Ham Radio VE exams will be given at FCW at 12 noon on Saturday, November 22. Anyone interested in obtaining or upgrading an Amateur Radio (Ham) license is welcome to attend. Study materials may be found at http://www.qrz.com/ht/
This event is open to anyone wishing to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio license. The fee is $10 per attempt and a photo ID is required.
It is that time of year again — days are getting shorter, leaves are turning, and Halloween is around the corner. FCW’s Horror Master, Ross is at it again and has designed a Fright Night event.
This event will be in the building next to FCW and includes a hayride, dark forest, mad scientist lab, electric chair, haunted room, and a live autopsy, along with other “attractions” design to induce bad dreams.
Fright Night is being done in conjunction with South Caldwell High School Drama Boosters, who are using it as a fund raiser. The details are:
Check this website or call 828-351-HACK (4225) for directions
FCW will be conducting an entry level (Technician) Ham Radio workshop on three consecutive Fridays, July 18, July 25, and August 1 from 6-8PM. Topics include regulations, station setup, station operation, radio principles, antennas, and basic electronics, to prepare for the VE exams. 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, free of charge. Note that the Technician level question pool changed July 1. The topics and material are unchanged but questions have been changed.
On Friday, August 8 from 6-8PM there will be a question and answer session for anyone wishing to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio license.
Also, the VE exams for Ham Radio will be given at FCW on Saturday, August 9 at noon. All levels will be available and the exams are open to the public. A photo ID is required. Current exam fee is $10.
It is time for the semi-annual Open House at FCW. This Spring, the Open House is on Friday, May, 30 from 5-9PM and Saturday, May 31, from 10AM to 6PM.
Though visitors are welcome at FCW any time, at the open houses we make special effort to show off the various areas to visitors. This year, the railroad will be operating, sample projects will be on display, the electronics and K4FCW ham radio station will have activities, and there will be demos of the CNC routers, 3D printer, and laser cutter. There will be food, tours, games, and activities for all.
The public is invited and encouraged to attend this event.
FCW has several classes/workshops scheduled for the next few weeks. Unless otherwise specified, all classes/workshops are free and open to the public.
Friday, February 21 5-9PM – Intro. To Electricity: Fundamental Concepts
Summary: Intended for beginners, this session introduces fundamental concepts of electricity and electronics. Included topics: voltage, current, resistance, and power; units; measuring; sources and loads; DC and AC; Series and parallel; Ground; and schematic symbols.
Pre-req material: basic math
Instructor(s): Dave Propst
Duration: 4hrs
Saturday, March 1, 12 noon – 3PM, Introduction To Blender 3D
Summary: This is an introduction to Blender 3D, an open source 3D modeling package. Topics include: 3D visualization; Views; Menus and keyboard shortcuts; 3D primatives; Modeling and object creation and editing; Boolean operations; Materials and Textures; Overview of advanced features.
Students need to furnish their own laptop computers with Blender 3D loaded (http://www.blender.org/download/) and an external mouse. Blender is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Pre-req material: None
Instructor(s): Dave Propst
Duration: 3 hrs
Fridays, March 7,14,21 6-8PM, Ham Radio: Technician License Prep
Summary: These sessions provide the material to take the Ham Radio entry level (Technician) license exams. Topics include Rules and Regulations; Station Setup; Basic Electronics; Operation; Radio theory; and safety.
Pre-req material: None
Instructor(s): Michelle Suddreth
Duration: 3 sessions, 2 hrs each
Saturday, March 15, 12 noon-3PM, Intro. To Electricity: Component Identification
Summary: This session includes the construction, purpose, identification, and testing of basic circuit components including: resistors, inductors, capacitors, transformers, switches, lamps/leds, batteries and connectors.
Pre-req material: Fundamental Concepts
Instructor(s): Dave Propst
Duration: 3hrs
Saturday, March 22, 12 noon – 2PM, Ham Radio VE exams
These are the exams to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio (Ham) license. These are given by WCARS VEC and the cost is $10 per attempt. All levels will be available and you do not have to have taken FCW’s prep class prior to taking the exams. Study materials for all levels may be found at http://qrz.com/hamtest/
On Saturday, Feb 1, Boy Scouts from Maiden, troop 303, Hawk patrol, came to FCW for instruction in a basic woodworking technique.
Rick, one of FCW’s woodworkers showed four of the scouts how to create overlapping joints in wood strips. Starting off with safety, instruction followed with the basics of the table saw, then how to create lap joints (without using a dado). The eventual project is to create picture frames.
