The SaddleBrooke Computer Club conducts a “Tech Café” for its more experienced members. Tech Café is a breakfast discussion group, hosted by Steve Solberg, that meets twice a month. Attendees can purchase their own meal and participate in the discussions. Meetings take place in the MountainView Grill’s east room. The topics are informal and are generally more advanced than the normal educational opportunities offered by the club. Topics may range from technology that you use every day to something new.
The Computer Club is focused on teaching technology through classroom events and informing the community about new technologies that are of benefit to them.
The club also has monthly scheduled “Tech Talks.” Tech Talks focus on bringing information on a wide range of technology to all residents of SaddleBrooke through presentations and discussions by local and invited experts. Look for our schedule of these presentations on the club’s website at saddlebrookecc.org.
There will be a Tech Talk on Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. in the DesertView Performing Arts Center. The topic will be “New Technology: Smart Telescopes,” and it is open to all residents of SaddleBrooke.
There was a time when only professional astronomers using giant or space telescopes could take photographs of deep sky objects such as galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. During the last few years, inexpensive new technology has come on the market: smart scopes. These compact, combo telescope and camera packages are run by smartphone apps, automatically know where everything is in the sky, and save beautiful photos to your iPhone or Android phone.
Richard Spitzer, vice president of the SaddleBrooke Computer Club and organizer of Star Parties in SaddleBrooke for the SaddleBrooke SkyGazers Astronomy Club, will talk about smart scopes in general, demonstrate his Seestar S50 smart scope, and show photos he has taken with it.
There will be another Tech Talk on Jan. 20, 2025, at 1 p.m. in the DesertView Performing Arts Center, open to all residents of SaddleBrooke. The topic will be “Building the Future: Integrating Fiber-to-the-Home with Electric Distribution Lines for Smart Grid and High-Speed Broadband.” The presenter will be Brian Heithoff, CEO at Trico Electric Cooperative.
In this presentation, Brian Heithoff will explore the exciting possibilities of building a multi-purpose fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network that not only powers the next generation of smart grid technologies but also delivers high-speed, symmetrical broadband services.
The session will cover the following:
• Smart Grid Integration: Learn how fiber optics can seamlessly integrate with electric distribution lines to enable two-way communication between utilities and smart devices, improving grid reliability, efficiency, and resilience. Discover how this innovative approach enhances real-time monitoring, remote control, and predictive maintenance for both the electric grid and connected devices.
• High-Speed Broadband Services: Understand how this network infrastructure can provide fast, reliable Internet access for homes and businesses, transforming communities by offering symmetrical upload and download speeds, perfect for today’s digital economy.
• Benefits of Convergence: Find out how combining smart grid and broadband services into one unified network can create cost efficiencies, support sustainable growth, and help meet the rising demand for connectivity and energy innovation.