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EMS Meeting 16.12.2009


Doc

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EMS Meeting 16.12.2009

A basic summary of what happened at our EMS Meeting 16.12.2009

In attendance were:

Doc

Glider

PhilJ

Rusty Strings

Red dwalf

Steve922

Ibbo

Brantuk

BazSenior

Bryndalf

*****

Before the meeting Glider got confirmation from Mr Coaker, regarding the use of the dark site at Sawley, Long Eaton. Mr Coaker will allow us use of the field as long as it's outside the times of the Model Aircraft Clubs flying schedule. We get two keys and must keep off the grass runway and stay within the hard standing which is the car park. The price of the above is £250 to be paid every year on the 1st January, both sides have a one month cancellation policy.

The meeting started talking about our possible new site and describing the pro's and cons of the site. It then went on to how we are going to fund this £250 a year dark site. At this stage forming a club was mentioned that would give EMS the money required to proceed. A figure of £25 per year was agreed upon which by my calculations we need 10 members to each pay £25 by the 1st January 2010.

We agreed this will be a very basic club and at this stage will be just myself and Glider running to day to day duties, if we do expand then it might in time have a proper committee but this is a long way down the road.

We also discussed public liability insurance and affliating ourselves with FAS, Glider and Ibbo will be looking into costs involved and if this is practical in regards to the size of the club

*****

We then discussed possible monthly meetings and where to stage these meetings. After a while we decided on Village/Church halls. I do know the rough cost of hiring a hall is about £6.50 per hour, so say we had a 2 1/2 hour meeting that would cost roughly £17. It was suggested that maybe one meeting per month at a regular destination still to be confirmed would be ideal.

It was then discussed what would happen at these meetings and the general feeling was a place to talk amongst friends, Glider has access to a projector and screen so anyone with photo's from the previous months astrophotography sessions can plug in their laptops and show us. Also help can be given regarding such things as collimation for example. And tea and coffee will be available.

To pay for the above we either attract more members or just pay a couple of pound each on the night. But to run some costs by you the hall to rent for 12 monthly meetings will cost £250. So once again 10 members paying £25 each covers this.

So basically if we could attract 20 members paying £25 each we will have a club that has access to a dark site and 12 monthly meetings and no other costs will be needed.

*****

We then discussed future meetings such as:

Kelling Heath 2010 where we have 12 pitches dates are 10-12th Sept 2010

Astronomy Fest London 5/6th Feb 2010

SGL5 in Herefordshire 15-118th April 2010

*****

The final topic of the night was do we need our own website. Glider had volunteered to design one but the group decided that it was not needed .

*****

So the meeting was finished by agreeing that a club was needed to finance the dark site and that I would give the 10 members that turned up on the night two days to consider the above and then would e-mail each member asking if they would like to contribute £25 to secure this site for the club’s use.

I will also post this basic summary on the EMS forum and see if anyone else would like to become members. Remember if we can attract 20 members then this club will be secure for a whole year.

43 Comments


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Excellent, I'm following up the FAS angle. Membership for a group of about 20 would be £28.50, they do offer a third party liability insurance, I'm waiting to hear what the schedule of cover is and whether this comes with the £28.50 or whether it is extra.

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Some great points raised guys, wish I could have made it but unfortunately work stepped in with a curve ball.

I would be more than willing to pay 25 pounds for access and use of the dark site. I have just checked and its about 35 - 40 minutes from my door to the site so I think that is pretty close.

A few questions though, is the site actually any good and has anyone verified it as a dark site, no erroneous stray lights nearby?

Does the site have parking and is it hard standing? I guess with organisation we could double up and car share if members live near to each other or pass close to other members houses.

Also would not meeting at the dark site perhaps diminish the effect of a monthly meeting at the town hall? I'd rather meet when the skies are dark and maybe have an informal meeting at a local pub.

Just a suggestion or make it 'pay as you go' to the church hall, so members aren't hit with 2 lots of 25 pound subs.

Anyway whatever we decide I feel there is enough interest amongst the group to enable us all to enjoy each others company and equipment.

Thanks Doc for the effort and I look forward to meeting you all in person soon.

Many thanks, Neil.

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i`m willing to stump up the £25 notes, but i think at this stage i would like to meet up at the local for informal chats and the site then if the club grows then look to spend money on a meeting room, we don`t have to use the same local each time, but i`m happy to go with the majority

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I'll second all that Red Dwarf said.

