July 1st, 2009 by wammie

Fellow Makers and Supporters,

As of July 1, 2009, Twin Cities Maker is accepting dues and donation payments via PayPal, cash, or personal check.

At the member meeting on June 24, 2009 we approved a $10 minimum monthly dues starting on July 1, 2009, with subsequent payments due on the first of each month. Funds from dues will support startup capital for things such as legal incorporation, publicity, and a security deposit for a space.

The current dues schedule is published HERE as follows:
Dues shall be paid on the First of every month.
Dues shall be $10 per month.
Dues may be prepaid in any amount.

We hope that $10 per month is very affordable. We do, however, need to see how many people will commit to paying monthly dues in order to budget for necessary expenses.

Also: Until TC Maker obtains its own space, up to half of your paid dues can be credited toward future dues (prepaid dues). After that time your dues credit can be redeemed, up to 50% of the dues for each month. Prepaid dues will be considered generally non-refundable.

You may also of course designate a portion or all of a payment as a donation.

Please join us as a dues paying member and enjoy the full benefits of TC Maker participation! As a dues paying member, you are entitled to member-exclusive events, discounts on event fees, use of our space and other goodies. We’re presently considering fun events such as a swap fest, clothesline vehicle race, and a potluck!

When making a contribution to TC Maker, either by cash, check or electronic transfer, please specify if all or part of your payment, and how much, is to be applied toward dues or donation (PayPal has a field for special directions).

Thank you and welcome to TC Maker!!!

Questions, concerns, or comments about this communication may be brought to any general business meeting or conveyed as a reply to this announcement in our forum.

June 19th, 2009 by wammie

We now have promotional flyers for Twin Cities Maker!
They come in three flavors: 8.5″x11″, 5.5″x4.25″, and 3.5″x2″, all in PDF format. Please distribute appropriately and ask for permission at businesses as necessary!

June 17th, 2009 by Paul Sobczak

There is an Arduino class coming up in the Minneapolis area. Willis Bowman (Arduino Boy on the forum) will be teaching the class, it’s sure to be good and you can purchase an arduino at the class if you don’t have one. Below a sort bit on the Arduino from the BBC.

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Arduino for Artists (Session one of two)
Date and Time:
Jul 9 2009 – 7:00pm – Jul 9 2009 – 10:00pm
Location:
Leonardo’s Basement 4301 Nicollet Ave Minneapolis, MN 55409
Fee:
$90 for two sessions. Materials fee: $50 if you have your own Arduino. $80 if you don’t. Amount payable to instructor during first class.

Arduinos are small, palm-size computers (“microcontrollers” in geek speak) that you can program to make your art come alive. They can control the movement, sound or sight of your art and sense and react to almost anything, including you. This can add a new dimension to your work that travels beyond the fourth dimension, constrained only by your imagination!

You don’t need prior computer programming experience but you do need to know how to use your own computer for everyday use. Windows, Macs and Linux can all be used with the Arduino microcontrollers and software. Bring a laptop if you have one but we’ll have desktop computers available to use. At the end of the classes you will have a working Arduino and a decent understanding of how to use it to help your art interact with the environment.

During the first class we’ll explore very simple programs and circuits to blink and fade lights, read the status of switches and potentiometers, mess around with three-color LEDS and finally make motors spin in interesting ways. In the second class we will dive into the curious world of DC, stepper and RC servo motors and solenoids.

Instructors are Willis Bowman and Adam Wolf with special guest cameo appearances.

More information and a place to sign up over at Studio Bricolage

June 13th, 2009 by wammie

I’ve been doing upgrades of my main desktop computer about every four or five years. Recently I got the “builder’s bug” and decided to do a complete rebuild. Using parts ordered from Newegg.com, I spent less than $900 for a gaming-class machine. Mail-in rebates should recover some of my expenses as well. Highlights of my new computer:

• AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8 GHz triple core CPU, clocked at 3.3 GHz
• Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P 2 oz. copper motherboard
• Asus 512MB Radeon HD 4850 video card
• Two hard drives: Western Digital 74GB SATA Raptor (primary), Westen Digital 1TB SATA (secondary)
• 4GB DDR2 memory at 1066 MHz clock
• Samsung DVD/CD-ROM RW drive/burner
• Antec 300 case/Seasonic 550W power supply/Xigmatek cooler (massive)
• Windows Vista 64-bit operating system

Computer building has some interesting challenges, but it’s a very satisfying “maker” project! If done with care, a DIY computer builder can create a great machine on a designated budget.

Among other places, a good overview of DIY computer building can be found at MySuperPC.com.

June 10th, 2009 by noise

The Twin Cities Maker business meeting will be at 7pm this evening. We will meet in the back room of Common Roots Cafe.

