Author: weeknotes

Week 691 – Bike Embellishment, Debugging

2nd September 2024
"Week 691 – Bike Embellishment, Debugging"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Things of Note

  • Adrian McEwen:Got some time on the laser-cutter to test out my latest FreeCAD design work. Also got to use up some of the masses of waste cardboard packaging from the @museuminabox production run 😀Quite pleased with how it’s turned out so far. Now I can move onto the next stages.#BikeTooter #ibal250 #weeknotes #FreeCAD #LaserCutting #prototyping
    Screenshot of FreeCAD showing a roughly-triangular wedge shape with a slot cut in it and behind that the outline of the unwrapped mesh of the same shape
    A workbench with a cutting mat, some tape, a sharpie, a Stanley knife and a metal ruler. On the cutting mat is a flat sheet of brown corrugated cardbaord cut out in the shape of the unwrapped mesh from the CAD design. Next to that is a version which has been folded up to make the triangular wedge shape.
    A gravel bike with drop handlebars leans against a planter outside a brick building. On the handlebars, looking a bit like a head for the bike, is the assembled brown cardboard wedge shape.
  • Adrian McEwen:Got the Microbit and LED noodle fitted to it too and it’s starting to come together nicely.I’ve got IO for another two noodles, but holding off fitting them until more of the code is written.It’s not the brightest LED in daylight, which isn’t ideal, but we might be able to tweak the battery voltage, etc. to improve that. Need to work on the battery pack attachment more too.

    #weeknotes #BikeTooter #ibal250 #microbit #LED #prototyping

  • Adrian McEwen:Working out that my multimeter isn’t good enough to measure 10pF and resigning myself to swapping out a dozen various 0603 capacitors to work out which ones have been specced wrong.I guess that’s a simpler task than the swapping out a couple of hundred 0603 capacitors that I’m expecting will be the next step once I track down the bug.Though there’s a chance that’ll be the fab house’s problem rather than mine

    #debugging #electronics #soldering #weeknotes

  • Adrian McEwen:The detritus from today’s rework. Oh, plus a dead NFC board because it’s really easy to lift a 1.34mm long trace when desoldering the 0603 cap at one end of it 😀However, I found that two of the cap values were wrong. Four capacitors in total. I’m guessing the reels got swapped over when loaded in the pick-and-place machine?Anyway, broke out the #TinyTapeout QC stickers to celebrate solving the mystery of the poor antenna performance! 🎉

    #weeknotes #electronics #debugging #soldering #ibal243

    Close up of a workbench. A cluster of rectangles with silver ends is visible: a collection of desoldered 0603 (so 6 hundredths of an inch by 3 hundredths of an inch, or 1.5mm by 0.8mm) capacitors

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 02 September, 6:00pm-8:00pm 7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Tuesday 03 September, 5:30pm-8:30pm Hack the Space Evening
Wednesday 04 September, 6:00pm-8:00pm Liverpool Linux User Group
Thursday 05 September, 6:00pm-8:30pm Maker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Thursday 05 September, 6:00pm-10:00pm LivNUG (Liverpool Nix/NixOS User Group)
Sunday 08 September, 1:00pm-4:00pm Plastic Playgroup (DoES Workshop)
In a world with mountains of plastic and molehills of play, let’s get our spades out and shift the balance.Make new things from abandoned plastic with us. Plantpots, purses … pedalos?Shred plastic. Blend it. Meld scraps together with a heat gun. Make sheets. Laser cut it. CNC it. Stitch potato bags together with soldering iron? Make fabrics with a regular iron? What have we got, what can we make? We don’t know – let’s figure it out!
Two rules:
1. No Objectives – this is an aimless and wandering session.
2. Bring Your Own Initiative – this is an active session and we’ll help you get creative.
Every two weeks on a Sunday afternoon, between 2pm and 5pm.Facilitated by Plastic Tactics – follow on social for the latest updates, and to see what we make if you can’t be here in person:
http://instagram.com/plastacs
http://twitter.com/plastacs
http://facebook.com/plastictacticsliverpool

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 412 open, 1527 closed

No new issues

Featured issue: Reduce the draughts in the space. Can we move this on or close it?

No issues closed

Week 690 – A New Bauhaus

26th August 2024
"Week 690 – A New Bauhaus"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Things of Note

Adrian McEwen:

Blog All Dog-eared Pages – my notes from reading Christopher Frayling’s “On Craftsmanship towards a new Bauhaus”

#Bauhaus#books#maker#craft#IndieMfg#weeknotes

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 26 August, 6:00pm-8:00pm 7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Wednesday 28 August, 6:00pm-8:00pm Liverpool Revolutionary Communist Party
Thursday 29 August, 6:00pm-8:30pm Maker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 412 open, 1527 closed

2 new issues:

Featured issue: Overhaul Gerald and upgrade to Lightburn. Can we move this on or close it?

