Knowledgebase

User Tools

Site Tools

You are here: start » public » westmids
public:westmids

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revisionPrevious revision
Next revision		Previous revision
public:westmids [2020/08/03 11:39] – uppermillpublic:westmids [2024/02/15 09:41] (current) – [How do you meet?] allan_gardner
Line 12: Line 12:
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
-<WRAP box round centeralign button> +<WRAP box round> 
-\\ +<WRAP group> 
-[[:public:areagroups|Area Groups]] [[:public:start|Public pages]] [[https://www.merg.org.uk/index.php|MERG Home page]] </WRAP>+<WRAP column quarter> 
 +[[https://www.merg.org.uk/index.php|MERG Home page]]                      
 +</WRAP> 
 +<WRAP column quarter> 
 +[[https://www.merg.org.uk/content/areagroups|Area Groups]] 
 +</WRAP> 
 +<WRAP column quarter> 
 +[[https://www.merg.org.uk/content/knowledgebase|More on our Knowledgebase]] 
 +</WRAP> 
 +<WRAP column quarter> 
 +[[areagroups:wmag:start|Group Members Page]]                          
 +</WRAP> 
 +</WRAP> 
 +</WRAP>
  
 <WRAP hide> <WRAP hide>
Line 26: Line 39:
 ===== How do I contact the Area Group ===== ===== How do I contact the Area Group =====
    
-<WRAP hide> +<WRAP help round button>
-*************************************************************************** +
-Replace NN with the number of your area group - get from the AG admin page. +
-Update the contact form title. +
-*************************************************************************** +
-</WRAP> +
-<WRAP help round button> +
 \\ \\
-[[https://www.merg.org.uk/areagroup.php?area=17|MERG West Midlands Area Group contact form]]+Please indicate West Midlands Area Group in your message **[[https://www.merg.org.uk/contactus.php?t=1&n=17|Contact MERG]]**
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
- 
 ===== Who is the leader of the group? ===== ===== Who is the leader of the group? =====
  
Line 58: Line 64:
 <WRAP clear></WRAP> <WRAP clear></WRAP>
  
-===== How do you meet? =====+===== Where do you meet? =====
  
 <WRAP hide> <WRAP hide>
Line 67: Line 73:
  
 <WRAP info round>  <WRAP info round> 
-In normal times we meet at the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society's premises Titford Pump House, Engine Street, OLDBURY, West Midlands B69 4NL.\\ +We meet at the[[https://bcnsociety.com/|Birmingham Canal Navigations Society's]] historic premises at 
-<WRAP button>[[https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Titford+Pumphouse/@52.4966868,-2.0095574,19z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x48709794db0b2afb:0x85f894929c8ab6f8!8m2!3d52.4966868!4d-2.0090102|Titford Pumphouse]]+\\ 
 +Titford Pump House \\ Engine Street \\ OLDBURY \\ West Midlands \\ B69 4NL.\\ 
 +<WRAP button>[[https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Titford+Pumphouse/@52.4966868,-2.0095574,19z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x48709794db0b2afb:0x85f894929c8ab6f8!8m2!3d52.4966868!4d-2.0090102|Google maps link to Titford Pumphouse]]
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
-\\ + 
-There is plenty of car parking – mostly on Engine Street, some within the Pump House compound. The address above includes a Google maps link. +There is plenty of car parking – mostly on Engine Street, some within the Pump House compound. 
  
 All facilities are at ground level.\\ All facilities are at ground level.\\
-\\ +
-We meet four times a year in January, April July and October. We hold two meetings on a Saturday and the other two on a Sunday. \\+
 </WRAP>  </WRAP> 
  
 +===== How often do you meet? =====
 +<WRAP info round>\\
 +\\ {{:subjects:msag_diary.jpg?300|Diary}} 
 +
 +We meet four times a year in January, April July and October. 
 +Usually the January and July meetings are on the second Saturday of the month, with the April and October meetings on the second Sunday. 
 +
 + \\
 +</WRAP> 
  
-<WRAP alert round 75% center> 
-**//GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS ON GATHERINGS AND TRAVEL//** Due to the restrictions we are unable to meet at the moment.  We have a meeting scheduled for October but clearly we remain in uncertain times. 
-</WRAP> 
  
 ===== What does the group get up to? ===== ===== What does the group get up to? =====
 <WRAP box round leftalign> <WRAP box round leftalign>
  
-Our days meeting normally starts at 10:00 am and concludes at 16:00. +Our day's meeting starts at 10:00 am and concludes at 16:00.  **See below for details of our next meeting.** 
  
 The day is split into two parts.   The day is split into two parts.  
  
