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Table of Contents
MERG West of Scotland 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.
Who are the leaders of the group?
M1853 Davy Dick Group Leader
M4589 Bob Young Deputy Group Leader
M5195 George Parkinson Deputy Group Leader
Meetings
We see ourselves as a mutual-assistance group, where members look to each other for advice, help and support. Our members range from having little electronic knowledge to being fairly advanced. Interested members co-operate on their specific interests – e.g. everything from soldering skills and kit building to 3D printing and PIC and Arduino programming. The group aims to cater for all levels of skill. There is no specific commitments required from those who join. Members can put in and take out as much as they wish. None of us know everything and we can all learn from each other in a more informal manner than through the MERG forums and email groups. Of course, you don't have to participate in the Area Group, but you might find that we have a lot to offer - and learn - from each other.
We were very active prior to Covid-19, with all-members meetings in Glasgow on Sundays and fortnightly drop-in sessions on alternate Friday afternoons. In addition, we ran a selection of training workshops on basic electronics, kit building, using oscilloscopes, layout planning software, etc.
Here is a typical members' session.
Previous discussions included power supplies and cutouts, layout wiring, fault finding methods, automation, motors, servos and steppers, making control panels, PCB design software, etc.
And the Next Meeting?
* Replace NN with the number of your area group - get from the AG admin page. Update the contact form title. *
Date | Event | Description | Location | Link |
---|---|---|---|---|
14:00 26-Apr | Wales North AG Zoom Meeting | Update to DCC Accessory Decoder | Online Zoom Meeting | |
10:30 27-Apr | East Scotland Area Group | The order of events will (roughly) be as follows: 10:30 Arrival, tea, coffee, biccies 11:00 12:00 13:00 Lunch 13:00 14:00 15:30 Finish | The Vennie, Knightsridge East, Livingston EH54 8RA. | |
14:00 02-May | Croydon AG Afternoon Workshop | Afternoon Workshop: Kit building, Kit repair, CBUS, JMRI, mobile phone and Raspberry Pi layout control. | Croydon Model Railway Society Clubhouse | |
15:00 02-May | 15.00 3D Modelling SIG Zoom Meeting | General group meeting to update members on the new Fusion Tutorials that will be run starting in May. As well as a chance for members to share their latest projects. | Online Zoom Meeting | |
19:00 02-May | Aberdeen Area Group Meeting | Monthly Meeting | Aberdeen Model Railway Club | Link |
19:30 02-May | 19:30 BST South Hants AG Zoom Call | Online Zoom Meeting | ||
14:00 03-May | Cumbria AG | Watch, Ask, Learn | Online Zoom Meeting | |
20:00 03-May | Monthly Virtual AG meeting | Online Zoom Meeting | ||
09:00 04-May | Brisbane Model Train Show | This is the annual Brisbane Model Train Show where the SEQLD Group will have a display. | RNA Brisbane | |
10:00 04-May | Tayside Area Group Workshop | Tayside AG members meet to work on a group or their own project. All those registered to the group are welcome to attend. Come along and get solutions to those problems that are holding you back. | The Friary, Tullideph Road, Dundee, DD2 2PN | |
10:00 04-May | MERG Somerset Area Group Meeting | This is an online meeting where Paul H will present A beginners guide to LightBurn software for creating designs for Laser cutting on a cheap laser cutter. Time for other discussions/presentations will be available contact us to request a slot. To get zoom joining information ensure that you are subscribed to the Somerset Area Group in (Your Profile) and view the meeting in (My Upcoming Events). | Online Zoom Meeting | |
09:00 05-May | Brisbane Model Train Show | This is the annual Brisbane Model Train Show were the SEQLD Area Group will have a display. | RNA Brisbane | |
11:00 05-May | Wexford MRC Exhibition 2024 | St Joseph's Community Centre, Newline Road, Wexford Town, Ireland | Link | |
19:00 05-May | 19:00 BST 3D SIG Fusion | Fusion getting started with Fusion Essentials | Online Zoom Meeting | |
19:00 07-May | 19:30 GMT MERG Thames Valley Area Group (TVAG) meeting | Grazeley Village Hall | ||
19:30 08-May | 19:30 BST Pi Sig SIG Zoom Meeting | Details to be added | Online Zoom Meeting | |
14:00 09-May | Croydon AG Afternoon Workshop | Afternoon Workshop: Kit building, Kit repair, CBUS, JMRI, mobile phone and Raspberry Pi layout control. | Croydon Model Railway Society Clubhouse | |
19:30 09-May | 19:30 BST South Hants AG Zoom Call | Online Zoom Meeting | ||
19:30 09-May | 19:30 BST South Hants AG Merg Live Meet. | Southampton Model Railway Society clubroom | ||
14:00 10-May | Wales North AG Zoom Meeting | GENERAL CHAT AND WHATS ON MY WORKBENCH / HELP & SUPPORT | Online Zoom Meeting | |
19:00 10-May | Croydon Area Group Meeting | Machine Mastery - The Art of Programming - Allan | Croydon Model Railway Society Clubhouse | |
