Summer of CDL

Well summer is here and we're busy at the lab. We've got several projects in the hopper. We're still endeavoring to clean up the Makerspace. This is an on going effort. Despite the drudgery we've manage to squeeze in more into our tiny space and make the place more usable.

Group projects

• We've got an AI class in the works. We're working on doing Agentics Flows (loops).
• We've got the WaveRider, which is a mesh of Meshtastic, nRF52840, BME280 and IR distance sensor. The data will be sent and processed by a local LLM that we're also working on.
• We've added a few Meshtastic nodes and hope to be adding a Meshcore node soon.
• We're putting together an Asterisk PBX with FreePBX.
• We're working on a few solar projects including a project to light the street in front of the Makerspace.

Of course this is in addition to all of our individual projects that the members are working on.

More on the AI class

I'm not loving the AI title as this is more specific to using the LLM. In a simplified manner there are 5 tiers of LLM usage:

1. AI as a reference
2. AI for routines, functions or methods
3. AI for scripts or complete programs
4. AI for projects, a code assistant
5. AI as an Agent (Agentic Flow or loops)

I'll cover these in more detail in a later blog post but our class will be covering mostly the last two.

Maker's Day done, we prepare for VCF East next

Maker's Day went well, we managed to get a lot of parents and kids. In addition to what the InfoAge museums were able to offer we had a fully working Makerspace (CDL) up and running with the 3D printer going and my CNC cutting plastic. We did a nice job of cleaning up the lab so I want to thanks Matt, Pat, Joe, Keith and Dan for the help. Now we turn our minds to VCF East. There will be a lot more visitors for the 3 days of: Friday, April 17th thru Sunday, April 19th.

Our Meshtastic Tidal Project is going well. I'll document what we have and what we intend to build. Matt and Pat (CDL members) are working on the Meshtastic node at the moment. I have a few ideas there where we can get lower power and still enough CPU to make it work. On the other end I am tryig to figure out the whole VM and AI end of the project. This has led to a number of other possible projects, such as: Google Tensors, NVidia Jetsons and of course the GPUs. I intend to give a short course on using Git and Github to the members.

We intend to fly one of our Meshtastic nodes to see what type of coverage we get. We'll also be working on a Meshcore node in addition to our Seeede Solar Meshtastic node..

We're also starting to plan our radio bench. We have a good number of Hams (people with amateur radio licenses). We're planning on putting up a HF antenna on the roof of 9059 (CDL - the Lab). We have a few low powered radios (QRP) and a 100W amp. We'll see what we can make of this. :-)

This is in addition to our Home Assistant and other electronics projects. I think we'll keep very busy for the next year and more. Though I do expect it to slow down a bit during the summer. Everyone wants to enjoy the summer and we're near the Jersey Shore! :-)

Cold and Powerless

Update: Repairs have been made and InfoAge is again open for business!

Bad week at InfoAge! First a steam pipe broke in the basement of the 'Marconi Hotel'. This is the main building of the InfoAge complex. So they are without heat. And it seems the melting snow may have cause the power issues we are currently experiencing. The InfoAge campus is currently without power. Which means the the Computer Deconstruction Lab (CDL) is also without power. The InfoAge campus (formerly Camp Evans) is the home of CDL. And just before I was going to post and update, the engineers have found the problem! They're now investigating the problems and solution further. Part of the campus has power. We'll see what we've got.

In the meantime the CDL has been working on a few projects. One of them is a Meshtastic Solar Node: CDLA (compdecon.github.io A). We're running the default channel and user LF (LF20?). I'll get an additionl Linux node also running the default. That's it for now I'll post more details later.

CDL & Makers Day at InfoAge Mar. 15 & 16th

Yea! I have my blog post software working again! I'm now using Python, OAuth and Google's Blog API service to post. The AI generated code (down right scary too) is here: GBlog. Now I'll try to use this blog to post updates about what is going on at CDL. BTW, the GBlog code probably won't be too useful to others as I'm using it with a combination of bash, emacs lisp and python. I create an elisp personal journal a long time ago and have modified it slightly to work with this setup. I should post that code also.

