Ask Lemmy

In amateur radio, making an Earth-Moon-Earth contact. That means bouncing your signal off of the moon, basically using it as a satellite. You generally need a big antenna array to do it. Also you need a very high quality amplifier to receive since the signal you get back from the mood is very weak. You can hear an echo of yourself delayed about 2.6 seconds, since the moon is about 1.3 light seconds away.

3 other cool nerds to play board games with consistently.

Well, my hobby is searching for historical religious artifacts, so...

For example, in the headphone world, the Sennheiser HE-1 headphones are said to be like the pinnacle of headphones and most expensive, costing $59000 for a pair.

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Woodworking: An entire log of American Chestnut.

About a century ago, the species was all but wiped out by a blight that came from Japanese chestnut. Some three billion trees died. The blight actually survives in the forest living on but not damaging oak trees, so American chestnuts are struggling to reclaim their historic habitats. The species is critically endangered and efforts to rehabilitate the population are underway, including trying to breed large surviving individuals or to genetically engineer blight resistant trees. Logging is of course completely out of the question.

American Chestnut is an excellent lumber, with many of the properties of white oak in a faster growing tree. It is straight grained, hard and strong, easy to saw and split, rot resistant due to tannins. A fantastic choice for indoor and outdoor furniture, structural timber, even telephone poles. Reclaimed chestnut timber from old buildings is highly prized, and what woodworker wouldn't love access to a few hundred board feet of freshly kiln dried American chestnut...if it was possible to ethically source.

In the typewriter community, the “holy grail” differs from person to person, but for me it was a 1930s Royal P equipped with a rare typeface called Vogue. Very, very rarely they’ll pop up from people who don’t know how significant that is, and that’s the only way to get one at a reasonable price - because those who do know what it is will ask thousands of dollars for it.

Eventually I found one for a comparatively cheap price (sub 1k), and the only reason someone else didn’t snap it up before I saw it was because the guy refused to ship it. Local pickup only. So I took the chance to drive the 10 hours round trip to snag it, and it sits proudly as the crown jewel of my collection:

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TTRPGs. A cleared schedule

I don't care what the other nerds say. This is the Holy Grail for me:

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Any serious guitarists will let you know their holy grail.

It's not any guitar; it's another guitar.

My hobby is (or rather was) collecting Seiko watches.

I stopped buying watches, but my holy Grail would be "The" Pogue. The original 6139-6005 yellow face automatic chronograph worn by Col. William Pogue on the Skylab mission.

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Other than the NASA issued Omegas, this was his personal watch that he just took with him into space, as NASA didn't want the Astronauts to take their Speedmasters home and so they couldn't train as much with them.

This also was the first automatic chronograph in space, as no one had tried before if they would work without gravity (surprise, they did, as momentum is still very much a thing in space).

Here is a very nice write up by a very knowledgeable guy:

https://www.plus9time.com/blog/2017/12/24/the-true-seiko-pogue-chronograph-6139-6005

To celebrate the new millennium, German model train maker Märklin released a 1/87 scale electric locomotive with a body made out of platinum, with real rubys for the red taillights and other real materials such as windows made of real glass, wheels made of stainless steel and isolators of real ceramics. It's considered one of the most sought after railway models.

I'm a book collector, sadly most of the books in my preferred address are, and forever, will be out of my reach. My holy grail is The Magus by Francis Barrett (1801), it's basically a guidebook to the occult. I've got a facsimile edition published in 1970 but I've never seen or heard of a original copy for sale - not that I've searched, I don't wish to see an old man cry.

I like collecting games, nothing crazy like graded games (graded anything is a scam) or like I have to have every game ever made for a specific console, I just like having a big shelf of games.

I really want a like new, in box green Halo edition original Xbox. People want stupid money for them but I just want to have one. I've got a good condition boxed regular black console and a boxed Halo 3 Xbox 360 but I reeeeally want the green OG.

Here's what people are trying to sell a NIB version for

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In photography: Global Shutter. So whenever you see object bending horizontally while they're moving, that's because most digital camera sensors have a rolling shutter.

In the world of synthesisers, I’m going to say the Yamaha CS-80. Anyone who was introduced to synthesised music by listening to the Blade Runner soundtrack will recognise it. With its many tactile modulation options, it’s arguably the pinnacle of the synth as a performance instrument.

Owning that super special version of Nintendo World Cup that they made for some tournament and only 4 copies in the entire world exist. And IIRC, James Rolfe (the Angry Video Game Nerd) owns 3 of them.

The Imperator-Class Titan is the largest mini in Warhammer 40k.

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I have fantasized about using one of these in an actual game ever since I learned of their existence in 8th grade.

In cycling I would say the tools needed to replace a flat tyre.

Time

I dream of one day finding an original Model M keyboard in a Goodwill or yard sale for like $10. Every time I'm in a thrift store I look over the electronics section JUST in case.

Also waiting for the day I find a random copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn. Only 20,000 north American copies were made, which sounds like a lot but in video game numbers is insanely low. I've only ever seen it in the real world once at a gaming convention and it sold for $1,500.

Elite Dangerous: the grail is the Fleet Carrier. Spent 7 years of non-grindy playtime saving up for mine.

Motivation. I lost it some time around 2015 and have been kinda just killing time before death ever since.

For me with gaming (both playing and dev), a Steam Deck. Never wanted anything more in my life, seeing people have them and barely use them hurts. But I'm on long-term sick leave and live paycheck to paycheck, not able to save anything and it doesn't look like that'll change anytime soon. And it's more than just wanting a cool thing, all I have is a shitty laptop from 2010 that barely plays 1080p video, and a TV I found outside that gets so warm that it's hard to sit in front of for longer than two hours at a time. The laptop has no battery so it has to be used with the charger connected all the time and it's too heavy to comfortably use anywhere but at a desk. I also have back and knee problems and having something like a Steam Deck would allow me to play and develop in bed or on my sofa and save me some pain.

I finally saw a Baltimore Oriole (bird) in real life at my feeder. Its was beautiful and vibrant and now I need to find another cool bird to look at.

Super subjective, but for my handtool woodworking, my grail is a pistol grip Stanley 610 drill. Do t know why, but ever since I saw one, I’ve wanted it!

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A debit card with limitless funds

I guess an Eleiko barbell:

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Pretty much the Rolls Royce of barbells.