u3a

South Solihull

Technology

Status:Active, open to new members
Coordinator:
When: Monthly on Thursdays
Meetings are usually on the first Thursday of the month, alternating morning and afternoon.
Venue: (contact coordinator)
Cost: Free (but attendees may, if they wish, leave a small contribution to cover refreshments and consumables.)

Technology: The practical application of scientific knowledge.

Technological progress is relentless, but you don't have to be left behind.  Technology can make like easier and provide new hobbies and interests.  We are a ‘self help’ group where members share skills and competence to solve specific problems with those who are less able. Many technologies are now within the ability, and pocket, of the amateur; becoming simpler, cheaper and easier to use every day.  We have members with experience in electronics, digital crafting, 3D printing, automation, laser cutting, robotics, and much more.

Information technology

Most people only make minimal use of the power of computers, tablets and smartphones.  If you lack the confidence to try things and rely on others to fix your problems, we can help,

When assisting members with computer problems, we are conscious that we must be careful to avoid accessing personal or private data on members' digital devices.  This document is a supplement to the general ssu3a Safeguarding Policy, that covers I.T. training situations.

Looking ahead

Planned meetings are listed below. If you have anything you'd like us to tackle, please get in touch.

Sumer Holiday:  There will be no Technology meetings in June, July and August. We will resume in September (see below).

Thursday 7th May 2026
10:00 - 12:00
Meeting
This will be our last meeting before the summer break. Members are invited to suggest the topic(s) to be covered. Note that this is a morning meeting.
Booking Required
Thursday 3rd September 2026
10:00 - 12:00
Meeting
If you have a computer, how do you use it?  Do you use it efficiently?  Can you do all you want to do with it? Click to find out more.
Cost: Share of room hire.
Booking Required
Thursday 1st October 2026
10:00 - 12:00
Meeting
There are some simple rules and procedures that you can adopt to keep you, your system and your data safe.
Cost: Share of room hire.
Booking Required
Thursday 5th November 2026
10:00 - 12:00
Meeting
How to produce pleasing documents, easily and quickly.
Cost: Share of room hire.
Booking Required
Thursday 3rd December 2026
10:00 - 12:00
Meeting
Learn how to use spreadsheets for budgeting, planning, cataloguing, to-do lists, or any task where tabulated information or repeated calculation is needed.
Cost: Share of room hire.
Booking Required
Thursday 7th January 2027
10:00 - 12:00
Meeting
Learn how your computer can be used for all kinds of graphical tasks: drawing pictures, plans and designs; editing photographs; producing slide-shows and presentations, and so on.
Cost: Share of room hire.
Booking Required
Thursday 4th February 2027
10:00 - 12:00
Meeting
In this last session we will look at what you can do next: Looking at topics we haven't had time to cover and delve deeper into any topic you might be interested in.
Cost: Share of room hire.
Booking Required

Past Meetings

  • We looked at a range microcomputers, then built a project kit to make a line-following robot.

  • We explored the practical aspects of wiring domestic electrical fittings, observing standards and safety considerations.

  • Solar panels, storage batteries and EV chargers, among other topics.

  • In this session we looked at 3 types of motor; rotary, stepper and servo. We looked at the uses of each type and how they are controlled. As a demonstration […]

  • The group explored Computer Aided Design (CAD) software for creating circuit boards.  We looked at 'TinyCAD' for laying out schematic circuit diagrams, and then transferred the circuit definition into 'VeeCAD' […]

  • We fixed the 555 oscillator that failed to work last session, and investigated a simple phase-shift harmonic oscillator.