I am checking interest for a radio monitor meeting. Not so much if, but rather when. I have very mixed feeling about a summer meeting because many people are busy with lots of other activities. One thought would be to do this on a Sunday afternoon/evening somewhere at something of an outdoor venue. Does anybody happen to know of any places that meet these requirements:
-Both free parking and free admission.
-Electrical power available.
-Free wifi.
-A roof overhead so that this would work rain or shine.
I know that there are a LOT of city and county parks around us. I did not include state parks because they have an admission fee. I don't recall ever reserving a picnic area, so I don't know if any of them are free or if they all charge some nominal fee.
The electricity and wifi is also likely a huge stumbling block. However, maybe there is some city or county park close enough to a library that has free wifi or near a restaurant that has free wifi. So many of us have portable devices, including radios and laptop computers, that of the two, if I could only have one, I might be inclined to take the free wife, without electricity, since we could get by with portable devices.
As far as topics of discussion, I might be inclined to schedule this far enough out that some of the newer radios will have been in the wild for a bit. With the MOTO TRBO/DMR upgrade for Unidens and Whistler getting DMR, I might wait until someone locally has one and is willing to show it off.
I hope to order a Unication G5 this week and by the time we would have a meeting, I should know enough about it to demonstrate it to people.
With regards to food, I really don't want to spend a lot of time on that. If we were to get a picnic shelter somewhere, I would be fine with just stopping at a nearby Subway and bringing a sandwich over to the site. Each of us would be on or own for food and beverages.
For my money, I would even be quite satisfied with a couple of picnic tables outside of an American Legion of VFW. They sell food and drink and are always looking for business. Does anybody know of one that could accommodate us? I know someone at the Richfield American Legion. I would just have to see if they have picnic tables and such.
-Both free parking and free admission.
-Electrical power available.
-Free wifi.
-A roof overhead so that this would work rain or shine.
I know that there are a LOT of city and county parks around us. I did not include state parks because they have an admission fee. I don't recall ever reserving a picnic area, so I don't know if any of them are free or if they all charge some nominal fee.
The electricity and wifi is also likely a huge stumbling block. However, maybe there is some city or county park close enough to a library that has free wifi or near a restaurant that has free wifi. So many of us have portable devices, including radios and laptop computers, that of the two, if I could only have one, I might be inclined to take the free wife, without electricity, since we could get by with portable devices.
As far as topics of discussion, I might be inclined to schedule this far enough out that some of the newer radios will have been in the wild for a bit. With the MOTO TRBO/DMR upgrade for Unidens and Whistler getting DMR, I might wait until someone locally has one and is willing to show it off.
I hope to order a Unication G5 this week and by the time we would have a meeting, I should know enough about it to demonstrate it to people.
With regards to food, I really don't want to spend a lot of time on that. If we were to get a picnic shelter somewhere, I would be fine with just stopping at a nearby Subway and bringing a sandwich over to the site. Each of us would be on or own for food and beverages.
For my money, I would even be quite satisfied with a couple of picnic tables outside of an American Legion of VFW. They sell food and drink and are always looking for business. Does anybody know of one that could accommodate us? I know someone at the Richfield American Legion. I would just have to see if they have picnic tables and such.