Things I do in my “spare” time to keep me sane.
Airplane Tracking — I run my own ADS-B tracking station that tracks aircraft on the 1090MHz and 978MHz bands and decrypts the telemetry data that they transmit. I also feed to many different plane-tracking sites and have my own tracking database that collects data on the various airplanes that come in range of my system and stores the data for later analysis and tracking. You can check out my system here: http://home.nathanpralle.com/tar1090/
Ingress — I play the augmented-reality mobile game called “Ingress” from the makers of PokemonGo. I am Level 16 Agent Tarsi210 of the Enlightened. Join us!
Tuba Player — I play tuba, having originally started on trumpet, then transitioning to euphonium, and finally to tuba, where I have stayed for 25+ years. I currently play a 4-rotary-valve V.F. Cerveney 4/4 BBb tuba.
The River City Barbershop Chorus – I discovered the great and wonderful hobby of barbershop singing in the spring of 2001 and never looked back.
Gourmet Cooking – I love cooking in the gourmet style and try to give myself challenges to rise to, to exercise those abilities.
Gardening – Maybe not my biggest hobby, but I enjoy having a nice garden and flowers. They’re nothing spectacular, but they are pretty and give me food, which I appreciate.
Construction/Home Improvement – Any home improvement we do, I do. Or I do with my father. And my father and I do construction work together, mostly rough work, but some finish work, too. I’m incredibly grateful that he taught me how to be useful with my hands, it’s saved us thousands in labor charges, and I’m intimately familiar with every aspect of my home’s construction, from electrical to plumbing to framing to finish.
Vintage Computer Collecting – I have between 30-40 different machines in my collection right now, ranging from Commodores to Apples to TRS-80s and some “small iron”. I adore fiddling with both modern and old technology as I think it’s important to understand where we came from in order to properly move forward.