Regular Member Meeting 2014 05 13

Time and Location

May 13, 2014

Called to order at ______ by _____

Members present:

Others present:

Quorum?

Quorum met?

Approval of Previous Meeting's Minutes

Regular Member Meeting 2014 04 08

Director Reports

Treasurer's Report

Here is the financial summary spreadsheet for April 2014: File:HacDC Financials 2014 04.pdf. We gained 3 members in the past month: Harry Detwiler, Travis Brown, and Robin Bell. We lost one member, William Gibb. We have 48 dues-paying members in good standing, 9 dues-waived members, and 3 members who are behind on dues. We have filed IRS Form 990-N (Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax for small organizations whose annual gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less).

Project Awesome

Here is the Project Awesome spreadsheet for April: File:HacDC PA Projects-2014 04.pdf. Between less income from dues/donations and higher expenses from the truck rental for the SEM, there was no surplus this month and thus no Project Awesome dividend. :(

Project Awesome Reports

Project KITBUILD

In preparation for the 2014 Summer School session, Project KITBUILD foresees a related kit build for rookies in late June or mid-July. Because Summer School participants are required to buy their own supplies, none, or little, of Project KITBUILD's funds would be used unless soldering irons need mending or more power strips are needed.

It would be fun to have a more advanced kit build before or around that time. More on this under New Business.

Project SUPPLIES

Last month's expenses included:

• ~$100 for 2kG 3mm PLA filament.
• ~$5 for batteries.

Next month's expenses are expected to include:

• New end mill bits to replace broken drill bits for PCB pre-milling/drilling.
• 3D printer supplies/parts.
• SEM supplies/parts.
• Possibly parts for the optical table if not funded otherwise.

Project EXPANSION

Have not ordered bandsaw yet, been busy with USASEF.

Member Reports

mirage335

USASEF

USASEF was absolutely awesome. We had several demos, including Dan Barlow's plotter, a logic analyzer, some amateur radio equipment, possibly a working byzantium node, Dan Barlow's HeNe laser projector, and my own working Category:BiosignalAmplifier. Our table was by far the best staffed and best equipped of any local hackerspaces.

Travis picked up a free Cube printer from 3DSystems. Hopefully, this 'appliance' 3D printer will help guarantee we have an operational printer at all times.

After making contact in person, and proceeding with some follow-up, SeeMeCNC shipped us a free Rostock Max kit, the absolute best-value printer on the market. Julia Longtin is taking care of assembly for that printer, as well as Shawn Wilson's own Rostock Max.

Given we now have two 3D printers, including one of the proposed types, I consider the budget approved (officially unconditionally, unofficially conditionally) at last month cancelled, with no plans to spend it.

Photolithography PCB Fab

Modified an EEPROM timed UV exposure box, laser cut new PCB exposure jig, and improved software toolchain. Have now fabricated full-scale high-resolution PCBs suitable for complex circuits.

Practice is required to evenly develop/etch the PCBs. Follow the tips at Category:Photolithography_PCB_Fab .

Parts Library

Generic high-quality parts library under construction in mini-drawers. Emphasis is on the ability to rapidly prototype high-performance 2.7-3.3V analog and digital circuits.

Unnecessary Mess

Two members lost valuable cleanup time straitening out work surfaces. That time could otherwise have been used to free up more space instead. Apparently, making it absolutely clear this behavior is highly unhelpful has been insufficient. Wish we had RFID logs to personally draw attention to the individual responsible.

To be clear, this does not refer to the legitimate mess created during 3D printer commissioning, which was easily and neatly packed up this morning.

New Business

via Alberto

It would be attractive to have a more advanced--Project KITBUILD sponsored--kit build before or around the 2014 Summer School session in conjunction with an AVR programming-related workshop. Please chime-in via the Members list if you feel you can run 2 - 4 workshops on AVR programming and you and Project KITBUILD can look into getting a custom PCB manufactured to serve the curriculum. (The Late) Elliot Williams has already expressed that he would be honored to have the Eagle files for his AVR project board reused or modded. Perhaps his newly published book can serve as a course supplement. I'm pretty sure I can finagle an instructor copy from Make Books gratis.

Adjournment

Adjourned at _____ by _______