: First, head to the library. Check for books on telescopes--may or
: may not be with books on star gazing. You can also head for
: periodicals and look for the magazines aimed at this audience,
: somethng like Sky and Telescope. Where are you located? near
: what major city? does that city have an observatory or a
: planetarium? If so you'll find that to be a central point for
: astronomy amateurs. The Adler Planetarium in Chicago, for
: example, has held classes in telescope making for decades. A
: former scoutmaster and his son made their 6" reflecting
: telescope through there. But You can do it alone, too. My high
: school's astronomy club made an 8" telescope, with the
: members grinding the main mirror over many weeks. Online
: suppliers can get you books and materials for doing this. Edmund
: Scientific in New Jersey (www.scientificsonline.com/) has a 35
: page book with plans for 27 telescopes you can build:

That's about as nice of a summary/sites as I could ask for. I've 'saved' that post for future reference. As far as 'time for another hobby'...ha! Priorities...
: http://www.scientificsonline.com/telescopes-you-can-build-book.html

: Interesting link between astronomy and boating is the contribution
: of astronomy to navigation. There is a book titled
: "Longitude" which wsa made into a fascinating TV
: miniseries.

: For radios you want to look online at a site run by the Amater
: Radio Relay League, a leading "ham" radio group. Their
: magazine is QST. The basic route for amateur radio operators is
: to take a class in person, or online, which would teach the
: basics of electronics and radio theory necessary to obtain an
: amateur radio operator's license. Some classes of broadcas
: licenses used to require the knowledge of Morse Code. (When I
: got my license 30 years ago there was a discussion at the FCC
: about dropping the Morse code reqirement, but I think it may
: still be in the rules for at least a General class license, or
: the current equivalent.) After an intro course you'll have
: enough knowledge to be able to read the next level of radio
: theory in the books for the higher level licenses. You acquire
: knowledge one step at a time. If the field keeps you interested,
: look at a community college for classes. You can probably
: register as a non-degree candidate, or just take the occasional
: class as a student at large.

: For a really basic intro to both fields, ask if the library has Boy
: Scout Merit Badge books. There should be merit badges for
: electronics, astronomy, and radio. These are basic introductions
: to the fields, and they have bibliographies of other books for
: beginners.

: Hope you have time for the new hobbies :)

: PGJ