New Members

Congratulations on joining us! As an actual member, you should have received a link to a PDF explaining most aspects of the space, but this page can help too.

As a member of Nottingham Hackspace, you are entitled to quite a few benefits. Some of them require you to jump a hurdle or two to set up, but we try to make those hurdles as low as possible!

Many things at the Hackspace are organised by a board of seven volunteers, follow that link and approach the relevant one if you have any related issues.

Rules

Please make sure you're familiar with the Hackspace Rules.

Locations

See the getting to the space page.

About the Space

Main article: About Nottinghack

Access

As a member, you can get 24/7 access to the hackspace. There are a bunch of doors between us and the street though. Some barriers have physical keys, others have slightly more hi-tech locking solutions. The access page has the most up to date details of how to get in whenever you want. Keys are available for a deposit.

WiFi

WiFi is available for members 24/7. Guest wifi is available for non-members between 18:00 and 21:00 on open hack nights.

Storage

See also: Storage Hierarchy

Any member is entitled to keep a 35 litre box at the space. Boxes are supplied at cost (£5) by the hackspace, this ensures they're consistent and can stack. Any box bought becomes your property. The best way to get one is to pay in cash at an open hack night, or when you're in the space with a board member. If you have a box, we ask that you put you real name on it (The board member who sorts your box will get the label maker out for you). Some members also put their Twitter names on their boxes too.

Sometimes, a project is too big to go in a member's box. If so, follow the process laid out on the Large Project Storage page.

Consumables

In the Hackspace, you'll see stores of things like wood, metal, and electronics components. There are also boxes full of general hardware, enclosures, etc. Additionally, there are two large grey plastic boxes in the members store room, full of things you can help yourself to for projects, or put things in that you don’t want but think might be useful to others. All of these resources are free for members to use, we just ask a couple of things: Donate any offcuts you're not using (no matter how small) rather than throwing them away, and don't take too much. "Too much" is down to members' judgment.

Tools

Main article: Tools

We have a lot of tools here that are all free for members to use, but some of them are dangerous power tools, and some of them are on long-term loan rather than belonging to the space. If in doubt, or if you've never used a particular tool before, ask someone how to use it safely. It’s very important to your personal safety and the ongoing use of the hackspace that you don’t mess with dangerous equipment if you’re not trained to use it. When using equipment, warn the people around you and brief them to act safely if you feel it necessary. Look after the tools, and please put stuff back after you've finished using it.

Donations

Main article: Donations

No one is obliged to make any donations above their membership fee, but people often do. These range from spare change through to leftovers from projects, or old equipment. For money, there are donation pots throughout the space. For equipment and things you think others might find useful, there are two large, grey boxes on the racking in the members store room, labelled to be emptied on given months. Any of the things in these boxes are free to be scavenged or cannibalised by members for their projects. Each month, one of the boxes is emptied and parts recovered sorted into storage. Anything deemed to be useless is sent to the tip.

Pledge Drives

From time to time, you may see pledge drives spring up on the hackspace mailing list. You can ignore these if you want, they exist simply to serve members interests. The tools wishlist is always much bigger than the hackspace can afford, but pledges can allow the space to acquire things it might not under other circumstances.

Facilities at the space are directed by the interests of members, especially where large, obscure things or expensive specialist tools are concerned. For instance, in the past we’ve had pledge drives for a Vending Machine, an Xbox Kinect camera, a DIY CNC machine, and replacement parts for a knitting machine.

Snackspace

There is a vending machine in the studio and a fridge in the kitchen that are stocked with snacks and drinks. Everything can be paid for using the vending machine, which accepts both coins and our own cashless device, which uses membership cards to track balances. The cashless device draws from members' Snackspace/tools balance and can be topped up using the note acceptor or money jar in the members' storage area. Prices for snacks and drinks are clearly displayed in the vending machine.

Tea and coffee are free to members, but you’ll probably have to provide your own milk, and there is a donations jar in the kitchen if you’d like to contribute any extra toward them.

Children

The Hackspace welcomes children, but please be aware that it is primarily an adult environment. While of course we won’t be screening porn or having strippers in the space, outside of workshops specifically aimed at kids, members might not be watching their language. Additionally, the space has some very dangerous tools and potentially dangerous chemicals around.

Under 16s have to be accompanied by an adult, and are expected to be engaged with the space in some way, i.e. working on a project of some kind while they’re here. Periodically, we do have events specifically for children.

Online

There are a bunch of things online, such as members blogs, and this Wiki.

Slack

There is an active Slack group primarily as a place where the various NottingHack Teams can communicate, but open to all members who want to join in discussions about what's going on in the space, and many discussions around ongoing jobs and improvements.

Google Group

The public mailing list for communications, reporting any issues with equipment, announcing upcoming events, swapping materials etc.

Our Blog

All members are able to post moderated posts onto the hackspace blog if they like. Your posts will have to be moderated by one of the content editors.

Your Blog

You can have your personal blog included in Planet Nottinghack, an aggregation of member's blogs. To get your blog on it, follow the instructions on the Planet page.

Wiki

You already know what the Wiki is (you are here!). You can log in with your HMS details to edit it.

Social Media

We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook

Questions

If you have any questions or requests, the best places to ask are the public group (unless your question involves confidential stuff), Slack, or in person at the Open Hack night, which is every Wednesday from 18:30. Occasionally, everyone disappears to the pub sometime between 22:00 and 23:00, usually the Moot Hall, and if that’s closed, Bunker’s Hill Inn beside the National Ice Centre.

Membership enquires are handled by the membership team. Email membership@nottinghack.org.uk if you have any questions.

We'd like to emphasise that the Hackspace is your space as much as it's everyone else's. Just like every other member, you're paying a share of the running costs for the Hackspace. We strongly encourage you to get to know other members, ask questions and talk a bit about your own projects on the Google group.

We look forward to seeing you at the space more!