Workshops
All workshops are for age 12 and older unless otherwise specified. Parents must come inside to fill out a minor liability waiver for children under 18 (unless previously filled out). Some workshops have limited seats available, see descriptions for details.
Pre-registration is required, and payment is due at the time of registration. Virtual workshops will send out room links 24-48 hours before a class. Virtual workshops with kits will coordinate pick-up of kits. Please direct any questions to contact@bloominglabs.org.
More workshops are still being added. Please join our announcement mailing list or follow us on Twitter! How to follow us
Contents
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June 2021
FULL Introduction to Metalworking: Make a Stool
Saturday, June 5th, 2021 -- 12:30PM-5:00PM
- Format: In-Person
- Cost: $65, $45 for members
- Maximum Class Size: 5
Part project class, part safety/skills training—this class orients you to the several fabrication tools Bloominglabs has to offer, as well as MIG welding techniques—culminating in a handmade metal stand. If you have ever wanted to learn about the metal shop, this class offers a realistic look at cutting, forming, welding, and finishing steel. Participants will learn the safety protocols, setup, and usage of several cutting tools to cut and form steel stock. They will practice setting up precise cuts, and then work to set these parts up in a way to accurately weld them together. Welding technique, safety, and finishing are offered in the 2nd half of this 4.5 hour class. Participants MUST come to class prepared with long sleeve shirts, long pants (NOT synthetic; wear denim, cotton, wool, or leather), a stocking cap or head covering, and leather closed-toed boots. Additionally, due to COVID-19, participants are expected to bring their own PPE which includes safety glasses, leather gloves, hearing protection, and wear a face mask but Bloominglabs does have some to borrow and isopropyl for cleaning.
FULL - Waitlist Sign-up Link We will notify the waitlist for future sessions when opened, as well as if any spots in this session open up. Please also sign up to our Announcement mailing list to be notified for new workshops. You may also e-mail contact@bloominglabs.org to be put on a waitlist.
FULL Introduction to Metalworking: Make a Stool
Saturday, June 12th, 2021 -- 12:30PM-5:00PM
- Format: In-Person
- Cost: $65, $45 for members
- Maximum Class Size: 5
Part project class, part safety/skills training—this class orients you to the several fabrication tools Bloominglabs has to offer, as well as MIG welding techniques—culminating in a handmade metal stand. If you have ever wanted to learn about the metal shop, this class offers a realistic look at cutting, forming, welding, and finishing steel. Participants will learn the safety protocols, setup, and usage of several cutting tools to cut and form steel stock. They will practice setting up precise cuts, and then work to set these parts up in a way to accurately weld them together. Welding technique, safety, and finishing are offered in the 2nd half of this 4.5 hour class. Participants MUST come to class prepared with long sleeve shirts, long pants (NOT synthetic; wear denim, cotton, wool, or leather), a stocking cap or head covering, and leather closed-toed boots. Additionally, due to COVID-19, participants are expected to bring their own PPE which includes safety glasses, leather gloves, hearing protection, and wear a face mask but Bloominglabs does have some to borrow and isopropyl for cleaning.
FULL - Waitlist Sign-up Link We will notify the waitlist for future sessions when opened, as well as if any spots in this session open up. Please also sign up to our Announcement mailing list to be notified for new workshops. You may also e-mail contact@bloominglabs.org to be put on a waitlist.
FULL Introduction to Carpentry: Worktables
TWO days long: Saturday & Sunday, June 12-13th, 2021 -- 1pm-5pm both days (8 hours total)
- Format: In-Person
- Cost: $100, or $80 for members (Reduced (sponsored) fees available on request contact@bloominglabs.org)
- Maximum Class Size: 10 students
Come explore our woodshop and learn woodshop safety, how to work from a design, the basics of working with wood, how to use tools (table saw, band saw, drill press, radial arm saw, and hand drills), and how to finish a project with sanding and sealant. This workshop is structured around using all the big-project tools in our woodshop while creating workbenches for Bloominglabs. You'll develop a familiarity with the woodshop tools, learn how to build a sturdy workbench, and at the end get a plaque to affix to the table you helped build!
FULL - Waitlist Sign-up Link We will notify the waitlist for future sessions when opened, as well as if any spots in this session open up. Please also sign up to our Announcement mailing list to be notified for new workshops. You may also e-mail contact@bloominglabs.org to be put on a waitlist.
FULL Rain Barrel Workshop
Sunday, June 20th, 2021 -- 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
- Format: In-Person, outside
- Cost: $50 for the public, or $40 for Bloominglabs members
- Maximum Class Size: 3 students
During the summer months, lawns and gardens account for an average of 40% of household water usage. Water barrels can help to reduce water usage and bills by allowing you to tend to your lawn and garden using naturally harvested rain water. Come make one for yourself! All materials and tools will be provided.
FULL - Waitlist Sign-up Link We will notify the waitlist for future sessions when opened, as well as if any spots in this session open up. Please also sign up to our Announcement mailing list to be notified for new workshops. You may also e-mail contact@bloominglabs.org to be put on a waitlist.
Plant Tower Workshop
Sunday, June 20th, 2021 -- 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM
- Format: In-Person, outside
- Cost: $50 for the public, or $40 for Bloominglabs members
- Maximum Class Size: 3 students
Plant towers are a vertical garden that can house 50+ plants in 4 sq ft of space. Plant towers also contain a composting tube to allow users to easily return their vegetative waste back to their plants.
Participants will build their own plant tower and compost tube from a recycled food grade barrel. 2 hour class. All materials provided.