-The morning session is more formal in so far as we have one or more guest speakers.  The topics are far-ranging. Take a look at the next section to see some of our previous meetings.+The morning session is more formal in so far as we have one or more guest speakers.  \\ The topics are far-ranging.     
 +[[public:wmag_gallery|Click here to view examples of previous meetings]] \\
  
 The afternoon session is informal and generally consists of: The afternoon session is informal and generally consists of:
-  - Members working on their current project (normally a KIT).  We will do our best to help with construction and problem-solving. +  - Members working on their current project (normally a Kit).  \\ We will do our best to help with construction and problem-solving. 
   - Talking to presenters about the days topic.   - Talking to presenters about the days topic.
-  - Passing the day talking all thing model railway electronics.  +  - Bring along something you are working on, even if its work in progress and share it with others  
 +  - Passing the day talking about all thing model railway electronics.  
  
-We charge a modest £3 for the day which we donate to our venue host for the use of the Pumphouse.+We charge £5 for the day which goes to the BCN Society for the use of the pump house.
  
-We do not charge for tea and coffee or the various superb cake that is kindly supplied by one of our members' wives.+We do not charge for tea, coffee or the superb cakes that are kindly supplied by one of our members' wives.
  
  
Line 107: Line 122:
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
-===== What Have We Done Previously? ==+===== What have we have been up to previously? ==
    
 <WRAP box round> <WRAP box round>
 <WRAP borderlesstable> <WRAP borderlesstable>
-|[[public:wmag_gallery|Click here for a Gallery of events]]|+|[[public:wmag_gallery|Click here to view details of previous meetings]]| 
 + 
 +{{:playground:wm_jan2019_doug.jpg?200|}} {{:playground:wm_jan2019_1.jpg?250|}} {{:playground:wm_colin.jpg?250|}}     {{:areagroups:wmag:colin_mitchell_auto_crossing_gates.jpg?200|}}
  
-{{:playground:wm_jan2019_doug.jpg?200|}} {{:playground:wm_jan2019_1.jpg?250|}} {{:playground:wm_colin.jpg?250|}} 
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
Line 122: Line 138:
  
  
-===== And the Next Meeting? =====+===== Our Next Meeting including exhibitions where MERG are in attendance? =====
  
 <WRAP box round borderlesstable>  <WRAP box round borderlesstable> 
Line 128: Line 144:
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
- +===== Programme for our next Meeting? =====
-===== What is Happening Online? ===== +
 <WRAP box round borderlesstable>  <WRAP box round borderlesstable> 
- +|**Time**|**Description**|**Who** | 
-{{:public:msag_zoom_icon.png?30 |Zoom online Meetings}} Currently, WMAG members are participating in the Zoom calls being organised by the nearby East Midlands, Warwickshire and North Oxfordshire and the Virtual area groups. +|10:00| Coffee & Registration |All| 
- +|10:15| Welcome |AG| 
-Some forthcoming activities are as follows: - +|10:30| Talk 1.   | | 
- +|11:30| Coffee, Tea,& Cake Break| All| 
-===== East Midlands Area Group ===== +|11:45| Talk 2  | | 
- +|13:00| Lunch| All| 
-The East Midlands Area Group hosts a very popular call once per month. +|13:30| Practical session 1     |All| 
- +|14:30| Tea, Coffee & Cake Break | All| 
-<ORG34>ALL|60|2|NO</ORG34> +|14:45| Practical session 2  |All| 
- +|15:45| Clear Up  || 
-===== Warwickshire and North Oxfordshire Area Group ===== +|16:00| Meeting close ||  
-Our colleagues at Warwick and North Oxford AG are holding  biweekly virtual meetings on a Wednesday evening.   East Midlands AG are also holding monthly virtual all-day meeting. The schedule of both these groups is given below.   If you are interested in attending these groups sign up here and select ‘join area group’. +
- +
-<ORG34>ALL|60|23|NO</ORG34> +
- +
-===== Virtual Area Group ===== +
- +
-The Virtual Area Group offers short one hour presentations and discussions every week. Active participants call in from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Icelend, UK and USA. +
- +
-<ORG34>ALL|30|28|NO</ORG34> +
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
 ===== What Local Organisations do we work with? ===== ===== What Local Organisations do we work with? =====
Line 171: Line 175:
  \\  \\
 [[https://www.warley-mrc.org.uk/|Warley Model Railway Club]]\\ [[https://www.warley-mrc.org.uk/|Warley Model Railway Club]]\\
 +\\
 +[[http://www.cradleyheathmrc.co.uk|Cradley Heath Model Railway Club]]\\
 +\\
 +[[http://www.trmg.webs.com | Telford Railway Modellers Group]]
 +
  