Agenda:

• PayPal, bank account, and collection of money
• Non-profit registration in the state of Minnesota- adjusting the constitution and by-laws to meet the requirements for registration
• Collecting data on fees and rates- SurveyMonkey? E-mail?

May 25th, 2009 by Paul Sobczak

My latest creation the “Resistive Troll”. Allthough that might not actually be the case becasue all of the resitors are in parallel so the actual resistace is really small. None the less, Twin Cities Maker has their first mini mascot. Isn’t it cute?

May 25th, 2009 by Paul Sobczak

Mike, the newly elected president of Twin Cities Maker will be putting on another round of his basic electronics class, the first round was at Studio Bricolage and was an overwhelming success. Hence another, this one will be fine tuned and most likely better than the last one. If you are at all curious about electronics and want to learn more, this is the place to do it. Mike has a degree in electrical engineering and has been working in the industry ever since, he also has been making awesome things with resistors and other things that have an affinity for electronics on the side. This event is in collaboration with Studio Bricolage and will be hosted there.

Note there is only room for 8 read EIGHT people so sign up soon if you want to get in. Also there are 4 session so you will get your moneys worth.

* From Studio Bricolage

Keeping the Smoke in: Basic Electronics for Makers – session 1
Date and Time:
Jun 9 2009 – 6:30pm – Jun 9 2009 – 8:30pm
Location:
Leonardo’s Basement 4301 Nicollet Ave Minneapolis, MN 55409
Fee:
$80 for four (4) sessions. Take home materials fee $20. Pay instructor at class. Limit 8 students.

* Tuesday, June 9, (very brief) math refresher, volts, amps, ohms, and using your multi-meter.

With platforms like the Arduino and resources like Make: Magazine, it’s never been easier to get started in electronics. Having an understanding of the basics can make your projects go smoother and save you from costly mistakes that can easily let the magic smoke out of your expensive new Arduino Deumilanove board.

All sessions will include some hands on projects involving solderless breadboards and multi-meters, and all sessions will include some “insider” information on sourcing components (Ax-man, internet shops, etc) and sources for additional information, including books and websites. Bring a meter capable of measuring volts, amps, and resistance.

Instructor: Michael Hord (mike.hord@gmail.com) is an electrical engineer, perpetual tinkerer and unrepentant dumpster diver.

* Tuesday, June 16, diodes, LEDs, and switches.
* Tuesday, June 23, power supplies and batteries.
* Tuesday, June 30, transistors and a VERY basic intro to the world of integrated circuits.

This program is a collaborative venture of TC Maker and Studio Bricolage.

May 23rd, 2009 by Paul Sobczak

Awhile ago I got the chance to visit Montreal which is an amazing city and headed over to Foulab but nobody was home, I am glad to see that there is some activity going on now. You can read more on that non adventure here. Below is a great little video documentary of the space and some of the people building stuff there.

Fou Lab in Montreal, Yes!

Hopefully this will get all of your quests for a space reviatalized again.

Fou Lab Website

About half way in you can see Fou Labs new logo which is a version of the ground symbol for circuits, and I like it.

May 13th, 2009 by Paul Sobczak

Twin Cities Maker has held it’s first elections and they are as follows:

Position:

name – forum handle

President:
Mike Hord – uptownmaker

Vice President:
Wayne Martinson – wammie

Treasurer:
Brandon Paplow – orion

Secretary:
Theo Durbin – Theo

Development Coordinator:
Michael Freiert – metis

Congratulations, to everybody elected.

May 12th, 2009 by danbackslide

This spring I’ve been taking a hands-on class on vintage radio repair at the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting. The first radio I brought in (an RCA 96T1, ca. 1938) I thought would be simple. It turned out to be in pretty bad shape — bad power transformer, bad speaker, almost all the caps need replacing… In short, it’s turned into a major project.

So I switched over to my other radio, a 1925 Atwater-Kent Model 20 “big box.” It’s a lot simpler than the RCA: 5 01A tubes, 3 condensers, a handful of resistors and capacitors. I also thought it’d be simple, and I was again wrong. 3 out of the 5 tubes tested bad. The grid-leak detector had been replaced with a soldered-in fuse in an earlier repair attempt. Thanks to the museum’s massive supply of vintage parts those items were fixed in short order, but when power was applied I found none of it was getting to the RF tubes.

Luckily, this radio was made at a time when manufacturers expected people to repair things. Remove 8 screws from the front plate, and the entire chassis lifts out, revealing all the components. A bit of poking with a multimeter (and a trip to Google for a better schematic) soon revealed a bad solder joint. And a wound wire resistor that’s open, so I have to fix that next. Then I’ll have to build a power supply — did I mention this thing runs off lead-acid batteries?

I keep reminding myself that, with all the troubles I’ve run into, I’m learning a lot….