Category: Space

Posted on

Togtober: Building Community, One Volunteer at a Time

At Tog Hackerspace, community lies at the core of everything we do. We take immense pride in being a volunteer-driven organisation, where every member plays a pivotal role in shaping our welcoming and innovative environment. In this spirit of community and collaboration, we are thrilled to introduce Togtober – a month dedicated to enhancing our space for the benefit of all.

Our Volunteer-Powered Community

Tog Hackerspace stands out as a truly exceptional place because we have no paid staff or roles. Our community thrives on the dedication and passion of our members who generously contribute their time, skills, and enthusiasm to create a warm and inviting atmosphere. It is this spirit of volunteerism that sets us apart and makes our space genuinely special.

Member-Hosted Group Nights

One of the defining characteristics of our community is our member-hosted group nights. These events offer a platform for members to share their knowledge, collaborate on projects, and nurture a sense of togetherness. Our volunteer hosts go the extra mile to ensure that everyone feels welcome and inspired.

DIY Space Improvements

In the spirit of continuous improvement, Tog Hackerspace has always depended on the hard work and dedication of our members and friends for all our space enhancement projects. We believe that the best way to make our space even better is to do it ourselves, and that is precisely what we have been doing.

Introducing Togtober: A Month of Improvement

This October, we are excited to kick off Togtober – a month dedicated to making Tog Hackerspace an even more vibrant and functional place for our community. Throughout October, every weekend will be dedicated to various space improvement projects. From upgrading equipment to enhancing the layout, we have a range of exciting initiatives in store.

How You Can Get Involved

Togtober wouldn’t be possible without the support of our incredible community. We invite you to join us in making a difference this October. Here’s how you can get involved:

  1. Volunteer Your Time: If you have skills, time, or energy to spare, we welcome your contributions. Whether you’re a seasoned DIY enthusiast or a newbie eager to learn, there’s a place for you at Tog Hackerspace.
  2. Donate Materials: Do you have spare materials or tools lying around that could benefit our projects? We’re always in need of resources to bring our ideas to life.
  3. Share Your Ideas: Have a vision for how we can improve our space? We’re open to new ideas and fresh perspectives. Share your thoughts with us, and let’s brainstorm together.

Join the Togtober Movement

This Togtober, let’s come together as a community to create positive change. We’re excited to see what we can achieve when we pool our skills and resources. Whether you’re a long-time member or someone looking to get involved for the first time, your contribution matters.

Get in touch with us to find out more about our Togtober projects and how you can participate. Let’s make this Togtober a month of growth, connection, and shared accomplishments. Together, we can continue to build a space that reflects the passion and dedication of our incredible Tog Hackerspace community.

To kick things off, we have repainted our entrance way into the space.

Posted on

Building a TinyGS Station Workshop

Space is fun. Receiving data from space is even better.

TinyGS is an open community-run network of Ground Stations distributed around the world to receive and operate LoRa satellites, weather probes and other flying objects, using cheap and versatile modules. https://tinygs.com/

This hands-on workshop will cover building, programming and setting up your own TinyGS station.

Participants will build their very own quarter-wave ground plane antenna, and base station to take home. All they have to do is plug the box into a USB charger.

This workshop is perfect if you want to get started building your first antenna and get started in the world of radio.

No amateur radio license is required to operate the station, only if you wish to send data to space.

TinyGS workshop at EMFcamp

Event Date: Saturday 17th September 16:00 – 18:00

Event Cost: €65 plus Eventbrite fees

Max Eight Participants

Booking Link: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/building-a-tinygs-station-tickets-410608209207

Participants are required to bring a WiFi device like a phone or laptop to configure and a Telegram account.

This workshop is facilitated by our own Jeffrey Roe and with help from Gary.

You can read more about the building a TinyGS project on our blog https://www.tog.ie/2022/02/building-a-tinygs-station/

All visitors are welcome to stay at the event of the workshop for Tog’s Open social night https://www.meetup.com/tog-dublin-hackerspace/events/286494552/

Posted on

Building a TinyGS Station

Space is fun. Receiving data from space is even better. Below is a project built by our own Jeffrey Roe.

