August of 2021 marks the 10th year of existence of FCW and 4th year after the fire.
FCW will be having an OPEN HOUSE for 3 days to observe the dates.
The OPEN HOUSE Dates are as follows:
Friday, August 13 from 4-9PM
Saturday, August 14 from 12 Noon -8PM
Sunday, August 15 from 2-6PM
There will be food, activities, and tours of the space. Also, there will be demonstrations of 3d Printing, laser cutting, wood turning, Ham Radio, Electronics/robotics, Science and others.
Here are links to png and pdf versions of the poster. The poster is designed to be cut in two in order to make two half posters.
UPDATE: Classes continue for the Summer. Intro to Arduinos will continue on July 15 and August 5 and 19. Like Unix will be on July 22 and August 26 (Note no meeting on August 12).
NEW Class: Since July has 5 Thursdays, FCW will have an Intro to 3D printing session on July 29 from 6-9PM. This session will introduce 3d printing, using the printers, and sources of models. A future class will be on design. This class is free and open to the public.
Check the resources link for the specific class to see if any materials are needed for the virtual version.
We are using Google Meet for the virtual portions. The link information is below. Be sure to check back before the session to see if the link has changed.
FCW is pleased to announce that classes/training/workshops will resume this month. We are starting off with an Intro to Arduinos class on Thursday, March 18. This will meet at 7PM for 2 hours on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month and will cover the hardware, programming, and applications of the Arduino microcontroller. A description is here. It is an “in person” class.
On the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month the Like Unix sessions will resume. It will meet at 7PM for 90 minutes and cover topics for Unix and unix like systems including Minux, Linux, BSD, IRIX, Solaris, AIX, and Mac-Os (shell). This will be an “in person” and virtual class,
We are still practicing social distancing so the limits are 10, for now. Both classes are free and open to the public. For more info contact info@foothillscommunityworkshop.org.
In order to help prevent the spread of the Covid 19 virus. All Physical meetings of FCW are cancelled until further notice. This includes the regular Tuesday and Saturday meetings; the GDG and Like Unix groups; and any classes/workshops.
Members may still work on projects on an individual basis as long as social distancing is practiced.
Provisions are being made for Virtual meetings. Additional information will be forthcoming.
FCW will be hosting an Amateur Radio (Ham) entry level Techician Class in January 2020. This class will prepare participants to take the Technician exam, which will be offered at the end of the class.
The sessions will concentrate on the more difficult portions of the exam. The instructor is Gary Schwartz
Class #1 Sat Jan 11, 9:30-12
Class#2 Sat Jan 18, 9:30-12
Class#3 Sat Jan 25, 9:30-12
Exam: Sat Feb 1, 10 AM
The sessions will be held at FoothillsCommunity Workshop, 141North Main Street, GraniteFalls, NC 28630
The class and all materials are free and will be available online for downloading. This class is open to the public.
The exam fee is $10. The exam is at all levels and is available to anyone wishing to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio license.
For more information, contact michelle@foothillscommunityworkshop.org or call 828-754-5002
FCW will host an Open House on Friday, Dec. 7 from 4-9PM and Saturday, Dec 8 from 10AM-6PM. Although visitors are welcome at FCW anytime someone is at the space; at the Open House there will be
Food
Tours of the areas
Demonstrations
Activities
Much has been done since the previous open house. Demos in Arts & Crafts will include the 3d printers, laser cutters, and CNC mill. The Electronics area will be showing Arduinos, propeller and Raspberry Pis. The Ham Radio station, K4FCW will be operating, and (with any luck) the railroad will be operational.
Primary parking is in the rear. This event is free and open to the public.
On Saturday, June 23 starting at 2PM through Sunday, June 24 at 2PM, FCW’s Amateur Radio station, K4FCW will participate in Field Day.
Sponsored by the ARRL, Field Day is set up as a contest to make contacts all across the US and Canada. It allows Hams to set up portable/emergency equipment for practice and provides an opportunity to introduce Ham Radio to new people.
K4FCW will be operating to introduce persons to Ham Radio. If you are a Ham, or interested in Ham Radio, come by (it is a 24 hour event), and “get your feet wet” on long distance radio communications. Our antenna system is still being rebuilt, since the fire, but we will be operating.
Contact Michelle, kd4ytu at michelle@foothillscommunityworkshop.org or (828) 754-5002 for more details.
It has been a long journey since the fire on July 21 last year, but FCW has, for the most part, recovered nicely. On “Star Wars Day”, Friday May 4, from 4-9PM and Saturday, May 5 from 9AM-6PM. FCW will be having an Open House celebrating the re-Opening of several areas for usability. The areas ready for use are:
Electronics – includes electrical, analog and digital electronics, microprocessors, robotics, computers, networks, automation, PLCs, soldering, and Internet of Things.
Arts & Crafts – includes the former stagecraft and fabrication areas: model shop (wood, metal, plastic and glass), sewing, laser cutting, 3d printing, sets, props, costumes, special effects, lighting, sound, video, animation, and VR.
K4FCW- the Amateur Radio station.
