Activities and Gatherings
Following a recent survey of St George Amateur Radio Society (SGARS) members, the committee is pleased to announce a return to "in person" gatherings and meetings, commencing Wednesday 4th May 2022.
All persons attending an SGARS gathering or meeting should;
- follow all Public Health Orders or Directives, current at the time, and,
- notify the SGARS secretary as soon as possible, if you receive a positive COVID test result within 7 days of attending an SGARS gathering or meeting, and,
- respect the decision by others attending the gathering or meeting, to exercise or not, COVID safe precautions, such as wearing a mask, social distancing.
The SGARS committee has imposed a mandatory sign-in policy for all attending. You must ensure that SGARS has your current email address so that you can be notified should the SGARS committee receive advice of a positive COVID-19 case. Visitor contact information will be destroyed 28 days after the gathering or meeting.
Please consider NOT attending and SGARS gathering or meeting, if in the 72 hours (3 days) period prior;
- you have been feeling unwell, and / or,
- you are or have been a close contact of someone who has been feeling unwell,
irrespective of the result of a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT).
SGARS is using Google Meet which is part of the Google business suite of tools (known as G Suite). There's a link to Google's support information at the end of this article.
There are several ways to join in. The easiest way to enjoy the full experience is seated comfortably in front of a computer with a video webcam, a microphone and speaker. The microphone and speaker could also be a USB audio headset. A video webcam is only needed if you wish for the meeting to be able to see you.
You can use a computer with no audio or video to simply view the presentation and dial in via telephone to listen and speak.
We've gone with this particular conferencing option as it provides the most flexibility by also providing a telephone dial in.
Joining via Computer - Click the meeting invite link (or copy into browser).
e.g. - meet.google.com/mfm-mfwt-dtw (note - the text after meet.google.com/ is the meeting code)
The meeting code mfm-mfwt-dtw used above is an EXAMPLE ONLY. Meeting codes change for each meeting so make sure you check the code on the website or in your email for the meeting that you are planning to join.
You can join via Computer, Smartphone or via Telephone. To join via Computer, ensure you have one of the following web browsers. Google Chrome (preferred), Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge.
Note that Internet Explorer (IE) is not supported by default but it can be made to work with a driver. Go to the Google support link at the end for details on how to install the driver for Internet Explorer. No drivers are needed for the supported browsers.
To join via a Smartphone you’ll need to install the Google Meet app.
Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.meetings&hl=en-US
Apple (IOS) - https://apps.apple.com/app/hangouts-meet/id1013231476
At the bottom right of the video screen there are three vertical dots. Clicking this will bring up a menu with various options. Click "Settings" to bring up audio and video options.
If you have multiple audio devices, this is where you can select the appropriate one. For example, if you're using a laptop - it may have a built in microphone and speaker. If you're using an audio headset connected via USB, you'll need to ensure that it is selected under the audio settings for microphone and speaker (usually has the brand name in the description - e.g. Logitech).
Joining via Smart Phone
You’ll need a Google account to use the smartphone app. The app won’t allow you to join a meeting without signing in. If you need to create a google account, go to www.google.com, click "sign in" at the top right, click "create account" and follow the instructions. Once signed in, you can tap “Enter a Meeting Code”. That’s the code that’s at the end of the URL - above example is: mfm-mfwt-dtw (you don’t need to enter the dashes).
Joining via Telephone (PSTN)
Simply dial the phone number in the meeting invite and when prompted to do so, enter the PIN followed by the “#” on your phone keypad. You’ll be joined to the conference and will be able to hear and speak. More detailed help is available here: https://support.google.com/meet/?hl=en#topic=7306097