This Friday, 23 October, we’re getting stuck into some hardware hacking at TOG, with a special Capture the Flag session from 7 to 9 pm.
Think of it as a puzzle hunt on a small circuit board. There are 15 logical puzzles to work through, with hidden answers known as “flags” to discover. It’s a mix of hardware, software and figuring things out, with no soldering required.
The project brings together ESP8266 microcontroller boards and custom 3D-printed cases. TOG built hardware flags for the Women’s International Cybersecurity Challenge 2026, and the project also featured in the Irish Embassy programme at EMF Camp this summer. Now it’s your turn to have a go at the hackerspace.
Last week’s session didn’t go ahead, so we’re putting both parts into one evening:
7–8 pm: Have a go. Work through the challenges at your own pace. Well be around to help you get started, offer hints and help where we can.
8–9 pm: See how it’s done. We’ll go through the challenges step by step, explaining how to find each flag and the techniques involved.
Whether you’ve tried a CTF before or are just curious about hardware hacking, come along and try it out.
You can borrow the hardware for the evening or buy a board from us to keep experimenting at home.
Bring a laptop and your own USB-C data cable. Make sure the cable supports data, as a charging-only cable won’t work.
Where: TOG Hackerspace, Unit 1B Motor City, Kylemore Road, Dublin 12, D12 CF6V.
Our friends at CESI will be hosting a Turtlestitch workshop on Saturday 21st of November from 2pm to 5pm. Turtlestitch is a way to code up embroidery patterns using code blocks. It’s often used as a teaching tool for coding, but also a fun way to generate embroidery patterns.
Whether you’re new to coding or new to embroidery, there’ll be plenty to learn. This workshop is aimed at adults interested in embroidery or teaching coding. It will be led by Mags Amond with support from John Hegarty and Helen O’Kelly. You’ll find out about the history of Turtlestitch, learn how to create embroidery designs, and stitch them out on our industrial machine and some of the smaller domestic machines that will be brought on the day.
Mags and John in their Turtlestitch embroidered apron and labcoat.
An embroidered postcard from Turtlestitch on a fridge.
The workshop will cost €10 and includes materials. Tickets can be bought with this link..
Join us at TOG Hackerspace for a weekend of amateur radio, hands-on workshops, old technology and a bit of messing.
On Saturday, we’ll be building satellite ground stations, trying packet radio, making callsign patches and putting soldering skills to the test. There will be live demonstrations and afternoon talks, followed by our October Open Social and pizza night.
Sunday starts with radio in the park, before we return to TOG for an afternoon of vintage radios, retro computers, consoles and restoration projects.
Radio amateurs, shortwave listeners, makers and curious newcomers are all welcome. You don’t need a radio licence to attend.
Book your place
There are three separate Eventbrite listings, so you can book the parts of the weekend you’d like to attend:
From 12:00 | Live radio demos and callsign patches
Drop in from noon to explore the equipment, meet the operators and try some making.
Pump-up mast with Ben Field, EI9IUB
Ben will demonstrate his trailer-mounted mast, built around an ex-MOD Sankey trailer and a Clark SCAM 12 mast. The setup normally carries a hexbeam antenna and rotator, with a dipole for the lower bands.
Come and see how it works and chat about setting up a portable radio station.
Packet radio with Victor, EI5IYB
Earlier this year, TOG joined the packet radio network. Vic will give practical demonstrations of connecting to and using it, and introduce the applications built on top of the network.
Discover how computers communicate over radio, with uses including messaging, group chat and news and weather services. Thanks to the Online Amateur Radio Community (OARC) for supporting this part of the programme.
Make your own callsign patch with Tree
Tree will be on hand throughout the day to demonstrate TOG’s new industrial embroidery machine and help visitors make their own callsign patches.
Learn how the machine works and see your callsign turned into a patch. Thanks to the Irish Radio Transmitters Society for part-funding the consumables through its Promoting Amateur Radio Fund. Donations towards material costs are welcome.
13:00 and 14:00 | Advanced soldering workshops
Already know how to solder and want a new challenge? We have a range of kits for you to try, with instructors on hand to help you get started and work through the tricky bits.
These informal workshops start at 13:00 and 14:00. Kits cost €10–€20, depending on which you choose, and soldering irons are provided.
Afternoon | Radio talks
Three talks will bring us together for a closer look at different sides of radio in collaboration with Engineers Ireland Electronic and Computing Division . The programme includes
15:00 | Making Room for the Whimsical in Amateur Radio – Jeffrey Roe, EI7IRB
From Toilets on the Air to sending cat pictures with EI0MEOW, amateur radio has plenty of room for a bit of messing. Jeffrey explores playful projects, lightbulb antennas and Halloween Morse events, asking how we can encourage unusual ideas in our clubs.
A talk about curiosity, experimentation and enjoying radio simply because it makes us smile.
16:00 | Radiosondes: Radio and Weather Balloons – Met Éireann
An introduction to radiosondes, the instruments carried by weather balloons, and how radio is used to send atmospheric measurements back to the ground.
