Blog – Page 6

Radio non-silence. Background non-noise.

Written on April 9, 2018.

Ylab has run some amateur radio events and classes with our friends from the York Region Amateur Radio Club (YRARC). We like radio stuff because there’s a history of it at the DDO, and there’s some fascinating new activity and technology that’s clearly not your grandfather’s old ham rig. Some ylab members are also Scout leaders, and we’ve been helping...

Much improvement and excitement at ylab and the DDO

Written on April 5, 2018.

It’s ylab’s first week back with the DDO now being run by the Town of Richmond Hill, and there are lots of improvements to our space and the entire facility. While progress appears slow, in the background, the Town’s staff are accomplishing great things. We mentioned a lot of clean-up in earlier posts. Invisible, but most apparent:...

First night clean-up turns into archeological dig

Written on April 3, 2018.

Having a maker space in a historical building is so cool. After many months absence, our first night back at the DDO was dedicated to some clean-up. A new part of ylab is the DDO’s basement workshop, so we decided to attack it first. Knows what these are, and can tell some parts are missing. Getting into some of the old tool cabinets...

DDO Access Obstacle Course Cleared!

Written on April 2, 2018.

Some attendees of past ylab events at the DDO approached the site with a healthy amount of fear and trepidation. Not because of us – we’re the happy, friendly kind of crazy – but because of the state of road and driveway during construction and years of wear and tear. Hillsview Drive. With real curbs. An a distinct lack of mud. To...

WE’RE BACK AT THE DDO IN APRIL 2018!

Written on April 1, 2018.

On March 8 we signed our agreement with the Town of Richmond Hill to get the Ylab Maker Space back up and running in the basement of the administration building of the David Dunlap Observatory. For ylab, it’s been over a year of paperwork, waiting, negotiating, board meetings and calls, getting insurance, and still taking care of tax...

Ylab Update – Working on Summer Stuff

Written on July 6, 2017.

We have (hopefully temporarily) retrieved our laser cutter and some other gear from our lair at the DDO so we can use it over the summer. After we get re-calibrated and back in operation, we’ll be scheduling some get-togethers. It will take a couple of weeks as many of us are completing our own transitions – kids from school to camps,...

Ylab Runs Amok at Richmond Green Library

Written on March 12, 2017.

Richmond Green Library held their maker event on Saturday afternoon, March 11, and might not have been prepared for the ylab mayhem. Other exhibitors might have been content with a display table. We kind of… expanded. Out of control. Hovercraft rides. They’re not just for kids. People coming in through the entrance rotunda for a quiet...

The Great Canadian Alligator Clip

Written on March 9, 2017.

Where can we find an alligator clip to ground out a screwdriver? If you’re going to remove a fly-back transformer from an old TV, as shown here (we’re giving them credit because we took their picture), you first need to safely discharge what could be up to 30,000 volts in the tube. Hook up an alligator clip to the screwdriver, and...

Sat March 11: Come see us at Richmond Green Library Maker Day

Written on March 3, 2017.

Richmond Hill Public Library’s Richmond Green branch near Leslie and Elgin Mills. is hosting a Maker Event on Saturday, March 11 from noon until 5 PM, and Ylab will be there. It’s a family event – ages 6 and up, according to the RHPL event listing. While you’re in the area, bring out your...

Next step: bring Frankenstein back to life

Written on March 1, 2017.

Anyone who’s watched an old Frankenstein movie – or almost any old black-and-white sci-fi movie – knows you can’t have a decent science lab without a Jacob’s ladder and its noisy, sparky electric arcs crawling up between two wires. He would get a charge out of this. Since we call ourselves ylab, member Craig felt...