What I Saw at My First Maker Faire:

Technology Editor Lou Frenzel was a maker long before the term ever existed, but what does he think about the namesake movement? Last week, I finally went to a Maker Faire to see what all the excitement's about. The Faire is a two-day event put on by Maker Media, the publisher of Make magazine. Its audience is a mix of do-it-yourselfers, hobbyists, experimenters, and students -- or makers, as they're called. Simply put, makers are a mix of adults and kids of all ages who like building things and experimenting. Such DIYers have always existed, but for the past decade there's been a resurgence in the participation of individuals making stuff. Called the maker movement, it includes anyone interested in making things involving electronics, woodworking, metal working, 3D printing, computers, and any other technical thing (like robots or drones). Makers build things from scratch, or else hack and/or repurpose existing items. Basically, anything goes. I've been a maker for years. I started when I got my first ham license while in junior high. And I'm still actively making. Recently I built a power supply kit for my work bench. I am also building a low-power (QRP) ham transmitter good for about 2 watts on 40 meters (7 MHz band). And I am experimenting with some different antennas -- a major maker effort. I did get an Arduino computer recently, but as I'm a lousy C programmer, it doesn't get much attention (despite the potential).

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