Blog - Page 2 of 11

Free ham radio class! On-line! But why?

Written on December 22, 2020.

Free ham radio class! On-line! But why? Stuck in your house during COVID? Want to talk to people but don’t want them to see your sequestration hair-do or lack thereof? Wishing you had done more to properly learn electronics? Too much dust on your voltmeter and soldering iron – if you can find them? Think a ham radio license would...

COVID Closure Extended

Written on December 22, 2020.

COVID CLOSURE EXTENDED – WE’RE GOING ON-LINE The City of Richmond Hill, our hosts at the David Dunlap Observatory, are anticipating keeping all community centres closed until June 2021. The DDO is managed as a community centre, so that puts our activities there on hold until then. Ylab members have been meeting on-line, including our...

Update on the DDO Restoration

Written on November 29, 2020.

New paint job on the dome Ylab’s home at the DDO has been undergoing an extensive restoration since the spring. As scaffolding is starting to come down, it’s looking amazing. The work has been extensive. Removing all the old lead paint without getting it in the environment. Carefully restoring all the windows to their original...

Tool warranty honored. Finally.

Written on November 29, 2020.

We’ve had post or two about problems with certain MasterCraft tools. We also posted about it on facebook where Canadian Tire responded, asked us for contact info, and then… crickets. So just to show that I’m not just a whining complainer… I’ve had a Craftsman ratchet for… decades. Let’s not give...

Another fix-it night. Sorry, Crappy Tire.

Written on November 7, 2019.

We just happened to pick this one Our recent fix-it night posts here and here seem to have a common thread: crappy Crappy Tire tools that need repairing. This week… well, we didn’t intend to pick on them. It was just the luck of the draw. Small 12V tire compressors – the type that plugs into the cigarette lighter 12V...

Closing up the desktop project

Written on November 3, 2019.

Case closed. Desktop too. We posted earlier about our project to make a lockable enclosure for the reception desk of our home, the David Dunlap Observatory. We left that post with a pretty crappy picture. Protective plastic was still covering it. Test usage showed an area for improvement. Sliding everything into place would work better...

More tool repair

Written on October 31, 2019.

Nose to the grindstone Last week we posted about our evening repairing crappy Crappy Tire tools. One tool could not be fixed. Here once again is our picture of a pair of side-cutters that broke simply doing what side-cutters are supposed to do. Reminds us of the old mechanic’s joke about there being two types of tools – Snap-On...

Ylab Final Fall Update: New materials. New possibilities.

Written on October 26, 2019.

Persistence pays off. For our last bit of catching up on what’s been happening over the last few months, we get to show off some of the new materials ylab members have introduced to our maker space at the David Dunlap Observatory. The laser cutter is always the touchiest thing. Before any new material goes on there, we look into the safety...

Fix-It Night for Crappy Tire Stuff

Written on October 21, 2019.

We have a bunch tools at ylab, and some of them from Crappy Tire. We can call them that – after all, Canadian Tire fought for the use of that name. You would normally think we would be using their tools to fix other things. Nope. We had to fix the tools. This Mastercraft drill is about 4 years old, the first 3 1/2 years being unused...

Ylab Fall Kick Off: Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Periodic Table of the Elements.

Written on October 18, 2019.

Your high-school periodic table was never this cool. UNESCO has declared 2019 to the International Year of the Periodic Table to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Mendeleev periodic table. You know, that thing you studied in high-school chemistry. Ylab member and high-school chemistry teacher Karen could not let that go unnoticed. Working...