@mark999 please see my replies right above yours. Main point I want to further emphasize is that the desire is for this area of the space to have more collaboration (like all areas of the space really). There are a lot of people at the space interested in this stuff and the official position of Asmbly as an organization is to serve the community. We want to strike the right balance of providing necessary tools and materials with optimization and maintenance of space. I think we’ll achieve that best through collaboration, respectful discourse, and compromise.
I can make time on sunday to go if others are available.
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I can make myself available on sunday as well
Because the hard part of managing a space like this isn’t saying “Yes” by default–that’s how you get a useless pile of junk that serves nobody like we had.
The hard part of managing a space like this is saying “No” by default and “Yes” rarely when there is benefit.
Asmbly doesn’t have a full time steward. Things in the space which require discipline to organize degenerate into useless chaos until finally someone steps in and opposes the chaos. This is not unique to the electronics lab.
Official? Not much. And only insofar as I’m considered a “steward” by virtue of having a bit of vision about what that lab should be and being willing to put in the work.
If you have a vision as to what the space should be–please speak up and let the board know. Should the space cater to Hams? Perhaps it should cater to guitar and amp builders? Arduino? Robotics? The board (please note that I am not a board member) would love to have your input.
However, while vision is necessary, it isn’t sufficient. I, personally, think we should stock a half-dozen useful Arduino and RPI kits at all times–however, if I’m not willing to take on the responsibility month in/month out of teaching how to use those–they’re effectively junk. Linear actuators are nice–but if nobody is actively building stuff with them–they’re junk. Old ham transmitters and tubes are interesting–but if nobody is completing projects with them–they’re junk.
I’m a geek’s geek. As a child, I waded through thousands of surplus integrated circuits from Westinghouse and sorted out DTL, RTL, TTL, and CMOS chips. Throwing out components pains me. I had to throw out about $15,000 worth of surface mount components right before Covid because nobody wanted them no matter how much I tried. I had been trying to get rid of them from my storage for 10 years, and I eventually had to just give up and throw them out.
So, if you’ve got a vision, roll it past the board. However, I suspect that “surplus electronics warehouse” is going to face an uphill battle.
RE: I, of course, realized that I should probably have pulled this discussion into a separate thread after I posted it. Sorry.
@valerie I can generally be available with a bit of notice (generally 24-48 hours). That includes weekdays which may be more convenient if they have to adhere to business hours for some reason (estates and stuff can sometimes be picky).
@buzmeg Sounds like we differ on our threshold of what’s too much; I don’t see the point in tossing things that are organized and likely not useless, when plenty of empty shelf or bin space remains. If and when we’re low on space, then yes.
My philosophy would be that if something appears to attract no interest, grab a ladder and put it on one of the top shelves that’s empty. If someone’s bored and in need of a project, or if they need that specific item badly enough, they’ll find it. If it sits there undisturbed long enough to collect dust, and space is needed, it’s an excellent candidate for the great solder pot in the sky.
@valerie I can be available on sunday, possibly saturday.
OK, here’s the plan I would suggest we move forward with on this:
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@mark999 @Devmani @dash3811 can go pick up the items from this person on Sunday. I will check with the donor on the number of people she thinks would be reasonable for helping clear this stuff out. I imagine two people would for sure be good, but three may be as well. I know it’s an apartment, so not like a huge warehouse or anything. I’ll start an email thread with her so y’all can connect on when would be a good time to meet.
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These three people (and more if there are others interested in helping with this step) go through the items donated together and determine a subset of items they agree are worthy to propose by kept at Asmbly. We definitely have a strong preference towards equipment, but I think we should be open to other things as well. At this point, people can also start divvying up the items that are clearly not things we’ll want to keep at Asmbly.
Note that this step should not occur at Asmbly. Y’all will need to figure out somewhere you can do this. -
Proposed items should then be presented to @buzmeg and @Jon for approval. Nothing comes to the space until it is approved. Respectful discourse welcome at this step.
That work for everyone?
Andrew’s the steward of the electronics lab, so his opinion carries a lot of weight. It was a shambles when he started, and he’s put a lot of work in.
If you disagree, the board will entertain proposals.
Unlike Andrew, I am on the board, so I can say officially that Asmbly’s not running a scrapyard. We don’t accept donations of broken equipment. If you want to use the shop to fix something and donate it when you’re done, that’s great.
