Committee Meeting – 17 August 2026 – Minutes
| Attendees: | Kevin Pretorius (KP), David Hepper (DH), Danny Thomas (DT), Peter Hall (PH), Ian Poyner (IP) |
| Apologies: | Steve Woodbridge (SW) |
| Minutes: | IP |
Review of Actions from Previous Meeting
Lunt Solar Telescope (KP)
Donation letter did not specify the items donation, so cannot prove ownership.
Insurance would only cover breakages and damages only, with £100 excess. Theft or loss by the loanee would not be covered. Most of the SAGAS clubs no longer insure their equipment.
DECISION: Not to pursue insuring of equipment.
SolarMax – no diagonal offered so far via SAGAS or Guildford AS. Unable to fault-find diagonal vs OTA.
Action PH: to approach Bressier contact if they have any association with SolarMax or Meade spares.
Alexander Observatory (DT)
DT visited with Grainger – they will weatherproof the door and apply paint to the white coving by the steps. Grainger are not interested in anything inside the building. As the contents are also listed, we are constrained as to the maintenance that we can undertake, Dome is not stuck but sticking in one place (can be reversed). Knight Frank (Meg) may be able to help.
Two sets of keys at gatehouse.
Heritage Week – 11-20th September (w/e 19/20 Sept). Eric led last time – KP will approach. KP and potentially DT, PH, DH may be available.
Action: KP to ask Eric to lead.
New Members (PH/IP)
PH has been canvassing (newer) members for what they are interested in getting from FAS – lectures and guidance on how to observe and use a telescope. PH distributed the Milwaukee AS https://milwaukeeastro.org guides.
IP has not been able to attend the last two meetings. He proposed the following topics: Viewing (stargazing) apps, weather apps, telescope types including smart scopes and astrophotography. The topic for 8th September will be “Apps for finding your way around the night sky”.
Submitted Items
Safeguarding Issue
DT and KP had discussion with Member representative regarding photography issue prior to meeting on 9 June 2026.
ACC – they have not requested any further discussion.
DT has updated risk assessment of photography at venues.
ACTION KP/All: Update safeguarding policy
Recurring Items
Finance (PH)
Budget on target.
IP has been added as the third signatory/approver to the bank account. On first attempt, the app would not allow him to approve a payment; will attempt again using the PC app for September’s speaker’s fee.
£80 paid by PH for ETX OTA as agreed at previous meeting.
Venue cost increased by £5/month (£75).
H&S (All)
11 August – cricket ball flew into the seating area, bounced between two rows and hit the bar. Malcolm will add to ACC’s H&S policy. We will seek more information as to how to prevent any reoccurrence.
Observing (SW)
Nothing to report.
Outreach (AC)
Web-site notice that we were not hosting any event for the eclipse.
AOB (KP)
Nothing to report.