Regarding the site being dark, I went up to have a look on the night of the meeting but couldn't find it. I did find a model boat club near the Marina but that had several bright security floodlights around. There was also a lot of street lights visible up that road, plus a cloud factory trashing the Northern horizon. I'll echo what I said in the meeti9ng that if Doc or Glider say its a good site; that's good enough for me. I suspect the site is further up the road than the half mile or so which I went and it IS a VERY quiet road.

I have the advantage of knowing how difficult it is to find a good site, so anything which is just half good gets my £25 - its only ten bob a week! :-)

Steve

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First cheque just arrived by hand this morning.

Doc has posted some sat pics of the field.

You can see the hard standing and the gate off the lane that we are talking about.

Whether it's 'dark' enough is, as we said in the meeting, open to interpretation but the concensus seems to be for £25 it has other pro's which make it worth a years trial.

I'll hang onto the cheques until I get 10, then cash them to pay the field. Do you want another meeting before money actually changes hands to see the excahnge of letters wording for yourselves?

Any other cheques I will do similar until the next meeting when you can decide whether to hold the money in a fund, use it to book halls, divy it up so we all pay less for the field, whatever, it's up to you.

I'll look at some sort of credit card sized laminated 'membership' card for those that have paid.

If nothing else, it's your receipt for your money.

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Thanks for answering my questions Mick.

My cheque is in the post and I look forward to meeting and sharing equipment at our dark site.

Many Thanks, Neil.

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As the famous philosopher J Bon Jovi said, "We're half way there", 5 cheques so far.

I've called the land owner and asked him to start things moving on the paperwork, should get something next week.

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Noel, perhaps you could send a PM out to those who have sent a cheque which you didn't recieve? Er... there's problem there, isn't there? :-)

How about sending a kind of email-reciept to those whose cheques you have recieved?

Or you couild simply list those you've recieved here (though there's something not quite right about that?)

I am (and others may also be) wondering if I got the address right? Not that I would ever **** it up, oh no - not me!

Steve

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I'm sending an email 'receipt' to those who I have had a cheque off or PayPal this afternoon, I'm sure everything else is just in the Christmas post splurge at the sorting office and will arrive soonest.

As stuff does arrive I'll keep the email receipts going.

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Group (<21 people) membership of FAS plus insurance cover is between £42 and 54 (depending on if we get in for a discount quick enough). Basically £5'ish each or another 2 people.

Awaiting copy of schedule to confirm;

...If your scope falls on someone you are covered.

...If someone knocks your scope over you are covered.

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It's a good deal. We should fingers crossed get enough people to contribute, hopefully we will get a couple more then thats FAS sorted out.

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Sorry to say that my insurance contact has not got back to me as yet

But £5 sounds a great deal to me

BTW my £25 will be in the post when it starts again

Steve

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Hi All, I went down the site yesterday, a word of warning, if you appproach from the Plank & Leggit end, as you go under the railway bridge, stay on the tarmac! Theres a drop off to the left hand side which is over a foot deep, and could cause damage to your car. The site looks good, even with the power station so close, there is also a house around 400 meters away, but that should be shielded by the hedge. If its been wet, it gets a bit muddy at the gate, but the hard standing is good.

A bit enthusiastic with the last posts methinks.

Martyn.

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I've also been down to the site, for an hour before dark and another hour after dark observing with my binos. We would have no business on the grass up where the aircraft go. Our interest would be on the hard standing immediately inside the locked gate.

The hard standing is a bit muddy and there are (mainly orange) lights near enough all around - the motorway is the biggest source of these. There is a piece of the hard standing stretching from five metres to ten metres from the gate where all the lights are blocked out except for the power station. I suggest parking 15 metres from the gate, thus saving the shielded bit for scopes.

The big 'direct' light pollution source is the power station 600m away and it is a pretty big source. It may be possible to erect a temp shield or simply spend the evening with your back to it.

The horizons are pretty good. There is a fair lowish glow to the NE (presumably Long Eaton.) Apart from that, the sky is fairly unaffected - even from the power station.

Accessibilioty is really good. about four minutes drive from the M1 J24A (three for anyone else.) Privacy is good - in the two hours I was there only one car went past - around 6 p.m. Boy racers and others would have no interest in the area. Its a bit noisy (from the motorway) but this is a good thing, kind of just the right level to talk against, if you know what I mean.

In conclusion, this is not a dark site but it ain't bad and I think a good place for our purposes. We should definitely try it for a year and I suspect by the time the first year is up we will not have found anywhere better for 2011.

Just my two-pennorth.

Steve

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Regarding the insurance - its a group thing which would work out at around a fiver per head. I would imagine everyone would be agreeable to that. IMHO public liability is the crux, not damage to your scope - which is

relatively nothing.

Steve

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