De-Soldering

We finally have a working camera, I have an account to blog here with, and we have some pictures of the de-soldering we've been doing for the past 2 weeks. So here we go...

Using a glorified hair drier (a "heat gun"), we can now melt the solder right off the backs of the circuit boards that we remove from VCRs, clocks, or other gadgets. So this means that we will eventually be able to use these parts (capacitors, 7-segment displays, switches, etc...) to perhaps create our own stuff.

When you put the heat gun up to the circuit board the "sharp points" of the solder starts to melt a little bit. You pull and wiggle the component on the other side of the board. When it loosens up enough on the component that you are trying to remove, it will come right off the board. In the end it's actually kinda fun.

Other than that, we have been going as we have before. Taking stuff apart, organizing the new room, and trying to learn a bit more about what makes all this stuff do what it does.~Byron

We made it into the paper today!

Today was the first time that Old Green Machines appeared in a newpaper. You can see the OGM part near the end of this page:

Johnny St. Vrain Oct 12, 2009 in the Longmont Times Call.

Too bad they did not include a link to our blog or website, as the first several calls and emails we got were from people wanting to give us broken monitors.....

One person, though, has a TV that might be perfect for something purchased this last weekend for a mere ten bucks: a Timex Sinclair 1000 computer (including an expansion that takes the memory from 2K to 16K! This old computer will look awesome on a vintage TV. Look for a report to follow when we actually start programming it.

Agenda for Oct 6th

Besides having pizza this week (finally), we have a lot of stuff to do. Until we get these things done, other tasks will have to be put on hold:

1. Get our bins set for delivery this weekend. We need to decide what to write on them and how to write it (spraypaint, permanent markers, etc). Basically we need a logo on these and some contact information. If we get these done, we will have a constant visual reminder at the thrift stores that we are looking for old electronics. They'll be more likely to give stuff to us than throw it away if we have these bins reminding them about what we want to get.

2. MESA forms need to be filled out and returned by next weeks club meeting.

3. We need to take photographs for a MESA article. Our temporary photographer took only a handful of pictures. If someone is willing to be our photographer and is not afraid to take a lot of pictures, please volunteer for this and I will get you a camera to check out for the semester. If you want a short lesson in taking pix, let me know.

4. We have small bins now for all the larger components we will be saving. If you are considering being a dis-assembler, it is important that you familiarize yourself with all of these categories, so that you don't throw anything useful away.

5. We have three toolboxes now and need to organize our tools in them. Our tool room needs to be cleaned up before we use the tools themselves.

6. Those not volunteering and working on any of 1-5 get sink duty, as half our little gray hanging bins have yet to be cleaned up.

Beginning Circuits at the OGM

This week we finally got to do some dis-assembly of donated devices. Students were testing various VCRs and stereo components, and others were starting to learn basic electronic circuit construction. There's something very cool about making a little LED light up: