This year there were six entries in the annual construction contest. Members present were acting as judges using a score sheet which stipulated the judging criteria. The Kit category was most popular with three entries, there were two entries in the Weekend Special section and just one entry in the Major Project class. The prizes will be awarded  at the AGM on 22 March.

After last week’s run through on how to make a digital slide presentation, we had more members than time to show how and why their aerials were built and installed. Most were able to show how they managed wire aerials in average suburban sized gardens. Some of the diagrams will be shown later in the new web site section called ‘Practical Stuff’

In an attempt to get more members to give presentations at club meetings, it was thought that a basic introduction to software generally used to produce a digital slide show might be productive.  By bypassing the ‘paid for’ systems which are very popular. an introduction was made to the free software produced by Apache called Open Office found at:  http://www.openoffice.org/

After details of downloading and starting, a basic presentation using IMPRESS was shown including how to set the background and pick the font size and style, then how to include more slides and how to insert photos or videos.

This demo was followed by a Q and A session with a few antidotes thrown in!

It would appear the re-start of club meetings might be a date too near the holiday season or perhaps the sickness that’s been much in abundance or perhaps the wet and windy weather, but in any case, attendance was very low. However, those who did attend found lively discussion and interesting happenings taking place over the break period.