EEVblog #421 - Melbourne Hackerspace

Dave visits the Connected Community Hacker Space (CCHS) in Melbourne on Feb 5th 2013
Check out the Cray Supercomputer, automated RFID door access system, 3D printers, various robots, and a chat with the head software developer for the Raspberry Pi.

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[TonyButchT]

I appreciate the amount of Time and Effort all those designers put into their projects!

[crenn]

You can visit to just hang out and see what the hackerspace is like. Pricing is on the website and there is also a $10 casual visit option which helps covers some of the costs of running the space.

[EEVblog]

Good audio recording in these circumstances is not easy as a one-man-band impromptu videographer. I was using my shotgun mic here, so reasonably good audio when the camera is pointed at the person, but sucks otherwise. You really need a separate audio recording person to hold a boom mic, or be on-camera with a hand held mic shoved in the persons face.

[EEVblog]

Umm, you do realise that companies like Freetronics and one of the biggest Kickstarter campaigns the LIFX bulb came out of this hackerspace, right?

[EEVblog]

"mils" is (Australian only?) shorthand for "millimeters". Yes, it's confusing with "mil" being 1/1000th inch, but that's the way it is.

[SampsonGizmo]

That place sounds like so much fun, I wish I had something like that around me!

[HansVanIngelgom]

There's quite a bit of history beyond these contested terms, let me try to sum it up in 500 chars: Hacking = what a hacker does. Hacker = a person that likes to investigate how things work. While investigating how things work, you might stumble on security holes, making you well placed to break security. However, that's not the goal. The main goal is to have fun to find out how things work, and the conviction that this is not a crime in itself (i.e. an unalienable right).

[Designandrew]

I bought a LIFX can't wait to get it!

[EEVblog]

No need, we have the internet, just post some photos and video of your awesome projects and show everyone how it's done.

[johndoe-grmj]

Dear crenn6977: I've watched the EEVBlog, 180, 181, 183 and 186. David jones does not address small and close together header pins. The stepper motor and the stepper motor driver I intend to experiment with is the #1206 stepper motor from Pololu (please refer to their website if you would be so kind) and the A4988 Stepper Motor Driver Carrier With Voltage Regulator.

[crenn]

There are tutorials of soldering on the EEVBlog, 180, 181, 183 and 186 should be useful. Which stepper motor drivers are you using? If it's the Polulu A4983s, you could put the pins into the socket on a RAMPs board or into a breadboard (although you may damage your breadboard) and solder it on that.

[ChartreuseKitsune]

It's fairly common as well here in Canada to shorten millimeters to "mils" or "mills". I personally have never used or really heard of mil as a unit. 1/1000th of an inch would be called a thou instead.

[MysticalDork]

Have you heard of the geek group? It's in Grand Rapids, MI and they have the largest high-energy physics lab on the planet that's open to the public, among MANY other things. Check them out, you won't be disappointed.

[snarkyboojum]

Excellent. Lots of LCA2013 peeps and shirts around too (and familiar faces from Canberra this year). Great vid!

[KAGE]

That is because you are the rock star, of geeks!

Congratulations on breaking 10 million views!

[crenn]

I just realised the picture I got taken with Dave that night is used as the video's thumbnail!

[johndoe-grmj]

Well, speaking of stepper motors, I recently bought one and the driver came with unsoldered header pins. These pins are very close together and I was wondering if there might be a special technique to soldering these header pins. Can anyone help me?

[caelitis]

I have a stupid question. At 08:44 there is a laptop in the background, with the bearded guy (behind the Raspberry Pi Lead Software Developer) facing it. Can someone please tell me what laptop this is? Manufacturer and model.

[caelitis]

Thanks! I wanted to know because these laptops appear to be quite robust build-wise and common amongst engineers of all kinds. I see these devices a lot at university and in YT videos on E(C)E/SE. I always forgot to ask...

[robbie]

if i were to take a trip to mebourne, am i able to get a temporary membership to come and hang out?