A Moment to Extend Our Sincere Appreciation

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Buddy

All,

On behalf of the Unallocated Space and the hackerspace community, we would like to take a moment to extend our sincere appreciation and respect for the late Dr. Samuel Jerome Ha, PhD.

Thanks to his family recent generous donation to the Unallocated Space, we will continue Dr. Samuel J. Ha’s love and joy for education and commitment to inspiring others to Teach, Learn, and Build. His family’s donation will be used to offset and replenish much needed supplies and will act as a reminder that random acts of kindness never go unrewarded or unforgotten.

Please take a moment to remember a true pioneer hacker.

In the words of his son Tom Ha, “He was an original hacker way back before the term and category were ever heard, known as a hobbyist in cameras, electronics, radios, sound equipment and computers. I grew up around all that since the 1960′s, and enjoy the computer aspect to this day. My Dad would be glad that the donations that I made following a successful event were going to people that were experimenters and hobbyists and hackers, because he played with every technology area as it came about, and was proud of his sons who each ended up with some hobby related to what he had taught us.” 

You may make a donation of your own in Dr. Samuel J. Ha’s name to the Don R. Nelson Scholarship Fund (American Elasmobranch Society [AES], c/o Americhoice FCU, 2175 Bumble Bee Hollow Rd., Mechanicsburg PA 17055, Attn. Donald R. Nelson Fund). To send the family online condolences, please visit SnyderFuneralHome.com. Charles F. Snyder, Jr. Funeral Home & Crematory 717-560-5100

Dr. Samuel J. Ha (Memorial Page)
http://snyderfuneralhome.com/OBITUARIES/2012%20Obituaries/Ha,%20Samuel.htm

Very Respectfully,
Unallocated Space

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Unallocated Space (UAS) Community Tech Swap Meet/Garage Sale (Anne Arundel, MD)

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Buddy

Unallocated Space, a local Anne Arundel County Hackerspace in Severn, MD is excited to invite you, your family, and friends to its first community tech swap meet / garage sale on Saturday June 8th 2013 at eleven o’clock to six pm.

The purpose of the sale is to clear space and raise money for future projects and serve as a way for the community to recycle.

Our mission is to Teach, Learn, and Build! See the UAS’ blog post for more details, including directions at www.unallocatedspace.org.

WHAT WILL YOU FIND?

Anything is possible. Things to expect to see for sale will vary, but here are a few examples of what to expect.

* misc. servers and computers equipment * misc. antiquated hardware * ethernet switches * sever racks * ham radios * capacitors * audio equipment * peripherals * cameras / microscopes * wifi equipment * lights * extension cords!! * mouse (mice) * mystery box! * UPS * old and new TVs * high voltage power supplies * tools * game systems * electrical equipment * etc.

SELL YOUR STUFF!

For those considering setting up a table or taking a space at this community event, we are asking for a $5 dollars donation and welcome any other donations (cash or items). We will have tables for you to use, but space will be limited (first come, first serve), but you are welcome to bring your own table.

Members and participants are encouraged to park in the back near the garage.

PLEASE SHARE!

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Arduino Night (22 March 7-10PM)

Posted on March 19, 2013 by proto

This Arduino Night will focus on code more than hardware. Don’t worry if you are a slow typist or don’t know much C/C++. I will be posting the code to Pastebin for everyone to access.

Agenda:
1. Mapping values (convert a 10 bit value to an 8 bit value)
2. Timers (Schedule something to happen every x us/ms/s
3. Buttons (Needed to play with interrupts)
3. Interrupts (Ensure certain code runs when certain events happen)
4. Bit masking and shifting (Needed for using PORTX registers)
5. PORTX registers (Writing directly to the registers without digitalWrite())

Required Items:
1. Laptop
2. Arduino (Mega, Uno, or Duemilanove )
3. USB cable for Arduino
4. Breadboard & wires

Provided Items:
1. LEDs
2. Tactile switches

If you need any items in the required items section, please E-Mail uas.arduino@gmail.com. We have a few of all of the required items, but we need to know how many to prepare.
Since the space runs off of donations, we would like to mention that the recommended donation for this class is $10. It is by no means a requirement! Attendance to the space, and this class, is 100% free to all!

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Robot Fest & DIY Expo – Join Unallocated Space There!

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Buddy

On Saturday, April 27th, Unallocated Space invites you to join us at Robot Fest, a kid friendly event with friends and family to show off your techie spirit. This event is sponsored each year by the National Electronics Museum. Robot Fest is an annual event for anyone interested in the creative use of technology. Robot Fest welcome all roboticists, hackers, artists, hobbyists and makers of any age who have the unquenchable urge to develop and create new, previously unseen forms from lifeless electronics, fabrics and mechanical parts. Join the fun and excitement with hands-on exhibits, and workshops!

Don’t forget to visit us! We will be more then happy to tell you about the exciting things we do! The Unallocated Space will have a variety of friendly demonstrations and FREE projects for all ages! We will also be raffling an exciting kid friendly Electronic Project Kit for $1 donation per ticket. All proceeds will be split with the National Electronics Museum and Unallocated Space.

The event has a suggested admission donation of $8 for adults, $4 for middle and high-school students. Elementary school children and younger are still FREE! Bring your sunglasses and save $1 per person!

