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Table of Contents
| Next Meeting |
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| There are 1696 days 10:39 since the next Virtual Meeting (10:00 BST on 27-August-2019) |
MERG Virtual Area Group
To send us an email, use the MERG Area Group contact form
For MERG members, you might also like to look at our area group forum.
Area Group Coordinator
Allan Geekie M5173
How It Works
This group now uses Zoom to conduct a group meeting from member's homes or workplaces. It was formed in October 2018 to assess the usefulness of video conferencing technology.
The calls last one hour and to participate, members need a mobile phone, tablet or a PC / Mac with a camera and microphone.
In order to join the group you need to send an email to Allan at vag@merg.org.uk.
Calls are scheduled in advance and are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 11:00GMT or 10:00BST. Agendas are agreed in advance.
When it is time to start a call, a voice and video conference is opened up which has thumbnails of each video participant and any shared presentations or desktops. The call leader facilitates the call and the discussions and tries to get through the agenda in the agreed time. Zoom has two views available. The first is the speaker view which selects the video stream from the person speaking. The second is Gallery view which shows streams from all participants. THese streams are larger than the thumbnails.
Members are participating from:-
- Australia
- Canada
- Iceland
- Ireland
- UK
- USA.
Members can access the presentation material here.
If you would like to try out Zoom, then there is a test meeting service where you are the only participant and you can experiment with the various options available.
This link is available to anybody, not just members of the virtual area group.
Next Meeting
There are 1696 days 10:39 since the next Virtual Meeting (10:00 BST on 27-August-2019)
The proposed agenda is as follows
13th August
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| DC Control | Discussion | 45 | An opportunity to discuss the forgotten world of DC control |
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
Once you have confirmed with the leader that you wish to participate, you will receive a reminder email on the day before the call and a second email 10 minutes before the call with a link to enable you to join the call.
Future Meetings in 2019
Calls are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 11:00GMT or 10:00BST. The calls scheduled for 2019 are listed in theMERG Meeting Programme.
Currently the group have agreed the meetings until the end of June, there are calendar entries up to the end of September but these may change.
Agendas exist for some future meetings - these may change.
I've scheduled some discussions over the holiday season so that we can deal more easily with fluctuation numbers of participants.
27th August
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| Station Destination Boards | Discussion | 45 | An opportunity to discuss hardware and messaging systems |
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
10th September
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| JOurnal Feedback | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| TTH CANCAB | Ian Hart | 45 | Ian will summarise the work he has been doing on a through the hole CANCAB and other projects on his workbench |
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
24th September
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| Getting Started with PlatformIO | Dave McCabe | 45 | What is PlatformIO |
| PlatformIO initial configuration | |||
| Compiling code | |||
| Flashing using ST-Link | |||
| Debugging | |||
| Using ST-LInk intro using PlatformIOUnifiedDebuger | |||
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
There is a standby list of topics that appear regularly:-
- MERG Update
- Last Journal
- Our Layouts
- Our Projects
- Helping Beginners
- Kit Surgery
- 3D Printing
- Blue Pill Microcontrollers.
Previous Meetings in 2019
9th July
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| Signalling Objects for CBUS | Dave Turner | 55 | The aims of this White Paper are as follows |
| 1 To make configuration and documentation of an interlocked system easier | |||
| 2 To add the following higher level functionality to the existing CBUS messaging system | |||
| - System initialisation | |||
| - Interlocking of modelled signalling items | |||
| - Route reservation, locking and release | |||
| - Reporting of operational errors |
25th June
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| General Discussion | All | 45 | CANEMPTY, 3D Printing Java FCU, Rocrail, stiction controllers, wifi controllers, CBUS module reset and Duncan's latest servo setter. |
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
11th June
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journal Feedback | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| DCC Decoder for Under a Fiver | Duncan Greenwood | 45 | Duncan will talk about the work he has been doing on hardware and firmware for a DCC loco decoder |
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
28th May
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| On my Workbench | Discussion | 25 | What are we all working on. |
| CBUS - long messages 2 | Discussion | 20 | Potential solutions |
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
14th May
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| Blue Pill Talks to CUS | Dave McCabe | 45 | Dave takes up the challenge to show how a simple program on a Blue Pill module can communicate with CBUS |
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
23 April
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Etiquette | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| PMP Project Ideas | Discussion | 25 | What would we like to see as future PMP projects? |
| CBUS - long messages 1 | Discussion | 20 | Problem Definition |
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
9th April
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| Workbenches | Discussion | 25 | What are members working on at the moment? |
| Layouts | Discussion | 20 | Share information on the layouts we are contributing to |
| Burning Topics | Discussion | 10 | Does anybody need some help? |
26th March
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| From the Workbench | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| Getting Started with Blue Pill Microcontrollers | Dave McC | 25 | Quick intro to Blue PIll( inc schmatic ) |
| Arduino IDE | |||
| Blue pill config | |||
| Compiling code | |||
| Flashing using ST-Link | |||
| Debugging | |||
| Any Questions | Discussion | 10 | Let us all try and help one another with any 'burning platforms' |
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | What topics would we like to discuss in future calls |
12th March
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Journal | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| CBUS | TBA | 40 | TBA to include Layouts with large numbers of modules |
| Any Questions | Discussion | 10 | Let us all try and help one another with any 'burning platforms' |
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | What topics would we like to discuss in future calls |
26th February
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MERG Update | Allan | 5 | Feedback from last committee meeting |
| 3D Printing | Howard | 40 | (1) Filament |
| * Makes | |||
| * Types | |||
| * Storage | |||
| (2) Creating a model | |||
| * Design Software | |||
| * Correction software | |||
| * Slicing software | |||
| (3) Printing in more than one colours | |||
| * Change filament at certain depth | |||
| * Separate objects glued together | |||
| * Multi material | |||
| (4) 3D Printers | |||
| * Makes | |||
| * Bed Levelling | |||
| * Nozzles | |||
| (5) What can go wrong (if time permits)? | |||
| Any Questions | Discussion | 10 | Let us all try and help one another with any 'burning platforms' |
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | What topics would we like to discuss in future calls |
12th February
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interesting Forum Threads | Discussion | 5 | Initial discussion while members join the call |
| A MERG Newsletter | Discussion | 25 | Discussion about a new way of communicating with members |
| Helping Beginners | Allan | 15 | Discussion about what beginners need to know about resistance |
| Any Questions | Discussion | 10 | Let us all try and help one another with any 'burning platforms' |
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | What topics would we like to discuss in future calls |
22nd January
| Item | Leader | Minutes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MERG Update | Allan Geekie | 5 | Feedback from last committee meeting |
| Layouts | Discussion | 25 | Updates from the group on the electronics on the layouts they are working on |
| Projects | Discussion | 25 | Projects from the group's workbenches |
| Future Topics | Discussion | 5 | What topics would we like to discuss in future calls |