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MERG East Midlands Area Group News

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Joint area group coordinators - Brian Norris, Pete Brownlow and John Gowers

To send us an email, use the MERG East Midlands Area Group contact form.

For MERG members, you might also like to look at our area group forum.


MAY 2018 MERG East Midlands area group meeting

Saturday 26th May 2018 from 9:30

Kindly hosted by the Nene Valley Railway in their Study Centre meeting room at Wansford

Thanks to Russ Jenner for organising the venue for us.

These arrangements are provisional, as some details still have to be finalised with the speakers.

AGENDA

With lots of good stuff on the agenda, We've gone for a slightly earlier start - since most people usually get there early anyway!


  • 09:00 Members arrival, Informal chat and get to know the other members
  • 09:30 Introductions and group news
  • 09:45 Introduction to the CBUS CANMIO - Pete Brownlow
  • 10:00 The Universal CANMIO firmware - Ian Hogg
  • 11:00 Coffee Break
  • 11:30 MERG Kit news - Judi Rastall
  • 12:00 Lunch (early as the NVR cafe may be busy)
  • 13:00 3D printing - Howard Watkins
  • 14:30 Split out for afternoon practical clinics:
    • Setting up the Universal CANMIO with Ian Hogg
    • 3D printing with Howard Watkins
    • General kit problem solving with the usual team

We will ask for £2 per head to cover the room hire cost and £1 each in the “honesty box” will cover as many teas and coffees as you want all day. This money will all go to the Nene Valley Railway.

Kits will be available for purchase. If you have specific requirements, then it would be best to pre-order what you want from the kit locker for collection at the meeting, as Judi can only bring a selection of stock to the meeting.

The NVR cafe will be open from about 8:30 for bacon butties or full breakfast, and also open at lunchtime. However, as it is a bank holiday running weekend at NVR, it may be very busy. For that reason, we have scheduled lunch early, and we may make arrangements to pre-order during the morning.

The meeting room is step-free accessible. If you need a disabled parking space reserved close up, please let us know.

For those who would like to come by train, we can arrange to collect you from Peterborough station or, if you can get there early enough, I can collect from Wellingborough station on my way to the meeting about 7:30am.

If you would like to come, please send an email to eastmids@merg.org.uk or post a message in the East Midlands Area group section of the MERG forum. You will get a reply in due course with full address details and directions to the venue.

Members from outside the East Midlands are always welcome at our meetings, as are visitors. Please just let us know you are coming so we can plan for the numbers expected.


FEBRUARY 2018 MERG East Midlands area group meeting

Sunday 4th Febrary 2018 from 10:00

Kindly hosted by the Syston Model Railway Society at their clubrooms at The Old School Community Centre, Thurmaston, Leicestershire

Thanks to SMRS and MERG member Mike Collins for arranging this venue for us.

Due to when the venue is available, we are trying a Sunday this time. The Pros are that members who have Saturday commitments, such as football fans or those working in retail, might be able to get along. The downside is that the local chip shop is not open on a Sunday, so you'll need to bring a packed lunch, and arriving by train might be more difficult due to Sunday services starting later than on a Saturday.

Collection can be arranged from Syston station for those who would like to come by train.

Tea and coffee will be available.

We will ask for a donation of £2 per head to cover the room hire.

The meeting room is on the ground floor and easily accessible. The clubrooms housing the SMRS layouts are upstairs.

AGENDA

The meeting will be informal and flexible, so these are approximate times:

  • 10:00 Arrival, Informal chat and get to know the other members
  • 10:30 Welcome to SMRS - by Mike Collins
  • 10:35 Introductions and group news
  • 11:00 Update on progress with my new automated layout by Colin Head
  • 11:30 Tea/coffee break (or recovery time if we are running late)
  • 11:45 Kit locker update - Judi Rastall
  • 12:15 What's new and coming soon in JMRI latest versions - Pete Brownlow
  • 13:00 Lunch - Bring your own

Also a chance to see the SMRS layouts on site

  • 14:00 Making it work - practical sessions using members projects, MERG kits or anything else.
  • 16:30 Wrap-up discussion, confirm next meeting and thanks to our hosts
  • 16:35 Carry on with anything else we havn't fixed yet until we get thown out!

Kits will be available for purchase. If you have specific requirements, then it would be best to pre-order what you want from the kit locker for collection at the meeting, as Judi can only bring a selection of stock to the meeting.

For the practical sessions, as we have done before, if you have built something and would like any help and advice, please bring it along and we'll work on it with you as a demonstration for everyone.

If you already know what you want help on for this session, please email the details in advance so we can gen-up on it and look like we know what we are talking about!

If we didn't quite have time to get your project properly sorted at the last meeting, please bring it along again and you will be top of the list.

If you would like to come, please send an email to eastmids@merg.org.uk or post a message in the East Midlands Area group section of the MERG forum. You will get a reply in due course with full address details, directions to the venue and parking information. Let us know if you need a lift from the station.

MERG members and visitors from anywhere are always welcome at our meetings, you don't have to live in the East Midlands to come!


Details of previous East Midlands Area Group meetings

public/eastmids.1522966064.txt.gz · Last modified: 2018/04/05 22:07 by PeteB

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