SUPPORTERS: UNALLOCATED SPACE, LEGO, SERVO MAGAZINE, STEM GRAPHICS, PARALLAX INC, NUTS AND VOLTS

National Electronics Museum
1745 West Nursery Road
Linthicum, Maryland, 21090

http://www.robotfest.com

http://www.nationalelectronicsmuseum.org

http://www.unallocatedspace.org

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Arduino Night (Fri, 15-Mar @ 1900-2200)

Posted on March 12, 2013 by proto

This will be a different format than last time.  This week will be the “Arduino Challenge”.  The basic idea is that I will list several simple to mildly challenging things to do with your Arduino.  All challenges will use things that we have covered (successfully) at least once.  I will not divulge the details of the challenge until Friday night.One other note: I will be there to help out people who get stuck.  I will not give the answer, but will do my best to guide folks in the right direction :)

Required Items:
1. Laptop
2. Arduino (Uno or better)
3. USB cable for Arduino
4. Breadboard (full height if possible)
5. Jumper leads for breadboard

Optional Items (please bring the following if you can):
1. 9V battery
2. Aligator clips

If you need any items in the required items section, please E-Mail uas.arduino@gmail.com. We have a few of all of the required items, but we need to know how many to prepare.

Since the space runs off of donations, we would like to mention that the recommended donation for this class is $10. It is by no means a requirement! Attendance to the space, and this class, is 100% free to all!

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Sushicon (Thu, Mar 14 @ 1900)

Posted on March 11, 2013 by surefire

sushicon

Sushicon is back!

Come and discuss hackery at Katana Sushi this Thursday at 1900 for delicious, delicious Sushi.

Please RSVP here (just leave a comment) by Thursday at 1600 so we can save a seat for you.

See here for directions: http://goo.gl/maps/ipBGL

See here for mouth watering: http://www.sushi-katana.com/

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Asterisk Class Today 4pm-9pm ET (GMT -5)

Posted on March 9, 2013 by forgotten

Intro to Asterisk Class:

Introduction to Asterisk – history and versioning
Telephony – short discussion on different telephony methods used by asterisk
Installation / Main configuration files for Asterisk
Dialplan and common dialplan configurations
Setting up a soft phone
Basic Troubleshooting
Summary

What to bring:

Laptop, IP phone if you have one, if not, no worries I think we have a few loaners. Brain food! Snacks, etc.

Pre-reqs:

Basic understanding of linux and how to use VIM/VI command line editors
(the class will be mostly looking at the command line, so if you are a little familiar it will be less painful)

Hope to see you here! IF you can’t make it in person, we will be streaming it at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/unallocatedvideo

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Uber-Mega Open House (6-Mar @ 1900)

Posted on February 28, 2013 by surefire

UPDATE: SORRY, TONIGHT’S EVENTS ARE POSTPONED DUE TO THE SNOW STORM.  Please keep an eye here and on the mailing list for rescheduling information.

Our weekly Open House is going to be even better this week.

As usual, Nomad will be leading our TOOOL Lock Picking Meetup, where you can learn basic and advanced lock picking and lock bypass methods. Good for anyone of all ages!

In addition, Trevor will be teaching an Intro to Telecom Wiring class, covering crimping RJ-45 and RJ-11 connectors (network and phone cables), punching 110 and 66 blocks, color coding and wiring standards. If you’ve got some tools, bring ‘em, but we’ll have spares on-hand.

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Ham Radio Night (Friday, 1-Mar @ 1900)

Posted on February 27, 2013 by surefire

YLs and OMs,

It’s time for another installment of the Unallocated Space Ham Radio Night. In this episode, we’ll be running new feedline for our HF station and seeing what who we can talk to. A newly acquired SWR meter and antenna tuner should greatly increase our chances of success. If things go well, we will try working some digital modes as well.

As a special treat, Charlie Fullerton who recently hosted the Basics of Electricity course, is going to be soldering together a Software Defined Radio kit (an Ensemble RXTX). There’s pretty much no way we’ll finish assembling the entire kit, but if you’d like to see me try to light myself on fire with a soldering iron, you’re probably in luck.

If you’ve already got your license, grab your HT and join W3UAS on the talk-in frequency 145.550 simplex.

73,
– Surefire

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Arduino Night: 8-March (1900-2200)

Posted on February 26, 2013 by surefire

This agenda is subject to change until the week of the 8th.

Arduino night will kick off again on the 8th of March. Here is the proposed agenda:

Agenda:
1. Using Python to communicate with Arduino
2. H-Bridge motor control (this is one not for sure just yet!)
3. Infrared detection (not actually decoding messages yet)

Required Items:
1. Laptop
2. Arduino (Uno or better)
3. USB cable for Arduino
4. Breadboard (full height if possible)
5. Jumper leads for breadboard
6. Python needs to be installed along with PySerial

Provided Items:
1. PNP and NPN transistors
2. 9V batteries (if you have some, please bring them)
3. DC motor
4. IR detector and emitter

If you need any items in the required items section, please E-Mail uas.arduino@gmail.com. We have a few of all of the required items, but we need to know how many to prepare.

Since the space runs off of donations, we would like to mention that the recommended donation for this class is $10. It is by no means a requirement! Attendance to the space, and this class, is 100% free to all!

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