No issues closed

Week 689 – WeekNotes Upgrade, FreeCAD

20th August 2024
"Week 689 – WeekNotes Upgrade, FreeCAD"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Things of Note

  • Adrian McEwen: So, all being well, in a short while I’ll get a DM from @DoESLiverpool asking if it can have my consent to include this post in the next #weeknotes

    🤞 assuming I’ve deployed the code correctly and haven’t broken it when I removed the final bits of testing protection

  • Adrian McEwen: Passed the next stage too *phew*

    Actually, if I tag this post with #weeknotes then I can test the image handling when it gets to publishing them.Not much more I can test until next Monday when we see if the new blog post gets created properly.


    Screenshot of a private mention from DoES Liverpool thanking me for replying to their earlier message asking for consent to use my posts.
  • Adrian McEwen: Spent the evening levelling up my #FreeCAD skills to model a stereo pot, including forays into shapebinders and the drafting workbench to create an array of parts.

    Slightly disappointed that the final step needed to export it to #Kicad merged all the bodies to a single one and so discarded all the different materials/colours I’d carefully constructed beforehand 🤣#weeknotes #ibal249


    Render of a 3D model of a potentiometer on a circuit board. The potentiometer is all a single grey colour.
  • Adrian McEwen: Still, it’s imported nicely into #Kicad and should let me get on with designing the case for it now.

    #weeknotes #ibal249 #FreeCAD #OSHW


    Rendering of a thin PCB which has a stereo potentiometer on it, flanked with two 3.5mm sockets. The edge of the @MCQN_Ltd@social.mcqn.com logo is visible on the silkscreen and there are mounting holes at each corner of the PCB
  • MCQN Ltd: We’ve got the trinocular microscope out today while we debug the latest production batch of Vicino NFC boards

    #weeknotes #ibal243 #NFC #RFID #OSHW #electronics #debugging


    Looking down on a white desk that has a microscope on it and a laptop to the right. The laptop screen is showing a picture of the view from the microscope and arrayed around the scope are some circuit boards, forceps, solder flux pen and cotton bud
  • Adrian McEwen: @MCQN_Ltd Probably shouldn’t have taken that photo while it’s looking at my failed attempt at some hot-air rework on that board 🤣

    At least that one wasn’t working before I attacked it. Those varicaps – the small black square with “52*K” printed on it – are tiny though. I’ve left the cleaning cotton bud in the attached photo for scale 😆#weeknotes


    View of part of a circuit board through a microscope. The main part visible on the board is a small black square with a couple of traces leading to it. What looks like a large white cloud is obscuring most of the view.

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 19 August, 6:00pm-8:00pm7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Wednesday 21 August, 6:00pm-8:00pmLiverpool Revolutionary Communist Party
Thursday 22 August, 5:00pm-8:00pmPVTV Creative Meet Up
Thursday 22 August, 6:00pm-8:30pmMaker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Sunday 25 August, 2:00pm-5:00pmPlastic Playgroup (DoES Workshop)
In a world with mountains of plastic and molehills of play, let’s get our spades out and shift the balance.Make new things from abandoned plastic with us. Plantpots, purses … pedalos?Shred plastic. Blend it. Meld scraps together with a heat gun. Make sheets. Laser cut it. CNC it. Stitch potato bags together with soldering iron? Make fabrics with a regular iron? What have we got, what can we make? We don’t know – let’s figure it out!
Two rules:
1. No Objectives – this is an aimless and wandering session.
2. Bring Your Own Initiative – this is an active session and we’ll help you get creative.
Every two weeks on a Sunday afternoon, between 2pm and 5pm.Facilitated by Plastic Tactics – follow on social for the latest updates, and to see what we make if you can’t be here in person:
http://instagram.com/plastacs
http://twitter.com/plastacs
http://facebook.com/plastictacticsliverpool

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 411 open, 1527 closed

1 new issue:

Featured issue: Collect a list of people who sell things made at DoES. Can we move this on or close it?

2 issues closed:

Thanks JackiePease!

