Events, hamradio, Workshops/classes

Ham Radio Class and Exams

FD-2012-cropped FCW will be conducting an entry level (Technician) Ham Radio workshop on two consecutive Saturdays, July 20,27 from noon until 2PM.  Study materials and example tests can be found at http://www.qrz.com/ under the “resources” tab.  This workshop is open to anyone interested in obtaining an Amateur (Ham) radio license.

Also, the VE exams for Ham Radio will be given at FCW on Saturday, August 3 at noon.  All levels will be available and the exams are open to the public.  A photo ID is required.

FCW now has seven members who are also hams.  The station K4FCW is available to members at any time using the permissions of their license.  In addition, group contests and events are conducted often to help familiarize members and guests with operating procedures.

FCW

New FCW Sign

FCW Main Sign -2 Just in time for the open house, FCW has a large sign on the end building of the complex. We also now have a hanging sign in front of the door that should be more obvious to those driving down the alley. Maybe it will not be so difficult to find us now.

Events, FCW

Open House, Friday 7/12 and Sat. 7/13

Everyone is invited to an FCW open house on Friday, July 12 from 6PM to 9PM and Saturday, July 13, from 10AM to 6PM.


All of the areas will be open for tours. Items include:

In the Tile room:

      The electric chair set from the FCW Fright Night.

 

      The Cinderella carriage designed and mostly built at FCW for a play at South Caldwell HS.

Kids can have a FREE picture taken of themselves with Cinderella in the carriage.

In the General Area:

      The K4FCW Ham station will be set up for digital modes showing some of the current ways to communicate.

The Electronics area:

        The Eggbot will be drawing on ping-pong balls

 

        The Stingray robot will be wandering around.

 

        Various microprocessors and programmers will be on display.

The Mame Arcade machine will be available for gaming.

Classic console games will be available.

A set of Halloween Masks designed and made by Ross will be on display.

Be sure not to step on an iRobot Rooma sweeper that operates in the area

In the Classroom:

      The 3D Printer will be on display. This is a mendlemax device that can produce items out of ABS plastic.

The Network rack will be on display. This is to be used for classes in networking and Cisco training.

FOOD will be available.

In the model shop:

      The railroad will be operating, complete with a Thomas the Train for the kids.

 

      Scenery making techniques will be on display.

 

    A demo will be operating showing electro-static buildup.

In the Cave:

      The CNC mill and the lathe will be on display, but shut down due to safety considerations.

The CNC router will be operating creating info cards for visitors.

The remainder of the Woodworking area will be on display.

Tours, Activities, Information, and Food will be available for the duration. A special membership drive will be available — Join and pre-pay for 3 months, get a 4th month free.

The Open House is a FREE event. Invite your friends.

Uncategorized

Laser Cutter/Engraver Coming Soon

Laser2

We have ordered a Full Spectrum laser cutter/engraver. We should have it within three weeks. This laser cutter has a cut/engrave area of 24″ X 18″. It can cut many materials, however, it cannot cut metal. As an example, it can cut 1/2″ wood or acrylic. It can also engrave on granite, marble, glass and other materials.

Workshops/classes

Six Month Machining Class Completed

Engines1-1024x768

Six months ago I started teaching a class on Machining. We held one two hour session each Tuesday. The students where Dave Propst, Kaleb Watson and Ed Cooper. The primary goal of the class was to impart enough knowledge to the students so that they could safely and effectively use the machine shop without supervision. The two primary tools were the metal lathe and the CNC milling machine. I have always learned best by doing a project that forces me to learn the given subject. To that end I asked the students to build a steam engine. Through the course of the class we worked on the easiest part first, the second easiest part next, and so on. This introduced new operations and safety procedures as they were needed.

We had the last class two weeks ago. Dave, Kaleb and Ed are now fully qualified to use the equipment without supervision. In the picture above you can see the engines built by Kaleb and Dave. Unfortunately, Ed was not available for the photography session. Oh, and by the way, all of their engines worked at first try. Congratulations Kaleb, Dave and Ed for your perseverance through all of those weeks.

There will be more of these classes as we get enough students to hold them.

Events, hamradio

Field Day 2013

Field Day 2013
Mycheal works 40m at Field Day

On June 22-23, FCW via the Ham Station K4FCW participated in the ARRL Field Day.  Field Day is the premier Ham Radio event of the year with two main purposes — test equipment and antennas that may be needed in an emergency situation; and promote Amateur Radio.  This is the second field day for FCW and things were smoother this year, though there were still some glitches.  The goal was to contact as many stations as possible during the 24 hours.  The station worked many of the states, along with Canada and Spain.  We were able to demonstrate Ham radio and spark interest in a non-ham who may be taking our Technician license class later in July.  As usual from such events, we learned much and should be able to do better next year.

Construction, FCW

New Office Floor

GE DIGITAL CAMERA

Saturday, May 11, FCW installed a new floating floor in the “office” area.  The laminate flooring was furnished by Habitat for Humanity Re-Store and matches the flooring in the Model Shop and Classroom.  Besides making the area look better, the floor should reduce the dust.  This area contains the Ham Radio station (K4FCW), the Electronics Shop,  and the Lounge.  Furniture was re-arranged to create a kitchenette in the alcove.  There is still quite a bit of setup required since everything had to be moved for the floor, but all should be fully usable within a short time.

Construction, Projects

Cinderella Carriage Nearly Complete

SONY DSC
Cinderella Carriage

FCW has been building a carriage for the play “Cinderella” to be given at South Caldwell High School in May. Ross designed the carriage and built a 1/6 model. Then with some help from Warren and Rick, Ross completed the full sized unit. The final finish, painting and decorating will be done by the school drama department, who also paid for the expensive parts.
The carriage has working steering and is capable of being disassembled for storage. It was mainly cut out using a CNC router. FCW will be getting a PR spot in the play brochure.

Uncategorized

501(c)(3) is approved

FCW is now a 501(c)(3) approved organization, able to take tax-deductable donations. The paperwork was started in January 2012 and submitted in May 2011. The approval went through without any questions or corrections. Many thanks to those on the committee. Now… to look for grants.

Workshops/classes

ST32F4 class


This February, FCW offered a four week workshop on the ST32F4 Discovery Board from ST Microelectronics. This board contains  a ST32f4 ARM based processor with 1MB flash and 192K RAM.  The board also contains a 3 axis accelerometer, a digital microphone, an audio DAC with class D speaker driver, several LEDs, 2 pushbuttons, and headers to connect to external circuits.  The board can be programmed via its own toolchain or by GCC.

Rich conducted the workshop with six students.  Topics covered included the features of the board,, use of interrupts, accessing the on-board peripherals,and an introduction to C programming.

This board is being used in projects at FCW.  FCW plans to offer additional workshops in various microprocessors including  AVR, ARM, PIC, Picaxe, and Propeller processors.

A Hackerspace/Makerspace for the NC Foothills