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--- wiki:worked_all_oarc_2024_net_003 [2024/07/17 20:37] – m7get
+++ wiki:worked_all_oarc_2024_net_003 [2024/07/17 22:19] (current) – Correct M0OUE m0oue
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 **One sunny Summer Sunday in Sonning**
-**Members Meetup at McMichael**
+**Members Meetup at McMichael Rally**
-//Worked All OARC 2024 - Net #003 @ McMichael Radio and Electronics Rally//
+//Worked All OARC 2024 - Net #003//
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@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 TL;DR
-A bunch of OARC folk meet up in Reading, enjoy a chat and a radio rally.
+__A bunch of OARC folk meet up in Reading, enjoy a chat and a radio rally.__
-The idea for an OARC meetup in the South East started as a new post to the #community-connect forum back in Sept 2023, originally focused on members in IO91.  What followed was a surprisingly long gestation period.
+The idea for an OARC meetup in the South East started as a new thread to the **#community-connect** forum back in Sept 2023, originally focused on members in IO91.  What followed was a surprisingly long gestation period.
-After a couple of initial expressions of interest, it fell silent.  A refresher post in November; in December, the McMichael Rally was mooted (a really good location based on the clustering of OARC folk on the members map).  Then in February 2024, Nathan 2M0OCC broadened the forum title to South East England Meet ups, and a few more piped up.  Nothing more in March, so in April, I posted again, outlining a specific plan, as WAOARC 2024 was hoving into view.   A good bit of discussion in May and we had clear idea, so the plan went to the OARC wiki - https://wiki.oarc.uk/mcmichael_meetup_2024
+After a couple of initial expressions of interest, the thread fell silent.  A refresher post in November was followed in December by the McMichael Rally being mooted (a really good location based on the clustering of OARC folk on the members map).  Then in February 2024, Nathan 2M0OCC broadened the forum title to South East England Meet ups, and a few more piped up.  Nothing more in March, so in April, I posted again, outlining a specific plan, as WAOARC 2024 was hoving into view.   A good bit of discussion in May and we had clear idea, so the plan went to the OARC wiki - https://wiki.oarc.uk/mcmichael_meetup_2024
-From here, things seemed to happen pretty rapidly.  Days before the event, I checked the weather forecast for the weekend and posted gleefully to the forum how nice it was looking; I was immediately admonished for jinxing it - with good reason:  hours later, the McMichael Rally team announced that the ground in the rally site field had taken so much water in recent rains that it may have to be postponed.
+From here, things seemed to happen pretty rapidly.  I got Vic EI5IYB to post an Event on Discord, and 12 people flagged their interest.  Days before the event, I checked the weather forecast for the weekend and posted gleefully to the forum how nice it was looking; I was immediately admonished for jinxing it - with good reason:  hours later, the McMichael Rally team announced that the ground in the rally site field had taken so much water in recent rains that it may have to be postponed.
 With 12 OARC members having expressed interest in the meetup, and after waiting months for the date to come around, this was not the best news, and the Rally organisers would only give a go/no-go after they had reassessed the ground conditions on Friday, 2 days before the rally.
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 After signing with the talk-in station, I QSYd to 433.425 MHz, previously designated as the OARC backchannel.  This worked really well.  On the first call, Steve M1SDH responded, on his way into the car park.  He arrived in the field soon after, and gets the Instant Recognition Award for his checked short sleeved shirt, jeans and HT, distinguishing him from 3% of other rally attendees.
-We made it to the end of the first row of stalls, then decided to nip in to the clubhouse to see the stall selling Key radios, before heading back out to rendezvous with Dayle M0QUE, who Steve had heard on the 70cm channel.  Dayle, who was rocking some very weather-appropriate shades, gets the DX Award, having driven down from St. Helens, starting in the small hours of the morning, arriving early, and bagging a camera for £10 which he checked on ebay goes for about £50, so this would cover his fuel for the trip.  As continued chatting, I spotted Tom, accompanied by someone in a red vest sporting a bandana, and wielding a freshly-purchased telescoping antenna for 4m, which looked like it would double as a Police baton.  This transpired to be Szymon M0GZP.