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
  
-====== MERG West Midlands Area Group ======+===== What is Happening at other MERG Area Groups ? =====
  
 +<WRAP box round borderlesstable> 
  
-[[public:areagroups|Return to Area Groups News]]\\  +Here are some of the activities being organised by the nearby East Midlands and Warwickshire & North Oxfordshire area groups.
-[[:public:start|Index to other public pages]]\\  +
-[[https://www.merg.org.uk/index.php|MERG Home page]]\\  +
-==== Contact Us ====+
  
 +===== East Midlands Area Group =====
  
 +The East Midlands Area Group hosts a very popular call once per month.
  
-To contact us use the [[https://www.merg.org.uk/areagroup.php?area=17|MERG West Midlands Area Group contact form.]]\\ +<ORG34>ALL|60|2|NO</ORG34>
- +
-For MERG members, you might also like to look at our [[https://www.merg.org.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=110|area group forum.]] +
- +
-==== Co-ordinator ==== +
- +
-Allan Gardner +
- +
-======  MEETINGS  ====== +
- +
- +
- +
- +
-//<color #ed1c24>The July meeting of the West Midlands Area Group has been cancelled</color>.  See below :// +
-  +
- +
- +
-====== Important information about our next meeting ====== +
- +
-**In the view of the ongoing Coronavirus situation and the advice received from MERG Committee, my WMAG colleagues and I have decided to <color #ed1c24>cancel our meeting on Sunday 12th July 2020</color>. +
- +
-\\  +
-\\ So our next meeting should be Saturday 10th October (but note the weasel word indicating lack of certainty!)\\  +
-\\  +
-  +
-We shall, like many others, monitor the situation and decide whether future meetings will take place nearer the time. **  +
- ===== ===== +
- +
- +
-==== About Titford Pump House. ==== +
-   +
- +
- +
-**Titford Pump House, Engine Street, OLDBURY, West Midlands B69 4NL**. +
- +
-[[https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Titford+Pumphouse/@52.4966868,-2.0095574,19z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x48709794db0b2afb:0x85f894929c8ab6f8!8m2!3d52.4966868!4d-2.0090102|Google Map]] +
- +
- +
- +
- +
-//There is plenty of car parking – mostly on Engine Street, some within the Pump House compound. The address above includes a Google maps link. All facilities are at ground level.// +
- +
- +
-==== This quarters topics: ==== +
- +
-None - as the meeting has been cancelled. +
- +
-The rest of the programme has been left unchanged, so that the format remains for future meetings. +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
-==== Programme ==== +
- +
- +
-  +
-=== 10:00 Coffee & Registration === +
- +
-=== 10:15 Welcome Introduction: Allan Gardner === +
-  +
-//Housekeeping//: Fire exit & procedure, First aid, Toilet, Dishwasher.   +
- +
-//Other matters//  +
- +
- +
- +
- +
-=== 10.30 Talk 1   === +
- +
- +
-  +
- +
-=== 11:30 Refreshment Break === +
- +
-Tea, Coffee, and cake. +
- +
-=== 11:45 Talk 2   === +
- +
- +
-=== 12:15 Talk 3   === +
- +
- +
-=== 12.45 Discussion: Any Questions and any Answers!! === +
- +
-Opportunity to discuss things further from this morning sessions. +
- +
-=== 13:00 Lunch === +
- +
-Bring your own or eat loads of cake!  +
- +
-For Saturday meetings, there are nearby sandwich shops - for Sunday meetings, if you haven't your own sandwiches, you will need to head in to Sainsbury's in Oldbury. +
- +
-=== 13:30 Practical Workshop Session 1 === +
- +
-Our usual informal session.  Chat to colleagues or work on your current project.   We will do our best to help with construction and problem-solving.  Bring your own tools etc.  +
- +
-=== 14:30 Refreshment Break === +
- +
-=== 14:45 Practical Workshop Session 2 === +
- +
-Continuance of the practical session  +
- +
-=== 15:45 Clean up, Wash Up and close === +
- +
- +
- +
-////  +
- +
- +
-  +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
-===== Interested in attending? ===== +
- +
- +
- +
-The meeting is open to **all** MERG Members. +
- +
-To give us an idea of numbers, could you let us know you are coming by contacting me allanhgardner@gmail.com or use the MERG contact form above. +
- +
-We will need a contribution of £3 to cover the costs of the meeting. +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
-===== Meeting dates for 2020 ===== +
- +
- +
-The dates below are for the quarterly meetings for 2020. +