10:30 11-May | South West Herts MRS Exhibition | Annual Model Railway Exhibition with 20+ layouts, trade support, refreshemnts & Merg stand. | Queens School Bushey, Watford, WD23 2TY | Link |
14:00 11-May | 14:00 Merseyside AG Zoom meeting | We will have a brief overview of the last face to face meeting, Followed by a talk on the 2nd "Here's a Gizmo!" series of talks, which will cover the Arduino Deek motor shield, by John Holmes. This will form part of the test plank for future use at Lawlogg meetings. | Online Zoom Meeting | |
19:00 12-May | 19.00 BST 3D SIG Fusion Essentials | Part 2 of the weekly series By Malcolm Asker and Russ Davies Fusion Essentials | Online Zoom Meeting | |
16:00 13-May | ATC SIG Zoom | Monthly ATC SIG Zoom call. Discussions about ATC hardware, software and interconnections. You are very welcome to join us if you need advice on how to use the ATC on your layout. | Online Zoom Meeting | Link |
19:30 13-May | JALSIG Meeting | Members meet up to discuss projects they have been working on. | Online Zoom Meeting | Link |
19:30 15-May | Tayside Area Group Zoom session | Tayside members meet via Zoom to discuss what they have been working on. | Online Zoom Meeting | |
14:00 16-May | Croydon AG Afternoon Workshop | Afternoon Workshop: Kit building, Kit repair, CBUS, JMRI, mobile phone and Raspberry Pi layout control. | Croydon Model Railway Society Clubhouse | |
19:00 16-May | Aberdeen Area Group Meeting | Monthly Meetings of Aberdeen Area Group | Aberdeen Model Railway Club | Link |
19:30 16-May | 19:30 BST South Hants AG Zoom Call | Online Zoom Meeting | ||
11:00 17-May | MERG Somerset Area Group Virtual Coffee Break | This is an online coffee break where members can relax and chat among themselves about Projects, Progress, Problems and Successes. | Online Zoom Meeting | |
14:00 17-May | Cumbria AG | Watch, Ask, Learn | Online Zoom Meeting | |
09:30 18-May | 09:30 BST South Hants Saturday Workshop | Southampton Model Railway Society clubroom | ||
10:00 19-May | MERG East Midlands Area Group face to face meeting May 2024 | Railcom themed meeting including demonstrations and a talk by Michael Smith | Kingsway Centre, Wellingborough | |
19:00 19-May | 19.00 BST 3D SIG Fusion Essentials | Part 3 of the weekly series By Malcolm Asker and Russ Davies Fusion Essentials | Online Zoom Meeting | |
19:30 20-May | E101 Projects Update | Regular E101 meeting to discuss project progress. | Online Zoom Meeting | |
19:30 23-May | 19:30 BST South Hants AG Zoom Call | Online Zoom Meeting | ||
14:00 24-May | Wales North AG Zoom Meeting | GENERAL CHAT AND WHATS ON MY WORKBENCH / HELP & SUPPORT | Online Zoom Meeting | |
18:00 24-May | 1st Bangor Model Railway Club | City Church, Main Street, BT20 4AG | ||
11:00 26-May | Irish AG: Workshop on NCE DCC and supplementary equipment | A look at NCE DCC equipment and the compatible supplementary devices from MERG and other manufacturers. | Wexford | |
19:00 26-May | 19.00 BST 3D SIG Fusion Essentials | Part 4 of the weekly series By Malcolm Asker and Russ Davies Fusion Essentials | Online Zoom Meeting | |
19:30 27-May | JALSIG Beginners' Session | We look at topics of interest to Beginners to coding in JAL to help them on their way to creating their own programs. | Online Zoom Meeting | |
19:30 30-May | 19:30 BST South Hants AG Zoom Call | Online Zoom Meeting | ||
14:00 31-May | Cumbria AG | Watch, Ask, Learn | Online Zoom Meeting | |
10:00 01-Jun | Tayside Area Group Workshop | Tayside AG members meet to work on a group or their own project. All those registered to the group are welcome to attend. Come along and get solutions to those problems that are holding you back. | The Friary, Tullideph Road, Dundee, DD2 2PN | |
10:00 01-Jun | MERG Somerset Area Group Workshop | Subjects to be decided nearer the time but a practical session so bring your tools and equipment to be sure of contributing. Feel free to bring your questions and non-working kits along for help by other members. | St James Church Hall, Preston Road Yeovil BA21 3RL | |
19:00 02-Jun | 19.00 BST 3D SIG Fusion Essentials | Part 2 of the weekly series By Malcolm Asker and Russ Davies Fusion Essentials | Online Zoom Meeting | |
19:00 04-Jun | 19:30 GMT MERG Thames Valley Area Group (TVAG) meeting | Grazeley Village Hall |
Other Activities
Here is one of our demonstration layouts that show how to fit MERG kits to augment model railways.
Here is our annual Open Day where we had demonstrations of building baseboards, track laying, point controllers, DCC, layout controls (CBUS and EzyBus), adding lighting, adding sound, Faller road systems, 3D printing, Arduino projects …….
Here is a training workshops we ran on programming Arduinos.
At the moment, we keep in touch with each other through our national and our local websites.
We also have fortnightly Zoom sessions on alternate Sunday afternoons. Subjects covered included:
* Making latching reed switches for coach lighting
* Reusing parts salvaged from old printers and scanners
* Resin 3D printing
* Building animations
* Measuring voltage and current in DCC systems