What's going on is the Maker's Day at InfoAge (March 14-15, 2026). Since we're a Makerspace we'll be up and running both days. NJMakersDay.org. This is happening at InfoAge a week early because they have other events scheduled for that weekend.

What it is:

• A celebration of maker culture, maker spaces, and the values of making, tinkering, and learning.
• A collaborative effort involving public libraries, museums, schools, and businesses across New Jersey.

What Happens:

• Hands-On Activities: Events feature interactive projects like coding, robotics, 3D printing, circuit building, crafting, and design challenges.
• Community Focus: It aims to connect residents with local creators, innovators, and makerspaces.
• STEAM Integration: Promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math through activities.

When & Where:

• Annual Event: Held each spring; the 2026 event is March 20-22.
• Statewide: Occurs at hundreds of locations, from local libraries to museums.

Why it's Important:

• Inspires Creativity: Showcases STEM and maker culture to the public.
• Builds Connections: Enhances community engagement and collaboration.
• Promotes Learning: Encourages innovation and hands-on experimentation.

Sample My Blog Post Title

This is a sample blog post with HTML content.

Introduction

This is a paragraph with bold text and italic text.

Features

• Support for HTML tags
• Easy to use command-line interface
• OAuth 2.0 authentication

Code Example

def hello_world():
    print("Hello, World!")

Thank you for reading!

Makerspace near me ... Can't find CDL

Hey! We're getting more members! Yes! But despite my efforts the search engines: DuckDuckGo, Bing and Google can't seem to find many Makerspaces near me (i.e. in NJ, Grrrr!). I get Rutger's Makespace (which is near me), sometimes I get Fubar and a lot of Makerspaces in NY City and Philadelphia, especially on the maps feature. As far as search engines go DuckDuckGo and Bing are horendous! I've added CDL/Computer Deconstruction Lab to Bing and Google, a ton a sites used for looking up makespaces. Many of the 'popular' sites are impossible to contact. The rest I've added us (CDL) in hope we'll be found. I'm gonna start working the Social Media sites and see if that helps. Wow that's a lot of work.

Now on to things that make more sense for a Makerspace! We've got the Taz Lulzbot printing pretty well. It might need a few more adjustments but it's working well. I've been working on my Monoprice Select Mini V1 (MP200). I've got the SCR added, the old bed taken off and I have the new parts to add. Matt started up the CNC and can operate the X, Y and Z. Pat has done some more work on the telescope. It's coming along rather nicely and work rather well. I'm adding the Arduino projects to the CompDecon Github projects. For now I'll stick to C (Arduino Env so C & C++) and Python 3. Later when we need to handle web pages I'll start working on teaching HTML, CSS and Javascript. I'm also looking to built a Telsa Coil, Jacobs Ladder, 'wireless' light (Tesla's wireless power), some Smart Home projects and more. The list grows but that's not a bad thing. :-)

We've got new additional hours, the Makerspace is now open on Sunday from 12 until 5PM in addition to our Monday 7 - 10PM hours. We're also opening on Oct 12^th & 13^th from 12 until 5PM.

What's happening at CDL? Sept/2022

Hmm, looks like the API broke so I'm doing this manually in the Blog editor. (OMG! ;-) )

Unusual summer in that most are quiet around CDL. We're usually spending a lot of time with our families, around the house and vacationing. This year we've done a few things in the lab also! We have a few new members and they've been visiting all summer. We've spent time getting the Lulzbot 3D printer working. Still need to get some glass and buildtac to address the huge scratch in the bed. We do have a few other 3D printers we're working on (Monoprice Mini, Tarantula, a delta and a home made RepRap clone we're going to run Klipper). The CNC machine has been a bit neglected but I'm hoping to resolve that later in the fall. We've been doing a lot of work on the InfoAge network. Improving Internet access and WiFi. Work on Security (cameras) and most exciting the CDL Meade LX200 12 " Telescope. We've improved how we move it about and we have a "crash cart" for the telescope. We're going to get a large battery (LFP) so we can power the scope and support longer. I'll be working on documenting what we've done and post pictures a bit later. Of course, More to come!