Classroom – set up for 20 participants.
Computers/robotics/gaming – includes general computing and all kinds of games.
Computer Museum – various vintage computers.
Lounge – a place to relax.
Woodshop – includes woodturning, woodworking, construction, and CNC routing.
As usual, with the Open Houses, there will be food, tours, demos and activities. One special activity this time is a retro-gaming which includes vintage computer games, console games, and arcade games.
The address is 141 N. Main St, Granite Falls, phone 828-212-0930. This event is free and open to the public.
The Open House on December 15, 2017 was preceded by a Ribbon Cutting from the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce. Several from the Chamber as well as the Mayor of Granite Falls, a City Councilwoman, a representative from the County Commissioners, a representative from the N
ation of Makers,
and other local VIPs.
The Ribbon Cutting was to celebrate the acquisition of the new building. Even though construction was still in progress, there was many congratulations and fellowship.
In the picture behind the poster are FCW members, from left to right, Mitch (holding the ribbon), Michelle, Bruce, Colin, Brandon, Rich, Derek, and Kay.
The remainder of the Open House on the 15th and 16th saw a steady flow of visitors and friends checking out the new facility. The rebuild continues.
FCW will be having an Open House at the new facility on Friday, December 15 from 5-9PM and Saturday, December 16 from 10AM-6PM. Even though visitors are welcome anytime someone is at FCW, at the Open Houses, we make a special effort to show of the advantages of FCW, This Open House is special in that is the first one since the fire destroyed nearly everything at the Shuford facility.
At the open house, we will have:
Food – mainly burgers and hotdogs on Friday, a more traditional meal on Saturday.
Demos of replacement equipment.
Tours of the new facility and future plans.
Activities
The Open House is at the new facility at 141 N. Main St., Granite Falls, NC 28630 (directly on 321-A). Note that parking is at the rear of the building. This activity is free and open to the public.
On July 21 at around 7PM, the building containing FCW was totally destroyed by fire. Apparently it started in a rear corner, then spread up the back side before spreading forward and destroying FCW. In addition to us, there were several businesses, a couple of warehouses, a few residential apartments, and over two hundred storage units in the building. Fortunately, at this time, it appears that nobody was injured.
However, FCW is down for a while. The early consensus of the board is that we will rebuild and like the Phoenix “rise from the ashes”. Exact details will be worked out over the next few weeks. In the meantime, donations of money and equipment will be accepted (Remember that FCW is a 501(c)( 3) non-profit organization.
All classes and workshops are canceled for the near future as we clean up, salvage anything possible and look for a new home.
UPDATE: It appears that at least one piece of equipment survived. Our R5 Ham Radio Antenna remains proudly perched on its beam. Now if we only still had a radio….
The current estimate is that we will be able to survey the damage on Tuesday.
UPDATE 2017-07-23
A Members Meeting discussed the rebuilding of FCW today. Here are a few key points.
FCW will rebuild – eventually having more interest areas than before.
Top priority is finding a new space – this one should require little renovation for us to start using.
Scheduled events (hamfest, makerfaires. etc.) will be attended as planned, but with a smaller display focused toward the rebuild.
Classes will be delayed for about a month, then start being scheduled again, depending on resources.
The Common area (lounge), Woodworking, Electronics, and the Ham Station will come on line first.
The Railroad will be rebuilt (HO gage) but will be used also for classes to instill interest in trains and making.
Equipment priorities after a space is found are the computers and laser cutter. Woodworking, electronics, science, and stagecraft (art) will be built up as resources permit.
Everyone should be in “scrounge mode”, look out for possible locations, watch for possible deals or donations, and spread the word that FCW is far from dead.
There is a slight chance that some of the equipment can be salvaged/repaired. Ben will bring a drone down this week to see if we can get a better look.
A Slack group is being set up for those who would like to be involved, have ideas, or just want information. Members will be invited automatically. Others should email info@foothillscommunityworkshop.org
I’ll try to get some pictures specific to our damage on Tuesday.
More recent drone flyover: Zooming up, you can see both laser cutters, the shelving supports in the fab lab and StM (computer museum), the mill and lathe in the machine shop, part of the large bandsaw in the woodshop, both fume hoods, the large oven, the autoclave and a metal cart in the science lab, and a light in the stagecraft area. https://youtu.be/0aHt01O719k
Update 7/30/2017
Additional drone footage (I can’t post it yet) allowed us to id a cabinet, computer rack, and A/C compressor in the fab lab; the welder, 18″ planer, suction, and a tool box in the cave;, the transformer and instructors desk the classroom; and a power supply and the Pace rework station in the common area. Nothing can be salvaged.
Meetings have resumed on Saturdays and Wednesdays. We have a lead on a temporary space until we can find a building, and multiple leads on replacement equipment.
At the 2017 Field Day, a brief tour was done of FCW. This is the last known video before the fire. The mics being used failed during the interview portion so there is voice over description. This video was done by Gary Pearce of Ham Radio Now on Youtube. Do realize that we had be up over 24 hours for Field Day at the time.