Electronics Expansion Mtng 4/13 and 4/15

ELab will probably be one of the early moves to the new area.
What do you want in the expanded ELab? Concerns?
Scheduled for this Sun afternoon.

This time I won’t predict how fast Bill gets it out on the Event Cal. :grinning:

4 Likes

Can you give us an exact time?

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! 4 to 6 PM

https://calendar.dallasmakerspace.org/events/view/5783

I can be there until 5:15.

I can’t make it this Sunday.

More lead time would be greatly appreciated.

1 Like

Deadline is April 16, so not much wiggle room.

@Team_Electronics @artg_dms how about holding a second meeting tonight 6-7pm?

2 Likes

We can do that.
Looks like Purple classroom is available.
See you there at 6p

3 Likes

I can probably be there just after 6pm tonight when I get off work down the street.

See you today and not Sunday.

Double the work for @artg_dms but the best solution for an awkward situation.

The calendar system apparently does not allow creating an event for the same day.

I put the meeting on the printed event and class list.

Can’t make it today. It would be nice if the benches have shop air. Not just for desolder tools, but also for blowing out dust, spot-cooling hot parts, etc. Also, having some 220V and perhaps 3-phase capability would be really nice. I guess that’s in the 1% use case category, though.

Dave

3 Likes

Less notice does not help I’m afraid.

So - what Dave said above - shop air ( with a good dryer ), 220V would be good, and a gigabit switch of our own so we can have more wired ethernet jacks.

An additional table with just power and ethernet would be good if there’s space.

And a slight rework for iteration 2 of the ham station: The panel is mounted with the antenna connectors just above face level and a foot or more out from the wall. That means the antenna cable to a rig is right in your face. So maybe get a lower profile wall bracket and at least some right angle adapters. ( or remount the connectors so they are vertical - user wires connecting from the bottom. )

If we’re getting into wishlist territory, install a doghouse roof penetration above electronics so we can get antenna cables and other cables to the roof easily. We use those at work. Very handy. I’ll see if I can get a pic, wx permitting.

2 Likes

If the committee asks for “shop air”, please be certain to investigate whether our current “shop air” is dry enough for what you need. If not, then please identify what you need in the way of an aux dryer.

2 Likes

My thinking exactly.

And the doghouse version is easy to seal, and has lots of room for future projects.

2 Likes

Not talking about cleaning rat droppings and dust bunnies from a barn-find. I’m talking about microscopic dust particles that get in switches, etc. The vacuum doesn’t do the same thing. I think the “Be excellent to one another” rule would guide usage.

Anyway, the biggest use would be for desoldering tools. The vacuum pump versions work well, but the venturi versions work noticeably better, and are cheaper if benches are alread equipped with metcal irons.

1 Like

Soldering tools, pneumatic actuator experimentation. Probably others.

Dust is not the only use case.

Shop air would be handy. Perhaps vacuums too.

But we don’t tend to generate dust in huge quantities in the ELab. Not a big concern like it would be in the wood shop.

We had an air drop in the ELab prior to the Mouser donation. When the first donation arrived there was a major “rearranging of the furniture”. The air line was stuffed back up into the ceiling. Guessing that the shop air we currently have will work. We can bring in air and the plumbing hardware attached to the wall. Putting air on all workbenches will probably be impractical/not needed.

The new location will need 4 real walls - not partitions, not cubicle wall bs - real walls to the ceiling. There will need to be enough perimeter length for all benches and storage including the white cabinets in the hallway to the ELab. Preferably without having to butt everything up against each other like currently. Open center area for 1 long table or 2 medium tables. Current room is ~20’ x 20’. Perimeter length is ~80’. Can easily see need for perimeter length of 100’+.

Not familiar w/ roof “doghouse”. Can ask for. It has also been suggested that one of the ELab walls be the far north wall where hole in the wall could be done for radio cables to go outside and up the side of the building instead of through the roof. Not likely to happen, but we can ask.

220v multi phase not really needed. Expensive to run that kind of pwr to the front of the bldng. Since we’ve been here I know of only 1 maybe 2 times somebody looked for it in the ELab. Anything that requires that kind of power should probably be done in the shop area.

Good ideas!
What else??

By dog house, I mean a box with a detachable 4-way sloped cap with significant overhags. Heavy sheet metal construction, installed over a hole in the roof same size or slightly smaller than the box perimeter.

The box is about a 2 foot cube, open top and open bottom. Bottom is bolted to the roof deck ( usually between two roof trusses and anchored to same ). Bottom of the box has flaps that provide more of a seal surface at the roof interface and the roofing material runs up the sides of the box about 6-8 inches.

The top of the box has an angle iron frame to hold the shape when the cover is off.

Feed thrus are installed up near the top of the box and caulked. The cover extends 6-8 inches to the sides past the top perimeter of the box, so that the connections are shielded from direct exposure to rainfall ( and sunlight ). Connections are well above the roof surface, so very unlikely to get immersed.

If sufficient strain relief is included, bundles of cables could be hung from the box structure and installed form the top. Very minimal climbing in the attic. More like pop a ceiling panel and feed the bundle into the wall.

If we were clever, we could install a second angle iron frame a few inches below the top one. Make the box below that frame permanent, but use seperate panels a few inches tall as the upper part of the side panels. That would let us replace them if requirements change.

Sorry I didn’t get pics. Lightning tends decrease my inclination to go out on the roof…

@artg_dms

The VCC committee @Team_VCC has a potential use for the lockable storage outside the electronics lab. VCC is seriously considering doing certification testing and needs some lockable storage for people taking tests for their valuables as per the testing requirements for becoming an approved testing site.

Are you planning on moving it or using it? Or can it stay in the same place? What are your plans for it?