady at the bank. Finally had them close the account - but they closed the wrong one!
Sorry for the OT.
Sorry for the OT.
Like most I think the hobby is developed at a young age.
Mine evolved from playing music to listening to music to writing music to buying music listening equipment to building my own music listening equipment. Occasionally I dabble with buying music listening equipment but the fun of that is short lived, like any acquisition phase. The thinking and designing and building and the back and forth is far more prolonged...
Yes, along the way life happens like university and work and married life and life with kids or fur kids and moving house once (or 7 times in 13 years) having injuries or health issues causing one to put the hobby on the back burner. But don't forget that loss of enjoyment on things we previously enjoyed eg. hobbies, is one of the signs of depression, so be mindful of your overall contentment in life.
Covid thrust me back into the workforce+++, I witnessed things best left unsaid, but thank God I had something else to think or talk or read about.
Music saved my live once, and it saved my life a second time decades later. I don't think I could ever live without it.
It's a good little hobby. There's a lot worse like drugs, sex, gambling...
I do wonder where those all very active DIYers went when they stopped posting? Did they achieve audio nirvana? Or are they just taking a long deserved break?
Mine evolved from playing music to listening to music to writing music to buying music listening equipment to building my own music listening equipment. Occasionally I dabble with buying music listening equipment but the fun of that is short lived, like any acquisition phase. The thinking and designing and building and the back and forth is far more prolonged...
Yes, along the way life happens like university and work and married life and life with kids or fur kids and moving house once (or 7 times in 13 years) having injuries or health issues causing one to put the hobby on the back burner. But don't forget that loss of enjoyment on things we previously enjoyed eg. hobbies, is one of the signs of depression, so be mindful of your overall contentment in life.
Covid thrust me back into the workforce+++, I witnessed things best left unsaid, but thank God I had something else to think or talk or read about.
Music saved my live once, and it saved my life a second time decades later. I don't think I could ever live without it.
It's a good little hobby. There's a lot worse like drugs, sex, gambling...
I do wonder where those all very active DIYers went when they stopped posting? Did they achieve audio nirvana? Or are they just taking a long deserved break?
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That is one of the best things I learned out of this, if I'm already frustrated don't start on something and if I'm getting frustrated just walk away and find a way to clear my mind of it so it isn't just one more thing I 'need' to do. And if it isn't going right, maybe I'm not always a total idiot but perhaps I'm just looking at it wrong, so tomorrow it may look different. I've destroyed and disposed of way more stuff than I'd like to mention by trying to work on something when I shouldn't.
With those things in mind I was able to spend the weekend listening to my new Ampslab LM60MK2 amp that I just finished. When I wrote the first post on here I had given up on trying to fit everything for the power supply cleanly in the case and was about so scrap the whole project. The frustration level had amped up way beyond rational levels. A few days later and I changed one thing out and got it all to fit nicely.
It is a very nice sounding amp. On his site he describes it as popular for the tube fan that is trying solid state and I completely agree. Smooth, full sound that is easy to listen to for long periods. When I fired up the first channel in the garage I had one channel playing through tubes and one through the new amp and they blended surprisingly well.
my little buddy giving it a critical listen; when he hears something he likes he points an ear at it and sits there for awhile:
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I have lots of hobbies, there's a creative spirit to it and I enjoy them best when I'm in the mood. As a result, like others who have posted above, the interest in one particular hobby waxes and wanes over time.
Waiting ages for missing parts is a passion-killer for most projects. Solution seems to be you need several projects on the go so that there's always something you can tinker with.
Having the tools that enable you to do good work and feel satisfaction in the result has also turned out to be important for me. A task that is a hassle when you don't have the right tools and time usually turns out poorly, gets rejected and waits until the enthusiasm is there to re-do it properly.
The forum is another influence - others sharing your enthusiasm tends to be a reinforcing spirit for getting things done. That can make it tough because the onlookers desert threads that don't entertain them daily, and the popular threads may not be building what you want to build. But generally it's good to have a place like this, to share.
Waiting ages for missing parts is a passion-killer for most projects. Solution seems to be you need several projects on the go so that there's always something you can tinker with.
Having the tools that enable you to do good work and feel satisfaction in the result has also turned out to be important for me. A task that is a hassle when you don't have the right tools and time usually turns out poorly, gets rejected and waits until the enthusiasm is there to re-do it properly.
The forum is another influence - others sharing your enthusiasm tends to be a reinforcing spirit for getting things done. That can make it tough because the onlookers desert threads that don't entertain them daily, and the popular threads may not be building what you want to build. But generally it's good to have a place like this, to share.
This was an interesting read.
In my case it was whether I controlled the hobby or the hobby controlled me. It started as a tonic to banish the issues of my workplace from my mind, so I could drift of to sleep every night planning some aspect of my newly discovered Tubelab SPP build. But somehow I got over ambitious with the number of projects I could tackle, and then that pile of potential activities starts to overwhelm a bit, counteracting the positive affects of the hobby.
To mitigate that I wrote a document detailing every project I had planned or started or finished.
The finished projects are a positive force that remind me what I am capable of. (Some have been sold so are not there to remind me).
The started ones, I listed what I had done, what I needed to do, and potential issues. That helped me tackle some of those 80/20 jobs, where the last 20% of the task takes 80% of the time. It also stops me from starting anything new, until something that was started goes to finished.
Finally the planned ones. I was horrified how many old radios, tape recorders, tube amps, tube testers, PCBs and tubes I had acquired in just a few years. In true 12 steps fashion, I was able to say 'I am Old Hector and I am a valve-o-holic'.