The workshop lasted three hours and terminated with pizza and snacks. Additional instruction will be on Feb. 8, then another group will be later. This is FCW’s first direct workshop with Scouts. This troop came by the December Open House and were interested in numerous activities at FCW. In addition to woodworking, we hope to help Scout troops in the region with Ham Radio, Electronics, Robotics and other activities of interest.
On January 17, 2014, ten 6th graders from Granite Falls Middle School and their teacher were treated to a technical workshop at FCW. In November 2012, the teacher, Randy, toured FCW and talked to us about classes/workshops that could be used to help stimulate interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) for students in his class. He was particularly interested in a hands-on project and something that could be taken back to the school.
Several possibilities were discussed and Randy decided on trying to build several of the Eggbots – the open source art robot kit from EvilMadScientist.com. The kit as available was too expensive so, it was decided to try to re-design it as a less-expensive version. With Rich taking the lead, the mechanical portion was re-designed with three goals in mind: 1) make as many parts at FCW as possible, 2) make it easier to assemble, and 3) make it more robust. By simplifying some of the mechanical portions, all of the mechanical parts could be fabricated at FCW using the laser cutter and the machine shop. These modifications cut the price nearly in half. A donation of the stepper motors, cut the price again so that the final version was nearly 1/4 the cost of the original kit.
GFMS raised the money to build five units with 25 students. It was decided to split the class into a group of 10 students for the first workshop, building two of the bots, with the remaining 15 students building three units at a later workshop. The assembly of each unit was organized into separate sections so that each student contributed to the assembly.
The ten students arrived at 8AM on Jan. 17. Rich, Michelle and Randy assisted the students in the assembly, which took approximately two hours. The students were then given a quick introduction to Inkscape, an open-sourcce vector drawing package with extensions to drive the bot. The assembly was optimized for drawing on ping-pong balls using fine point Sharpie markers. After assembly, the students were given ping-pong balls and assisted in creating examples for testing. There were a few minor glitches, but each student got experience in creating and drawing text, logos, or smiley faces. After watching the bot draw, one of the students exclaimed, “Wow! We built that.”
Afterward, the students were allowed to watch the laser cutter cut out a set of mechanical parts for one of the bots. They ate lunch and left by 11:45. It was a fun day for those of us at FCW and an educational day for the students, since they got an introduction to CNC, fabrication, robotics and embedded control. All of the students want to come back for another project. We are looking forward to the second group sometime this Spring.
FCW has worked with schools previously, assisting both the robotics and drama clubs at South Caldwell High School but this has been the first actual class to use the facilities and the youngest group. We are hoping to work with several schools in Caldwell, Catawba, and Burke counties on projects and events.
This event was covered by both the Granite Falls Journal and the Lenoir News-Topic.
Even though visitors are always welcome at FCW, twice a year we have an open house to encourage people to drop by and see what is happening.
This year, the December Open House will be on Friday, December 13, from 5-9PM and Saturday December 14, from 10AM-6PM. There will be food, tours, demonstrations, and activities for all.
Demonstrations will include items made on the laser cutter, 3D printer and the CNC routers. The railroad will be operating, numerous electronics gadgets will be on display and games will be available. Once again, this year, we will have a sleigh (made at FCW) set up with a blue screen for pictures. Backgrounds can then put the sleigh and passengers in various locations including winter scenes, the desert, and the moon. Kids can have their picture taken with Santa, or family pictures can be taken. Anyone bringing a flash drive can have an electronic copy as well as a printed picture and all rights to the picture. All activities and the pictures are free.
We will also have special deals for anyone wishing to start off the new year by joining FCW. Invite your friends.
FCW is will hold an introductory Blender 3D ( http://www.blender.org/ ) class on Saturday, August 10th from noon until 4:00 PM in the FCW classroom and which is open to all interested parties.
The class will cover:
– an overview of 3D computer graphics
– the Blender 3D interface
– object modeling and adding materials and textures
– an overview of the other Blender features (animation, game engine, physics engine)
The class will alternate between lecture and hands-on. Students should bring a computer (PC, Linux or Mac) with version 2.66a (or higher) of Blender 3D installed on it.
( http://www.blender.org/download/get-blender/ )
***NOTE***
Blender 3D can be difficult to operate on a laptop unless you have a mouse and have (or can emulate) a number pad. Students should bring a 3-button (or wheel) mouse and may want to use a full-size keyboard or view these videos:
( http://foothillscommunityworkshop.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=371#p1001 )
This will be a repeat of a previous introductory class with the possibility of other classes, if there is enough interest. These classes may be on more advanced topics or repeats of the intro class.
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.