- +
-  * Winter - Sunday 12th January +
-  * Spring - Saturday 11th April   (This meeting was cancelled) +
-  * Summer - Sunday 12th July      (This meeting was cancelled) +
-  * Autumn - Saturday 10th October (With a bit of luck, this meeting will go ahead) +
- +
- +
-We have booked the Titford Pump House for these dates.   +
- +
- +
- +
-===== Format of Future Meetings ===== +
-  +
-We are seeking views from members with regards to the structure and format of future meetings. +
- +
- +
-The areas we would welcome comments on are: +
- +
-  - Fixing dates for the next year +
-  - Saturday or Sunday +
-  - Venue +
-  - Meeting format  +
-  - Speaker and contents +
- +
-If you have a view on any of the above, please share with the co-ordinator using the contact form above.   +
-===== Previous meetings ===== +
- +
- +
- +
-==== January 2020 ==== +
- +
- +
-David Roberts gave two talks.  +
- +
-John Fletcher talked about 'My MERG Journey' +
-==== October 2019 ==== +
- +
-John Gowers came and talked about the mechanics of a steam engine.  Capturing real sounds and applying them to your model railway +
- +
-Inserting sound chips in locos and how to use them effectively.   +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
-==== July 2019 ==== +
-Electrostatic Discharge:  What it is and Why it is Important.  David Roberts +
- +
- +
-David will explain to us what Electrostatic Discharge is, how it is caused and the damage that it can cause to modern electronic devices and systems. Simple and affordable measures to mitigate the problems will also be described.  +
- +
-The Theory and Practice of a Simple MERG Kit: David Roberts +
- +
- +
-Some of us assemble kits without knowing very little about the types of components used and why they are important.  David’s presentation will consider a simple MERG kit – the CANACT – look at the components used and explain why they are chosen and how it works. +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
-==== April 2019 ==== +
- +
-  +
- +
-  +
- +
-What is Arduino and what can it do for railway modellers +
- +
-Tony Chamberlain and Dave Thomas will present all things Arduino +
- +
-==== October 2018 ==== +
- +
- +
-=== ‘Wiring and Power supplies for the Railway Modeller’ === +
- +
-We were delighted to welcome David Roberts as our keynote speaker on that occasion.   +
- +
- +
- +
-David gave two talks in the morning.   +
- +
-The first one, focused on **wiring for the railway modeller** and included +
- +
-• Theoretical aspects of electrical wiring +
-• Design & Implementation of electrical wiring +
-• Examples of wires, tools and terminations +
- +
-His second talk was **Power Supplies** and explored: +
- +
-• History +
-• Direct Current (DC) Supplies +
-• Linear Mode Supplies +
-• Switch -  mode Supplies +
-• Sources of Power Supplies +
-• Commercial Devices +
-• Surplus Computer Supplies +
- +
- +
- +
-  +
-====  July 2018 ==== +
- +
- +
-Howard Watkins as our keynote speaker. +
- +
-The theme of our meeting was ‘Back to Basics’  +
- +
-//AM  - Two talks given by Howard included//  +
-  +
- +
- +
-- Theory and practise of Soldering. +
-- Tools and Supplies +
-- Component recognition +
-- Using LEDs +
- +
- +
- +
-//PM  - Practical 'HANDS ON' session to include// +
-an opportunity to build a track tester, +
- +
  
 +===== Warwickshire and North Oxfordshire Area Group =====
 +Our colleagues at Warwick and North Oxford AG are holding face to face meetings every 2 months. If you are interested in attending these groups sign up here and select ‘join area group’.
  
 +<ORG34>ALL|60|23|NO</ORG34>
 +</WRAP>
 +<WRAP box round>
 +<WRAP group>
 +<WRAP column quarter>
 +[[https://www.merg.org.uk/index.php|MERG Home page]]                     
 +</WRAP>
 +<WRAP column quarter>
 +[[https://www.merg.org.uk/content/areagroups|Area Groups]]
 +</WRAP>
 +<WRAP column quarter>
 +[[https://www.merg.org.uk/content/knowledgebase|More on our Knowledgebase]]
 +</WRAP>
 +<WRAP column quarter>
 +[[areagroups:wmag:start|Group Members Page]]                         
 +</WRAP>
 +</WRAP>
 +</WRAP>
  
-==== Links ====+{{tag>AGS_1}}
  
-[[:helpsystem:coordinators|Help page for coordinators]] 
public/westmids.1596454796.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020/08/03 11:39 by uppermill
Donate Powered by PHP Valid HTML5 Valid CSS Driven by DokuWiki