Which reminds me of a joke ...
Two guys are sitting in the waiting room of a psychiatrist.
One says to the other, "Gosh it's a long wait! What are you here for?"
The other says, "Well ..... I like sausages".
"Sausages? Nothing to be worried about there. I like sausages!"
To which the other replies, "Really? How many have you got in your collection?"
In my case it was whether I controlled the hobby or the hobby controlled me. It started as a tonic to banish the issues of my workplace from my mind, so I could drift of to sleep every night planning some aspect of my newly discovered Tubelab SPP build. But somehow I got over ambitious with the number of projects I could tackle, and then that pile of potential activities starts to overwhelm a bit, counteracting the positive affects of the hobby.
To mitigate that I wrote a document detailing every project I had planned or started or finished.
The finished projects are a positive force that remind me what I am capable of. (Some have been sold so are not there to remind me).
The started ones, I listed what I had done, what I needed to do, and potential issues. That helped me tackle some of those 80/20 jobs, where the last 20% of the task takes 80% of the time. It also stops me from starting anything new, until something that was started goes to finished.
Finally the planned ones. I was horrified how many old radios, tape recorders, tube amps, tube testers, PCBs and tubes I had acquired in just a few years. In true 12 steps fashion, I was able to say 'I am Old Hector and I am a valve-o-holic'.
Which reminds me of a joke ...
Two guys are sitting in the waiting room of a psychiatrist.
One says to the other, "Gosh it's a long wait! What are you here for?"
The other says, "Well ..... I like sausages".
"Sausages? Nothing to be worried about there. I like sausages!"
To which the other replies, "Really? How many have you got in your collection?"
Wow! Bold move. I'll have to keep that in mind.
Currently I have no audio projects either finished, started or unfinished. Just a few in the imagination stage. I recently moved to a new country and brought very little with me. Getting parts here will be difficult. But now that my audio projects are restarting at zero, keeping a list and progress report is not a bad idea.
I try not to take on more than I can handle.
Too much and the joy becomes a chore.
Even then if I start building something and get fed up of it I just give it a rest for a day or two and come back to it in a better frame of mind.
Too much and the joy becomes a chore.
Even then if I start building something and get fed up of it I just give it a rest for a day or two and come back to it in a better frame of mind.
It ebbs and flows. Audio ia great to DIY so I have various audio-related projects, but they're hardly the only DIY I do. So sometimes I go from project domain to another.
It's good to take a break from time to time and come back fresh to tackle existing projects. Enthusiasm in threads with others on the same project does help. I don't like winter, so that's when DIY gets more time. With better weather, I am more inclined to go outside rather than dIY indoors.
For the past couple of years or so, we are living in very dire and chaotic situations. This takes a toll, on the mind, if not on the body.
The supply chain and price hikes put a total damper on the hobby.
I was suprised to get an import fee the last time I ordered from Digi-Key Canada, around a quarter of the total order. Doesn't encorage me to make additional orders these days.
Other than that, I am glad I document everything: I have lists of projects across various domains, together with extensive and growing notes. Secondly, I also spent a lot of time getting free gear or cheap gear with lots of components to salvage.
Seeing the current situation with components, salvaging and thrift store buys have shown their importance. There is a lot of builds and experiments I can do for many years.
It's good to take a break from time to time and come back fresh to tackle existing projects. Enthusiasm in threads with others on the same project does help. I don't like winter, so that's when DIY gets more time. With better weather, I am more inclined to go outside rather than dIY indoors.
For the past couple of years or so, we are living in very dire and chaotic situations. This takes a toll, on the mind, if not on the body.
The supply chain and price hikes put a total damper on the hobby.
I was suprised to get an import fee the last time I ordered from Digi-Key Canada, around a quarter of the total order. Doesn't encorage me to make additional orders these days.
Other than that, I am glad I document everything: I have lists of projects across various domains, together with extensive and growing notes. Secondly, I also spent a lot of time getting free gear or cheap gear with lots of components to salvage.
Seeing the current situation with components, salvaging and thrift store buys have shown their importance. There is a lot of builds and experiments I can do for many years.
I did the same. I moved from Sweden to Switzerland, and decided to drive since I considered my hobby was an esential part of keeping me sane (I had to quarantine when I arrived), so I had to decide what would go in the back of the car. It is surprising how much is needed to be able to tackle different parts of a project unhindered, but I reckon it would all go into 1/2 to 3/4 of a cubic metre. Unfortunately, not the old radios and other junk I acquired since I arrived ...
I am doing very little DIY these days. Should I beat myself up about it?
TBH, I am quite happy with my current efforts, it works for me:
But still keep up to date:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Discovery-81.htm
Mr. Troels Gravesen, who I admire, has revisited this sort of speaker. Can't see much wrong with his Efforts even if shrouded in Secrecy for obvious Commercial reasons.
In my Dreams I would build this sort of thing:
I say this as a Mathematician. And Systems Engineer.
TBH, I am quite happy with my current efforts, it works for me:
But still keep up to date:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Discovery-81.htm
Mr. Troels Gravesen, who I admire, has revisited this sort of speaker. Can't see much wrong with his Efforts even if shrouded in Secrecy for obvious Commercial reasons.
In my Dreams I would build this sort of thing:
I say this as a Mathematician. And Systems Engineer.
I lose motivation until I muster up some more. Mostly when family doesn't respect my work space. Theres nothing worse than spending half of the time set aside for projects looking for needful things for the project than working on the project itself. It does make DIY moral suffer. I dream of my own workspace with a locking door.