Be a HSBNE Member

Welcome to HSBNE!

Our space might be a little overwhelming at first, so we've created this manual as a rough guide to help you get the most out of the community we've created.

We hope that this guide will help you better understand how HSBNE is organised, answer common questions and provide direction on how to get the most out of the resources HSBNE has to offer.

This manual is a guide to all members of our community; from first-time visitors to founding members. Feel free to edit and contribute information to this guide. HSBNE is a dynamic space and we expect this guide to be as equally as dynamic.

If you have questions not addressed in this Manual, please also check our FAQ or email exec@HSBNE.org.

HSBNE is an open community workshop democratically operated by our membership. We are friendly community of tinkerers, makers, engineers, educators, scientists, artists, hackers and overall geeks. Anyone who is, aspires to be, or just wants to hang around smart, creative, friendly mad scientist maker/hackers is welcome at HSBNE! We've got lots of cool tools and equipment. We've got a lot of really bright and creative people. We like to work on (and show off) fun and challenging technical projects.

HSBNE strives to promote an open and welcoming culture. We like the fact that we're a public resource for the community. To keep this kind of openness in our community, it takes a little more effort in a social sense to keep things running smoothly. Being part of an open community can be a challenge sometimes. Try to display a little extra politeness, a little extra patience, a little extra cleanliness and a little extra friendliness.

Our primary policy is to “Be Excellent to Eachother.” If you're not being excellent to your other members, expect to get called out for it. And if you don't know whether or not something you're doing is excellent, odds are, it isn't.

We have also made a specific commitment in our Safe Space Policy to call out oppressive, discriminative or degrading behaviour, so please make sure to be aware of what you're saying and to whom.

HSBNE is a non-profit organisation. We collect dues from our membership to pay rent, utilities, insurance and maintenance of the space. Any funds left over are used for tools and consumables for HSBNE.

HSBNE has a 5 member Executive elected by membership. The Executive fulfil the roles required by Australian Incorporation law and oversee the operation of HSBNE. All of the executive are volunteers and are not compensated financially. The executive can be contacted by emailing exec@hsbne.org.

HSBNE has an Open Night every Tuesday at 5pm. This is best time to come by the space to find out what's happening and meet our community.

We keep a calendar of other upcoming meetings and events at http://hsbne.org.

Safety is the responsibility of each and every person at HSBNE. You are especially responsible for your own safety, but if you see others being unsafe, tell them!

It should go without saying, but if you don't know how to use a tool, don't use it! If you want to learn how to use a tool, ask around, and wait for someone to teach you! If you're alone in the Hackerspace, it is advisable to refrain from using dangerous tools.

First aid kits are located in the Green Room, near the kitchen. There are additional first aid kits in the shed. Fire extinguishers are littered throughout the space. Make yourself aware of the location of fire extinguishers, they should all be in plain sight.

There are two breaker boxes in the Hackerspace. The first one is in the main building in the store room between Member Storage and the Hangout Lounge. The other one is in the middle of the big shed building, accessible via a door on the rear side facing the road. This one should never need to be used as it supplies power to the entire site, including other nearby buildings, and turning it off needlessly will make us unpopular with the landlord.

HSBNE is a dynamic space with potential hazards requiring a mature attitude towards safety. Due to the nature of this environment (and the extra precaution required), unattended minors under the age of 18 are prohibited from HSBNE, except when accompanied by a legal guardian at all times.

Although HSBNE allows accompanied minors, keep in mind that we do not make any effort to maintain a kid-friendly environment. They are present entirely at your own discretion and are entirely your responsibility.

For most activities, you should plan to bring your own consumables. HSBNE has an ample supply of basic needs, but anything large or specialised will not likely be found at the space.

All parts in the electronics parts containers in the Green room are free. There is a sign marking them as free. These drawers contain resistors, capacitors, LEDs, and some semiconductors. The drawers are labelled, and contain items such as tape, glue, zip-ties, soldering equipment, hot-glue.

Items in the boneyard are also free.

There is a parts store located in the vending machine. Eventually this will be a web-connected store. This is a work in progress by some members.

Cool Soft Drinks are located in the vending machines in the lobby. Free filtered drinking water is available from the water cooler in the kitchen.

HSBNE is a non-profit, and will accept your donations of equipment or money. We accept all electronic and electromechanical equipment, except CRT monitors, or items containing CRT monitors. However, keep in mind that we are not an e-waste dumping site as we have to pay for proper disposal of anything we don't use, and we only accept equipment donations that are usable (or in a few cases for large equipment, easily repairable and worth repairing). Donations should be made to HSBNE Inc. For more details on the rules of donations, see the Donations page. If you have any questions, contact exec@HSBNE.org

HSBNE has a variety of tools that all have a home that they should return to so that members can find them after you're done. Additionally there are a number of specialist tools that can be particularly dangerous if used incorrectly and require induction before use. These will have a QR Barcode on them linking to the wiki page with more info on how to get inducted and various training materials.