+We made it to the end of the first row of stalls, then decided to nip in to the clubhouse to see the stall selling Key radios, before heading back out to rendezvous with Dayle M0OUE, who Steve had heard on the 70cm channel.  Dayle, who was rocking some very weather-appropriate shades, and gets the DX Award, having driven down from St. Helens, starting in the small hours of the morning, arriving early, and bagging a camera for £10 which he checked on ebay goes for about £50, so this would cover his fuel for the trip.
+As we continued chatting, I spotted Tom, accompanied by someone in a red vest sporting a bandana, and wielding a freshly-purchased telescoping antenna for 4m, which looked like it would double as a Police baton.  This transpired to be Szymon M0GZP.
 Jonathan G4KLX sensibly wore a Tank Museum hat, but was most recognisable at 50m by the fact that he was talking into his radio when I was looking around the stalls to see if I could clock him responding to a CQ OARC call on 433.425.
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-The group spent a good 3/4 hour or chatting, before heading back out to the rally, or some off home.
+**Above, left to right: Simon, Jason, Steve, Rich & Dayle**
+The group spent a good 3/4 hour chatting, before heading back out to the rally, or some off home.
 Steve, Dayle and I continued browsing the rows of goods on offer.  My haul for the day amounted to a pack of heatshrink (unusually restrained in the face of competitively-priced radio stuff).
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 We said hi, and Dayle came over, and intros made, we chatted about MastCar, looking at the kit inside, hearing the vehicle's history, and lamenting our limited driveway space, but for which the vehicle would surely have been snapped up.
-After leaving Simon to finish browsing the stalls, we heard an announcement of free stuff on the RADARC table, so I suggested to Steve and Dayle that we head over to have a look.  The menacing sound of a tank engine foretold the appearance of a Sturmtiger, about knee-height and remote controlled, ambling it's way to join a collection of other scale RC tracked vehicles near the steward's tent.  This was all the distraction needed to divert me into buying some raffle tickets.  We then visited the free stuff table, came away empty-handed, and headed to the barbecue where we secured burgers and sat chatting, bumped into Ace G0ACE and then at 1300, the raffle was drawn, at which point we each headed off home.
+After leaving Simon to finish browsing the stalls, we heard an announcement of free stuff on the RADARC table, so I suggested to Steve and Dayle that we head over to have a look.
-This was a great opportunity: we had luck with the weather, the rally was a decent venue with decent selection, and a good number of OARC members turned up - many thanks to them for making the meetup a success.  Looking forward to future get-togethers when the chance presents itself.  Discussions are already afoot.
+The menacing sound of a tank engine foretold the appearance of a Sturmtiger, about knee-height and remote controlled, ambling it's way to join a collection of other scale RC tracked vehicles near the steward's tent.
-OARC members at the rally:  Rich M7GET, Tom M0LTE, Steve M1SDH, Dayle M0QUE, Szymon M0GZP, Jonathan G4KLX, Jason G7RUX, Matthew 2E0SIP, Ace G0ACE; it transpires that Simon M0PDF had also been at the rally, but had left not long after 1000.
+This was all the distraction needed to divert me into buying some raffle tickets.
+We then visited the free stuff table, came away empty-handed, and headed to the barbecue where we secured burgers and sat chatting, bumped into Ace G0ACE and then at 1300, the raffle was drawn, at which point we each headed off home.
+This was a great opportunity: we had luck with the weather, the rally was a decent venue with decent selection, and a good number of OARC members turned up - many thanks to them for making the meetup a success.  Looking forward to future get-togethers when the chance presents itself.  Discussions are already afoot.
+OARC members at the rally:  //Rich M7GET, Tom M0LTE, Steve M1SDH, Dayle M0OUE, Szymon M0GZP, Jonathan G4KLX, Jason G7RUX, Matthew 2E0SIP, Ace G0ACE; it transpires that Simon M0PDF had also been at the rally, but had left not long after 1000 hrs.
+//
+**73 de
-Rich M7GET
+Rich M7GET**