Week 688 – Toothbrush, Riding with Rode, Sandpit Cover

12th August 2024
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"Week 688 – Toothbrush, Riding with Rode, Sandpit Cover"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Things of Note

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 12 August, 7:00pm-9:00pm7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Wednesday 14 August, 7:00pm-9:00pmLiverpool Revolutionary Communist Party
Thursday 15 August, 7:00pm-9:30pmMaker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Saturday 17 August, 10:00am-5:00pmRepublic Merseyside Meeting
Sunday 18 August, 11:00am-3:00pmRepair Café – get your free tickets here

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 411 open, 1525 closed

3 new issues:

Featured issue: Write some tweets/FB posts/etc. the Fabric District can send out to tell people what we offer. Can we move this on or close it?

No issues closed

Week 687 – Fridge Temperature, Credit Commons

5th August 2024
"Week 687 – Fridge Temperature, Credit Commons"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Things of Note

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 05 August, 7:00pm-9:00pm7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Tuesday 06 August, 6:30pm-9:30pmHack the Space Evening
Wednesday 07 August, 7:00pm-9:00pmLiverpool Linux User Group
Thursday 08 August, 9:00am-6:00pmJelly Liverpool
Thursday 08 August, 7:00pm-9:30pmMaker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Saturday 10 August, 12:00pm-6:00pmMaker Day
Our free monthly daytime meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Sunday 11 August, 2:00pm-5:00pmPlastic Playgroup (DoES Workshop)
In a world with mountains of plastic and molehills of play, let’s get our spades out and shift the balance.Make new things from abandoned plastic with us. Plantpots, purses … pedalos?Shred plastic. Blend it. Meld scraps together with a heat gun. Make sheets. Laser cut it. CNC it. Stitch potato bags together with soldering iron? Make fabrics with a regular iron? What have we got, what can we make? We don’t know – let’s figure it out!Two rules: 1. No Objectives – this is an aimless and wandering session.2. Bring Your Own Initiative – this is an active session and we’ll help you get creative.
Every two weeks on a Sunday afternoon, between 2pm and 5pm.Facilitated by Plastic Tactics – follow on social for the latest updates, and to see what we make if you can’t be here in person:
http://instagram.com/plastacs
http://twitter.com/plastacs
http://facebook.com/plastictacticsliverpool

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 408 open, 1525 closed

5 new issues:

Featured issue: Make doors open more easily for people who have trouble with doors. Can we move this on or close it?

5 issues closed:

Thanks zarino, JackiePease, magman2112!

Week 686 – Jellyfish, Stickers, Video Editing

29th July 2024
"Week 686 – Jellyfish, Stickers, Video Editing"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Things of Note

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 29 July, 7:00pm-9:00pm7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Wednesday 31 July, 7:00pm-9:00pmLiverpool Revolutionary Communists
Thursday 01 August, 7:00pm-9:30pmMaker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Thursday 01 August, 7:00pm-11:00pmLivNUG (Liverpool Nix/NixOS User Group)
Saturday 03 August, 11:00am-5:00pmLiverpool Synth Meet

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 408 open, 1520 closed

2 new issues:

Featured issue: Intermittent Internet access issues. Can we move this on or close it?

2 issues closed:

Thanks Robotorium, DoESsean!

Week 685 – Nix.Camp, Godot, Datasette

24th July 2024
"Week 685 – Nix.Camp, Godot, Datasette"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Things of Note

 

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 22 July, 7:00pm-9:00pm7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Wednesday 24 July, 7:00pm-9:00pmLiverpool Revolutionary Communist Party
Thursday 25 July, 7:00pm-9:30pmMaker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Sunday 28 July, 2:00pm-5:00pmPlastic Playgroup (DoES Workshop)
In a world with mountains of plastic and molehills of play, let’s get our spades out and shift the balance.Make new things from abandoned plastic with us. Plantpots, purses … pedalos?Shred plastic. Blend it. Meld scraps together with a heat gun. Make sheets. Laser cut it. CNC it. Stitch potato bags together with soldering iron? Make fabrics with a regular iron? What have we got, what can we make? We don’t know – let’s figure it out!Two rules: 1. No Objectives – this is an aimless and wandering session.2. Bring Your Own Initiative – this is an active session and we’ll help you get creative.
Every two weeks on a Sunday afternoon, between 2pm and 5pm.Facilitated by Plastic Tactics – follow on social for the latest updates, and to see what we make if you can’t be here in person:
http://instagram.com/plastacs
http://twitter.com/plastacs
http://facebook.com/plastictacticsliverpool

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 408 open, 1518 closed

No new issues

Featured issue: Dispose of paint tins. Can we move this on or close it?

