m0xhs

The evening was enjoyable despite a low turnout and there was general agreement that alternate physical and online meetings is the way forward for the foreseeable future.

The main topic of conversation was rechargeable batteries, but less in the context of amateur radio but that of Godfrey’s new ‘wheels’. Aerials for flats and small gardens were also discussed.

Despite the beer prices we’re going to meet again this Wednesday at the Pear Tree pub at 14 Margravine Road, W6 8HJ from about 19:00 and also have a Zoom meeting running so anyone who can’t get there in person but is otherwise free can join us.

If you have any new shiny toys by all means bring them, and if you have any suggestions for other venues we’ll be happy to discuss them.

The pattern of meetings was discussed and it was felt that the pub meeting had been very enjoyable but that we didn’t need two online meetings as well, so it was proposed to meet online on the second Friday of the month and at a pub (or other suitable venue) the second Wednesday after that.

It was agreed to cancel the Zoom subscription if it’s only going to be used in anger for one or possibly two meetings a month when free alternatives like Teams and Jitsi are available.

We’re also going to try to have more organised topics of conversation, possibly with a member giving a short presentation, but not at this stage visiting speakers until we’re confident we’d have enough people present to justify it.

It’s back to the virtual world this Friday but we can pick a date for the next Pear Tree evening and perhaps discuss how Zoom meetings would fit around those in the absence of a club venue.

If you’ve got 10m FM capability, fire it up from about 19:30 on 29.600MHz and we’ll see who can reach whom.

—————————————

Zoom details:

Topic:  HARS online club meeting Fri 13th August 2021

Time: Aug 13, 2021 20:00 London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82703108183?pwd=ZzhIWmNpdjEwRkRrQmM0eEVPNzRnUT09

Meeting ID: 827 0310 8183

Passcode: 570160

Although not many members attended there was an old friend who hadn’t been able to join via Zoom, and the weather was kind to us. There was plenty of space both inside and out so we’ll meet at this venue at least once more before the summer is over. Zoom meetings will resume next Friday.

David Zoomed in from IE again and showed off his new aerial which worked well once he’s remedied a number of manufacturing errors and omissions.

As agreed last week we’re going to hold the first physical meeting this Wednesday at the Pear Tree pub at 14 Margravine Road, W6 8HJ from about 19:00 and also have a Zoom meeting running so anyone who can’t get there in person but is otherwise free can join us.

Parking in Margravine Road is not bad by Fulham standards. The nearest Tube station is Barons Court and the pub is about a 10-minute walk from the Tube. Turn right on leaving the station and then immediately right into Margravine Gardens. Walk or drive down to the No Entry sign and turn left and then follow the road round to the right to the mini roundabout at the end of Margravine Road and turn left. The walk from the mini roundabout to the pub, which is a large building on the left, is about as long as the walk from the station to the mini-roundabout.

From Hammersmith station the route is down Fulham Palace Road to its junction with St Dunstans Road, turn left, and at the mini roundabout turn right into Margravine Road and then straight on to the pub.

Topics of conversation will undoubtedly include each others haircuts and maybe some radio.

After much previous discussion about pubs around Brook Green, Godfrey came up with The Pear Tree in Barons Court, about ten minutes from Barons Court and Hammersmith underground stations so we’re going to try that. And if we can, a Zoom feed for those who can’t make it in person.

There was further discussion about the EMF regulations and the unlikelihood of Ofcom ever actually paying a visit unless concerns had already been raised..

The only thing on the agenda so far is to arrange a physical meeting for which we need to fix a time and a place so have your diaries ready and if you can think of any suitable venues (quiet, plenty of outside space and ideally also covered or inside space should the weather dictate) in the area bounded by Hammersmith, Olympia and Shepherd’s Bush please propose them.

A physical meeting will be held in a pub early in August, date and venue to be confirmed at the next meeting

The outcome of the asset audit was that apart from the TS-2000 at Nigel’s, most of the club’s equipment including the card reader, laptop and TS-2000 transport case are in Selim’s parents’ garage.

There was much discussion about the new EMF regulations, some shortcomings with the RSGB spreadsheet were highlighted but it was felt that despite the club’s urban membership it was unlikely that anyone would be affected by them as they stand.

If we can get a quorum this time we’ll discuss alternative meeting dates and formats.  If you’d rather share your views anonymously, or perhaps privately, feel free to email any one of the committee who’ll pass your thoughts on anonymously.  Are we in a position to organise a social (pub) evening in a couple of weeks?

The Treasurer would like to run through the asset register and confirm the location of everything we own so if Selim, Godfrey and anyone else holding club equipment could be ready to list it.  (I know about the TS-2000 at Nigel’s.)

Did anyone read the article on the new EMF requirements in RadCom and what do we think?

Finally, if we get the chance we should discuss the feasibility of using Microsoft Teams and maybe arrange a test.  I’ve used both extensively in the last couple of years and there’s little to choose between them now it’s possible to join a Teams meeting from a link without a Microsoft account, and the meeting management in Teams is better on the basic licence level and doesn’t have the limitations we discovered in Zoom a few weeks ago.  And I’m told we can do everything from a free account but I have a company account we can use anyway.

Anything else – let the Secretary or Treasurer know.