TinyGS is an open network of Ground Stations distributed around the world to receive and operate LoRa satellites, weather probes and other flying objects, using cheap and versatile modules.

The first step of the project is to load the software onto the TTGO LoRa32 V2. The TinyGS project provides a cross-platform flashing tool. It is then a very simple program to flash the firmware onto the microcontroller. The project then makes use of a Telegram bot to set up your station, issues you a username/password. If you wish to enable data transmission to the satellite you must have an amateur radio licence.

The main motivation for this project was to try out building my own antenna. A quarter-wave ground plane antenna is a great first project for people interested in radio. It requires only a small amount of tools. A youtube video from Andreas Spiess pushed me to think this was possible.

The first step of the antenna is to know the length of the radials(the bits on the side) and the monopole(the bit coming out the top). If you go along to this website, it has a handy calculator. We are trying to build a 433 Mhz for our purpose. I started out cutting up lengths of wire that I think is used for fencing. Sanding the ends of the wires to ensure an electrical connection.

Using the insides of terminal blocks, I connected the radials to an SMA Female Chassis Panel Mount. It made the build much easier. But the holes on the panel mount are just a little too small for the screws from the terminal blocks. I drilled them out a little to make enough room.

My brother helped to make a wooden plate and a little stand for the project. This allowed our outdoor testing as seen above. The next step was to bring the project outside and see would we receive any data. I was a bit unsure how the project would work out, so I had bought two units and one commercial antenna. The plan was to set them up in the back garden to test if my first antenna was up for the challenge of receiving data from a satellite in space.

The above photo shows both units in action. The unit on the right is our homemade antenna. They are on top of my washing line, held on with clamps in my back garden. It is in an urban back garden surrounded by houses. I had to wait around an hour for the first pass of a satellite.

The above is a side by side of the data received from both ground stations. The one on the left has the commercial antenna and the one on the right is my shiny new homemade antenna. I was very proud to see it working and even picked up an extra packet in the process. The data came from a CubeSat called Norby. You can read this paper about its build.

As darkness fell, so did the experiment end. Both units have now come into the house. I am still running my homemade unit on a windowsill until I get a chance to build an enclosure for it. Another task is to test out the antenna performance with a NanoVNA tool a member has loaned me. For more project photos check out our gallery. You can view the data the station is receiving online in real-time. https://tinygs.com/station/EI7IRB_2@747769602

If you are interested in taking up Amateur Radio as a hobby come along to this webinar. Amateur Radio – A Life Long Technical Hobby. A special Engineers Week event hosted by the Electronic and Computing division in Engineers Ireland and South Dublin Radio Club. It will feature me and Adrian Connor. Join us on March 10th.

Posted on

Goodbye TOG 3.0 – Final Day

We have now said goodbye to 22 Blackpitts, our home since 2015. The space has served us well. We had many great events and projects build while there. At this point, we also say goodbye to Dublin 8. We have been in this area of the city since TOG 2.0 in 2010. This area and the wider community have been great supporters to us. It has allowed our little group to grow up to a large members organization that supports a wide range of activities and people to have a creative outlet.

Check out our photo gallery to see all the effort that went into the clear-out and move.

https://www.tog.ie/gallery/

Posted on

TOG 4.0…. New Space

Introducing TOG 4.0, our new home in Bluebell.

We are delighted to announce that we have secured a home for TOG 4.0. We have taken a lease on a 335 square meter industrial unit in Bluebell at Unit 1B Motor City, just off Kylemore Road. We are about an 8-minute walk from Kylemore Luas stop and there is also plenty of car parking available.

Keeping things retro our first photo of the space is taken on a 1970s Polaroid sx-70 instant camera.

The unit is completely empty, so we now have a blank canvas to build a wonderful space for ourselves and our community of hackers and makers. We are always open to new members so if you would like to be a part of building TOG 4.0 please let us know!


We want to thank all our members and the community for their help in finding a new space and a home for the next few years. You can check out our gallery for more photos of TOG 4.0.

https://www.tog.ie/gallery/nggallery/all/tog-4-0

TOG has been in existence for over 12 years now, providing Dublin with a space to craft, hack, make and socialize. Watch out for a mega opening event when COVID permits. We are all really looking forward to running events and working on projects again.