No issues closed

Week 684 – Shelves and Wardrobes

16th July 2024
"Week 684 – Shelves and Wardrobes"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Things of Note

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 15 July, 7:00pm-9:00pm7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Tuesday 16 July, 6:15pm-8:15pmXR Liverpool
Wednesday 17 July, 7:00pm-9:00pmLiverpool Revolutionary Communists
Thursday 18 July, 7:00pm-9:30pmMaker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Friday 19 July, 6:00pm-9:00pmParaphysis Cinema
Sunday 21 July, 11:00am-3:00pmRepair Café

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 408 open, 1518 closed

4 new issues:

Featured issue: Aircon fault in the main room and room 29. Can we move this on or close it?

1 issue closed:

Thanks amcewen!

Week 683 – Pics from Liverpool MakeFest

8th July 2024
"Week 683 – Pics from Liverpool MakeFest"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Things of Note

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 08 July, 7:00pm-9:00pm7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Wednesday 10 July, 7:00pm-9:00pmLiverpool Revolutionary Communists
Thursday 11 July, 9:00am-6:00pmJelly Liverpool
Thursday 11 July, 7:00pm-9:30pmMaker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Saturday 13 July, 12:00pm-6:00pmMaker Day
Our free monthly daytime meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Sunday 14 July, 2:00pm-5:00pmPlastic Playgroup (DoES Workshop)
In a world with mountains of plastic and molehills of play, let’s get our spades out and shift the balance.Make new things from abandoned plastic with us. Plantpots, purses … pedalos?Shred plastic. Blend it. Meld scraps together with a heat gun. Make sheets. Laser cut it. CNC it. Stitch potato bags together with soldering iron? Make fabrics with a regular iron? What have we got, what can we make? We don’t know – let’s figure it out!Two rules: 1. No Objectives – this is an aimless and wandering session.2. Bring Your Own Initiative – this is an active session and we’ll help you get creative.
Every two weeks on a Sunday afternoon, between 2pm and 5pm.Facilitated by Plastic Tactics – follow on social for the latest updates, and to see what we make if you can’t be here in person:
http://instagram.com/plastacs
http://twitter.com/plastacs
http://facebook.com/plastictacticsliverpool

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 405 open, 1517 closed

No new issues

Featured issue: Perform an audit of the small tools, etc in the Workshop. Can we move this on or close it?

No issues closed

Week 682 – Kombucha, MakeFest

1st July 2024
"Week 682 – Kombucha, MakeFest"

Each week we’ll endeavour to publish some details of the interesting things that members of DoES Liverpool have been up to over the past seven days. You can find out a bit more about them in our introductory post.

And remember, if you’re involved with DoES Liverpool at all, let us know what you get up to so we can include it here!

Liverpool MakeFest

Liverpool MakeFest is on Saturday 6th July this year. If you have stuff that you’d like to display and/or you can help out then please add details to the Git issue here.

If you just want to visit, you can get a free ticket here.

As usual we’ll be having an after party on Saturday evening, and a maker brunch on Sunday, here at DoES Liverpool. You can get your tickets via EventBrite:

Cool Money

John’s post on finances has led to an interesting discussion in our Google Group. Take a look here (and here) to get an idea of people are thinking, and to add your views.

Things of Note

Coming Up in the Next Week

Monday 01 July, 7:00pm-9:00pm7pm-9pm Socialist Alternative discussion group
Tuesday 02 July, 6:30pm-9:30pmHack the Space Evening
Wednesday 03 July, 7:00pm-9:00pmLiverpool Linux User Group
Thursday 04 July, 7:00pm-9:30pmMaker Night
Our free weekly evening meeting where you can find out about our space and all the making equipment in it, get a laser cutter or CNC embroidery machine induction, and work on projects from physical computing and electronics to 3d printing, routing and sewing. Just pay for materials used.
Thursday 04 July, 7:00pm-4:00amKirsty’s Electile Disfunction Party

Join Kirsty in the event space from 7pm on Thursday for some Election Day camaraderie. Possibly fun, possibly games, nothing is certain.BYOF/B.

Thursday 04 July, 7:00pm-11:00pmLivNUG (Liverpool Nix/NixOS User Group)
Saturday 06 July, 09:00 – 17:00Liverpool MakeFest

Somebody Should

The DoES Liverpool to-do list is stored in the issues of our Somebody Should repository on github. Head over there if there’s something you’d like to report, or if you want to help out fixing things.

See all the issues…

Issue counts: 405 open, 1517 closed

1 new issue:

Featured issue: Make Dinky a nice space for meetings. Can we move this on or close it?

1 issue closed:

Thanks johnmckerrell!

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