As far as tools go, I’m inclined (as I think Andrew is) to keep anything that actually works, regardless of age, so long as we have space for it.
Parts inventory is a tricky thing. In theory, I like the idea of having a full assortment of discretes at hand to enable tinkering. In practice, Andrew’s absolutely correct that (in a nutshell) entropy is a bitch. A well-maintained and curated inventory takes a lot of effort, and an unmaintained inventory becomes a junk pile if you turn your back on it. Before you know it, people are dropping off busted inkjets because somebody might use the motors.
I also agree with him that it’d be nice to have a good working classroom-type set of something to experiment and prototype with (maybe an Arduino variant) but not until there’s an instructor signed up to do regular classes with them. The board would very much like to see more classes in electronics and more users of the electronics lab.
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Y’all (@buzmeg @valerie @Jon) are right. Sorry I was so argumentative.
Question on
If we’re doing it in vehicles in the parking lot at Asmbly, does that count as “not at Asmbly”?
@valerie If you let me know where and when this is going down, I can go along and apply a first pass filter.
If there is nothing that Asmbly wants (and I suspect there won’t be a lot that we do want), then I can let the other folks take stuff out without involving Asmbly at all.
It’s not really about being right, it’s simply about priorities. And it’s certainly fine to have different priorities.
We don’t have an infinite amount of space in that lab. As things stand, I’ve got a 4x8 table that really should replace the “door with shag carpet” (wish I were joking) that is one of the benches. It’s taking up an enormous amount of room and I need to play Tetris tomorrow afternoon to at least get it somewhat out of the way. The elab hasn’t been getting a lot of use so it hasn’t been a priority.
So, the only thing I can really do is disassemble a couple of the storage shelves (now devoid of components) and put them behind the server rack (which is taking up room and which I was hoping would be gone by now) for a while. Then I can move the table against the wall for the time being until I get the server and the bio stuff out of the electronics lab.
Basically, I’m making a tradeoff for the space: “Which is more useful over the long term–a bunch of components or an extra 4x8 flat surface for people to work on?” I’m pretty sure where most people in the space are going to land on that spectrum–flat space is always at a premium.
And this actually isn’t the first time someone has made that kind of tradeoff–here’s one that predates me. If you note the floor underneath the shelves, there is cut carpet under them. Because nobody was willing to move the shelves because of all of the components, the floor refinish was done … suboptimally.
Time has value–most of us aren’t retired. So, at the end of day, we’re all just making tradeoffs.
I do have a Canopy and folding table…
I assume at least some of the stuff will be loose; I’m planning to bring some large cardboard boxes along to make it easier to move that stuff.
FYI @valerie I think you were going to start an email thread? If I’m part of that, I’ve yet to get the email…
Yes, cardboard boxes would be good. Sorry, I have not started that thread yet. Spent 12+ hrs on the work day at the space today. I’ll send asap, but gotta eat dinner and unwind a bit. She wants to meet in the afternoon and said 3 people would be good. If y’all want to go through stuff in the parking lot at Asmbly with @buzmeg afterwards that sounds good.
Do we want to meet up at asmbly and drive together so Adrienne only needs to open the gate once?
1 or 1:30 works better for me than noon does.
Am I bringing the canopy and table or are we good in that regard? Weather is reporting scattered thunderstorms. I can be there about 1pm.
Sure. Meeting up at Asmbly at 1:00 or 1:30 works better for me as well. I’m the large dude with the chili pepper bucket hat.
Depending upon how much stuff there is, we may want to take at least 2 cars.
OK, shes only expecting three people - Mark, Randall, and Greg. Whoever ends up going please remember this is a person who lost a friend and is carrying out his final wishes. No discussion of whether items have worth or value to the space should occur at the pick up. Kindness, gratitude, and sensitivity around this person’s loss please.
ill probably be there before 1, but that sounds like a good time to meet up.
I found this thread too late.
I would be interested in seeing any unwanted items, if the folks who organized the pickup are open to that.
Alas for the stuff thrown out— I know several folks who would have taken it home, but we aren’t in the space because COVID.
ATXHS hosted a monthly retro computer club until the pandemic shut it down.
I have storage for “surplus electronics”, and I am an active user of 1980s technology, DIP, EPROM, wire wrap, 64-pin sockets, edge card sockets etc.