Dublin Maker is returning this summer! In person. It will be their tenth year.
For those who might be unfamiliar with Dublin Maker, it’s a creative carnival of show and tell. The open call for this year’s Dublin Maker is now open to anyone who makes anything. They are open to all inventors, makers, hackers and creators. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or a creative crafter we’d love for you to apply for a place at our biggest Dublin Maker yet.
Each year, they welcome educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, artists, science clubs, students, authors and commercial exhibitors of all ages and backgrounds. Dublin Maker’s mission is to entertain, inform and connect the makers of Ireland while inspiring the next generation of Ireland’s makers and inventors and we want you to be part of it. The open call will run until May 29th.
We are super proud to be a supporting organization and helping make this great event going.
Below is a report from Sophie on a recent Welding workshop night in Tog.
“ I am a new TOG member. I have been interested in learning to weld for a while, so I sent out an email to the member’s list. I asked if there were any proficient welders that would be interested in teaching me the basics.
Patrick responded, offering to teach me. A few more members followed up requesting to join and it became a workshop.
Patrick is a great teacher and we had loads of fun learning and practising together. Thanks again!
This is what I love about Tog. If you want to learn something, you’re guaranteed to have someone that has done it before and is willing to help you. It’s a great community of makers and curious brains.”
We are always open for new members to join. Pop along to one of our open nights to learn more.
The Our Balbriggan Loves Learning festival will take place from April 19-30 and will explore a range of learning and upskilling opportunities. As part of the festival, there will be a Balbriggan Mini Maker Day on Saturday 23rd from 10 am till 5pm in Balbriggan Library, Saint George’s Square, Balbriggan, CO. Dublin. K32 TW27.
The day is open to visitors both young and old for a day of family-friendly workshops and maker showcases. On the day there will be a mix of workshops suitable for all ages, from coding and game crafting to lego making and LED art.
There will be an abundance of activities for small kids and big kids too. An exciting show and tell area where Makers will showcase their crafts and you’ll discover the art of making.
Tog will be on hand to showcase what our makers get up to including homemade satellite receives, IOT air quality sensors and metalwork. Drop by our stand and say hello.
For more information about the event please visit.
We host a Lockpicking night every two weeks on a Thursday evening from 7 pm in our space. Join us as we teach the various methods of picking and bypassing common locks in Ireland.
We have all the all equipment and tools to get you started on the night. The intent for the night is to have all lock enthusiasts together to pick locks, show new tools, techniques and make lockpicking more social. Only so much can be done stuck in the workshop, office, or sitting on the couch. Feel free to come along for even just an hour.
Do you have broken items at-home – clothes, small appliances, toys, electronics?
No need to throw them away! Save your things from the landfill and your wallet from having to replace them.
Bring them to our repair café and learn how to fix them together with our volunteers. We have tools, materials, space to work on your item, and repair experts who will help you with your repair.
TOG members will be on hand to show you around the space – come and enjoy a tea or coffee and a tour while you wait!
What objects can you bring in?
Clothes and accessories
Toys
Small electrical appliances and electronics
Small furniture … and many other things! Safety (PAT) testng for electrical devices will be available.
Let’s go on a journey of repair with Jeffrey. We have a Dynatron radio model SRX 26. I think it’s from the 1970s. The radio came from Henry which has been in his family since it was new. Unfortunately it has been waiting on me to repair it since September 2020.
I started off by wiping all the dust I have let fall on it. It is a crazy heavy thing. The best way to start is to have a good look over the radio. The point is to find any problems with the cable and to check it is safe before ever plugging it in. It also seems to be missing its record player cartridge (the needle).
The radio lead and fuse are the next places to check. It is using an older style of plug that should be replaced at some point. The fuse and lead are fine. Now for a power-on test. the unit is not showing any signs of life.
Now to take it apart and show everyone’s favourite part the insides. There looks to be other historical repairs carried out. If you look at the above image on the left-hand side.
An internal mains fuse looks very “crusty”. After taking it out it’s clearly blown. There are also two more fuses that are blown. The type of fuse is nicely labelled on the radio but I had none in stock. A short walk down to RS and picked up a bag of replacement fuses.
It came alive! Well it turns on anyway. The next step to try and find some suitable audio leads to test the sound. I only had a headphone adaptor but soon was getting sound from the radio but with a lot of hisses.
To overcome the hiss, I attacked all the knobs with some switch cleaner. You take off all the knobs and spray in the fluid. Give the knobs a good turn, backwards and forwards to work in the cleaner.
The last job was to mount the speaker port that was loose in the cabinet. Unfortunately without that type of lead, I could not test it.
Check out the radio in action in the video above. The radio seems to work fine with headphones. The turntable needs a cartridge but that is a job for the radio owner. If you would like to see more photos of the repair check out our gallery.