Build an Outdoor Gym: Tire Heavy Bag
Saturday, June 26th, 2021 -- 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM
- Format: In-Person, outside
- Cost: $50 for the public, or $40 for Bloominglabs members
- Maximum Class Size: 5 students
The outside world is rough - sun, rain, freezing temperatures - they all conspire to require a normal heavy bag be set up indoors or hung and taken down with every use. Solution: Tires. Tires are built to live outside and allow for the bag to be made heavier or lighter. Come make your own tire heavy bag to add to your outside gym. All materials provided.
Introduction to Soldering/Electronics
Sunday, June 27th, 2021 -- 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
- Format: In-Person
- Cost: TBD
- Maximum Class Size: TBD
Learn soldering with a basic, pre-made electronics build kit. Bring a project of your own to work on after!
We aren't ready to open sign-ups yet, but here is a link to get early notice when we open registration: LINK
July 2021
FULL Introduction to Welding
Sunday, July 11th, 2021 -- 1:00PM-4:30PM
- Format: In-Person
- Cost: $50, or $40 for members
- Maximum Class Size: 12 students
Learn and practice 4 types of welding: Mig, Tig, Stick(Arc), and Oxygen-Acetylene. 30 min safety intro, then 4 stations with 2-3 attendees each for a demo on the welder and time to practice before rotating to the next. This will also include Plasma Cutting. Please wear leather closed-toed shoes, long sleeves and pants (NOT synthetic; wear denim, cotton, wool, or leather), and any hair or jewelry bound. Please bring any of the following if you already have at home: Respirator, P100, or KN95 mask, leather gloves, safety glasses.
FULL - Waitlist Sign-up Link We will notify the waitlist for future sessions when opened, as well as if any spots in this session open up. Please also sign up to our Announcement mailing list to be notified for new workshops. You may also e-mail contact@bloominglabs.org to be put on a waitlist.
Build a P25 Digital Scanner with a Raspberry Pi and Software Defined Radios
Monday & Tuesday, July 26-27th, 2021 -- 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM both days
- Format: In-Person, at Bloominglabs, 1840 S. Walnut St, Bloomington, IN
- Cost: $50 for non-members, or $25 for members [bring your own equipment]
- Optional equipment check: Tuesday July 20 (stop by any time between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM to make sure you have everything on the required equipment list)
- Maximum Class Size: 6
- Registration deadline: Saturday July 17, 2021 (or when all seats are filled)
In this workshop you will create a police scanner using open source software and common off-the-shelf hardware. By the end of this workshop you will have your own scanner capable of receiving and decoding P25 digital signals, complete with a responsive web interface.
Please read and understand the following before registering for this workshop:
Prerequisites
- A willingness to learn
- A very basic understanding of police scanners and P25 trunking
- While not required, some experience with the linux operating system, or even the command line on Windows, will be helpful
- Please have all of the required equipment on-hand, or at least ordered, prior to signing up for the workshop (see list below). If ordering equipment, be sure to account for possible shipping delays so that you have everything before the first day of class.
Required Equipment
A P25 digital scanner is somewhat complex, and in order to successfully build one certain equipment will be required. Some of it is expensive. Just remember that the end result will be a system that is in some ways more capable than off-the-shelf scanners, and at a fraction of the cost of a new P25 scanner.
This is a "Bring Your Own Equipment" workshop. Bloominglabs is not supplying equipment/materials/kits this time. You are responsible for your own equipment. Bloominglabs is supplying the instruction to assemble and configure your own equipment.
Note: we have an Amazon Smile Account For Bloominglabs. If you use that link to place an order on Amazon, we get a little cut. Thanks!
Raspberry Pi 4
- 1 Raspberry Pi Model 4 (1 GB memory is fine; more won't help much). A Raspberry Pi Model 3B+ is the absolute minimum, but you will get better performance with a 4 and that's what we are recommending.
- 1 Power supply for Raspberry Pi 4 (USB-C connector, or a microUSB connector if using a Pi 3B+). Needs to provide at least 2.5 A.
- 1 microSD card. Must be 8 GB or greater capacity, and Class 10 or better. Please bring a USB adapter to connect the microSD card to a PC if you have one; we'll have a couple extras if you don't own one, so this is not 100% required.
RTL-SDRs with antenna(s)
- 3 RTL-SDR dongles (with TCXOs). Can you make it work with just two? Probably, but you'll be missing some radio traffic. Don't skip the TCXO (Temperature Controlled Crystal Oscillator). Recommended models include:
- RTL-SDR.com v3
- Nooelec NESDR Smart v4
- 3 antennas for RTL-SDRs. Or 1 antenna and a splitter feeding each SDR. Note that you don't need a fancy antenna to receive the tower site from Bloominglabs. If your RTL-SDR came with an antenna, that should be sufficient to get started.
- Any cabling needed for your antennas. Note: most RTL-SDRs use SMA antenna connectors.
Miscellaneous Equipment
- 3 USB-A extension cables. We suggest these cables be short, as in about 6 inches long, to keep the cables manageable. Longer is okay though if that's what you have already. The RTL-SDR's won't all plug in to the Pi without some sort of extension cables, as the form factor is too large.
- Headphones or earbuds for laptop (optional, but highly recommended)
Laptop
You will need a laptop in order to configure the Pi. Bloominglabs will provide laptops for the workshop, or you may bring your own. If bringing your own, try to have the following:
- An SSH client, such at Putty or openssh
- WiFi
- A free USB-A port (or a way to adapt to one from USB-C)
Registration
Registration for this workshop is now open. Please have all of the required equipment on-hand, or at least ordered, prior to signing up for the workshop (see list above).
Hosting Workshops
If you wish to host a workshop please look at Hosting_workshops.