HSBNE consists of about 6000 square feet of work area, of which about 2000 square feet is climate controlled.

The Green Room Building also contains the lounge area, kitchen and bathrooms. Most of the action at HSBNE takes place here, including most meetings, classes, and general work activity. This area contains the repraps, laser cutter, and most hand tools.

The games area includes couches, game consoles, several TVs and a refurbished MAME cabinet loaned to us by Lionel (thanks Lionel!).

The kitchen includes a sink, counter space, microwave, toaster oven, cabinets, and a fridge. Feel free to use this equipment to cook delicious food but please make sure to clean up after yourself using the provided dishwasher. We don't want ants, cockroaches or even rats infesting the Hackerspace.

Bathrooms should be self-explanatory. They're located in the main building at the end of the hallway. Note that they are considered “outside” our space as they need to be accessible to the other tenants we share with, so you will need your swipe card to re-enter the main building again. Supplies for the bathrooms are located in the antechamber room to the Womens toilets, or in the Green room in a cupboard underneath the bench next to the Doom shelves and the Quad door.

We provide limited temporary on-site storage to Members so you don't have to carry everything related to your projects to & from the Hackerspace every time you visit. This is in the form of tubs in the Members Storage room, which is the room opposite the classroom. Keep in mind that this storage is only available if you're a paid-up member, and if your membership lapses your items may be removed and boneyarded/binned. Each member is provided a tub upon joining - additional tubs are $20 up front for the tub and $5/month for every month it's used. While access to this room is logged and we do have a security camera in there, keep in mind that we cannot guarantee the security of anything you store in there. Please be conscious of our limited space, and only store items that you will use. And don't forget to shut the door!

There is more storage area for large projects out in the quad area and on the hardstand. Make sure you fill out a green ticket to use these areas.

The storage room is also home to the keys for other secured areas such as the gas bottles and the boneyard. These keys are hanging high on the wall at the lounge end of the storage room. The keys each have keyrings indicating what are for.

The boneyard is in a container beyond the Wood Shop, filled with all sorts of wonderful recyclable things. Please make sure to clean up after yourself in here!

The Wood Shop contains many woodworking tools, including a tablesaw, drop saw, band saw, lathe and various woodworking tools.

The metal shop includes a huge turret mill, two lathes of varying sizes, and general metalworking equipment (linishers etc).

Tuesday night is the best time to drop by to have a look at the space and meet its members as this is when we have our open nights. We don't limit you on the number of times you can visit on the open nights but ask that you are honestly making any benefit from open nights that you sign up as a member. We have rent & electricity we gotta pay and if we don't earn enough money, the space will close.

Above all else, be excellent to each other.

Fun is the prime directive. Keep things fun.

• All people like to be around things that are fun.
• All people tend to avoid things and events that are not fun.
• Therefore the best way to keep attendance and occupancy up is to keep things fun. Fair Warning: Using the collective 'we' or 'we should' can quickly get you deputised.
• This is meant to be a playful way of avoiding 'diffusion of responsibility'. Sometimes when people say “We should _!”, what they really mean is “Someone besides myself should _!”
• Being deputised doesn't mean you have to do it yourself. But, it does mean you should lead the charge, find people to help you, and cajole them as necessary (free beer or home-baked cookies) to make it happen.
• When scheduling something; pick an arbitrary date to start negotiations, thereby avoiding arbitrary non-starting negotiations. Sometimes the hardest part of organising is finding the 'best' time to do it.
• There is never a 'best time' that works for everyone.
• Once a date is set, everything else quickly falls into place. The less rules the better. Don't try to solve problems we don't have.
• We rely on a culture of openness, friendliness and mutual respect.
• If you have a conflict with some aspect of the space or a member, we expect you to try and resolve it with the member on a personal level first. If that is not achievable, then find a neutral member to help mediate the conflict.
• We do have a sports-like infraction system. Infractions are a documentation approach for conflict resolution and can result in termination of membership (If a members conduct is completely out of line, or if the card system is misused).

Membership gives you the following rights:

• Voting Rights (meetings)
• 24×7 access to space, you get an RFID key
• Access to all equipment owned, donated or loaned to HSBNE
• Induction in the use of our specialist tools and then use of them.
• Ability to sponsor new members
• Ability to sponsor Parking Tickets/Permits

Membership is $60 a month for full members, $30 for students/unemployed and $55 for full members if paying 3 months or more at once.

• Please read the Bylaws before becoming a member, so you have an understanding of how we operate procedurally.
• To show interest in becoming a member, come to an open night and have a look! On the night you will be able to give us your details via the Welcome Centre and we will then begin the induction process.
• Membership currently has the following requirements:

1. Successfully complete the site induction and agree to the code of conduct/rules/bylaws.
2. Have three executives verify a photo ID and your induction.
3. Pay your dues once accepted.

Attribs: This originated from LVL1's manual at wiki.LVL1.org/Manual