17:00 | Radio skills, skills for life – Vic, EI5IYB
Amateur Radio is a technical hobby but not only. It is a hobby of many hobbies, from mechanical engineering and communication skills to project management. In this talk, Vic will explore the skills that are gained in the ham radio hobby and how they transfer into your personal and professional life.
Stay around after the talks for TOG’s October Open Social. We’ll fire up the pizza oven, meet members and visitors, show off projects and keep the radio, electronics and making chats going into the evening.
Come and see a portable amateur radio station in action. We’ll get on the air, including calling into the South Dublin Radio Club Sunday net and listening to and checking in after the IRTS Sunday News on 2 metres.
It’s a chance to see how a station can be taken out into a park and put on the air, or to join other operators for a morning of portable radio.
14:00–18:00 | Retro Radio & Computing Day
Sunday afternoon is for old radios, glowing screens and technology that still has plenty of stories to tell.
Our Retro Day returns with a special focus on vintage radio and communications equipment, alongside retro computers, consoles, games, test equipment and unusual electronics.
Members, radio clubs, collectors and visitors are invited to bring equipment to demonstrate and restoration projects to talk about. Working machines and projects still in progress are both welcome.
Have something to show? Email info@tog.ie with what you’d like to bring, how much table space you need and any power or display requirements.
Come along to exhibit, try some old technology or simply have a look and a chat. Please ask the owner before operating any equipment.
All activities take place at TOG Hackerspace, Unit 1B Motor City, Kylemore Road, Dublin 12, D12 CF6V, apart from Sunday morning’s POTA session at Lansdowne Valley Park.
TOG is a short walk from the Kylemore stop on the Luas Red Line. See our location page for directions. For access questions or other event enquiries, email info@tog.ie.
Radio Day and Retro Day have free entry. Advanced soldering kits cost €10–€20, and donations towards callsign patch materials are welcome. Check the separate satellite workshop listing for its ticket details.
In conjunction with our friends at Lovelace Space, we want to help you add pockets where you want and need them. Everyone loves a pocket, you can fill it with goodies or surprises, or maybe some pamphlets… but not all clothing comes with pockets off the rack. Or maybe it does come with pockets but you want MORE!
On October 14th, from 7pm to 9pm, we’re hosting a workshop on adding in-seam pockets and patch pockets to existing items of clothing. You do not need to have sewing experience to join, you just have to want more pockets. Hosts Tríona and Maria will help you add pockets using both handsewing and machine sewing techniques (and a little bit of ironing for some). Bring a laundered item of clothing and your imagination. We’ll provide materials and guidance. We will have some sewing machines in the space but you’re more than welcome to bring your own.
And, as it’s Climate Action Week, we are conscious that helping you repair clothes is good for the planet AND we’ll be making sure to reuse materials for your shiny new pockets by sourcing them from our friends at Change Clothes.
A pair of jeans with its pocket turned out to reveal colourful fabric. The pocket enlarges the original jeans pocket.
A patch pocket is a pocket that’s added to the surface. You can add it anywhere, and it can be (almost) any shape. First you make the edges of the pocket neat and then you’ll attach it.
A grey patch pocket attached to the inside of a grey coat. A battery pack and wire are poking out of the pocket.
An in-seam pocket goes in a seam (it’s in the name). You’ll cut your pocket pieces, gently rip open some of the seam, and then attach the pocket pieces and sew it up while reenforcing the seams near the pocket.
The first in a series of workshops with our new embroidery machine will be about learning the lettering tool in Ink/Stitch to make monograms.
A monogram is a short one to three letter embellishment. You’ll find them on towels, napkins, fancy dressing gowns and so on. They can be a person or company’s initials, though for Tog we figured we’d just put all three letters on.
At the workshop, you’ll learn how ink/stitch’s Lettering Tool works and create your own monogram. You’ll learn how to set up a basting box around a design in case it’s needed. Then you’ll learn how to hoop up items like towels and napkins, align your pattern, and then stitch out your monogram! All embroidery supplies will be provided along with a towel each.
For the workshop, bring your laptop with inkscape already installed and think about which one to three letters you want to embroider. Towels will be provided, but if you want to bring additional items like a napkin or handkerchief, we can see if there’s time after the class to embroider those with your design.
The next stop for our All Island Maker Mobility: Connecting Communities Through Making project is ShipItCon in Dublin on 4 September 2026.
We’ll be there with our friends from Farset Labs, sharing a table and talking to the wider tech community about what happens inside community-run spaces like Tog and Farset.
The event comes just after our recent Farset Maker-in-Residence week at Tog, where our members had a chance to spend proper time together, work on projects, take part in Tog activities, and finish the week at Dublin Maker. ShipItCon gives us a chance to build on that momentum and keep those connections growing.
At our shared table, we’ll be showing some of what our communities get up to and talking about the All Island Maker Mobility project. If you’ve ever wondered what happens in a hackerspace or makerspace, come over and say hello.
You can find out more about the event at shipitcon.com.
All Island Maker Mobility is a collaboration between Tog Hackerspace in Dublin and Farset Labs in Belfast, supported by the Shared Island Civic Society Fund through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
We’re very grateful for that support, which is helping our two communities build stronger North-South links through making, learning and shared projects.
