OVER 2 YOU 193 (17/08/04)

PLANE SALEING

I am a pilot and have access to club aircraft, along with many other members. The problem is that if a pilot wants to fly, at short notice, there is no easy way to find out if the aircraft is available, if the secretary is not contactable. Can anyone suggest a program, package or a way to set up a website, with access to a private page, that would display a diary of who has booked the aircraft, when it is scheduled for maintenance, any new snags, general messages, etc?

Brian Mellor, via email

Our group, the Bustard Flying Club at Boscombe Down (www.bustard.force9.co.uk) has been using exactly such a system for a number of years. E-allocator (www.e-allocator.com) was developed for precisely that purpose - to provide a scheme to allow flying groups (or in fact any other type of group whose members need to book access to club assets) to set up lists of aircraft (or other equipment or facilities - squash courts, boats, etc) and a timetable of bookable slots that members can access by a password. The system used to be free but e-Allocator now charge clubs a monthly fee of (I believe) £5.75. Also provided are messaging services and a "notice board" facility where AGMs, maintenance periods, changes in airfield operating procedures, etc, can be announced. And a companion system for WAP-enabled mobile phones is also now available, though I do not have any personal experience of it… In my experience, e-Allocator is simple, secure and robust - give it a try.

Stewart Buckingham, via email

We have been successfully using Yahoo Groups for a number of years. You can set up a private group and have access to a calendar into which members can enter their bookings. There is a message board and a library for files, photos etc. for members' access. And it's free! Go to http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/ for further information.

Malcolm Benson, via email

My local flying club looked into this possibility a couple of years ago and tried a number of programs though none of them fully met all of our requirements, being either too costly, complex or inflexible. However, one did come quite close and I suspect it might be suitable for managing a small club or just one or two aircraft. I suggest Brian has a look at the program at: www.skybound.nl/projects/, where he will be able to find details of a trial version.

Peter Stevens, via email

Have a look at this program from: www.cdapplications.be/ It sounds just what your correspondent is looking for, you set up your own password protected web site with almost unlimited space for pictures and documents plus an online booking and management system. You can even try it free, with no obligation for 30-days.

J. Howard, via email

Bookings for 15 aeroplanes up to 300 days in advance can be managed for clubs with as many as 300 members using the Automated Reservation System for Aircraft (ARSA) from

www.jboothco.com/. It includes everything Brian Mellor specifies with maintenance schedules statistical and legal information, notices and so on. Access can be via the web or a touch-tone phone and it only allows members to use aircraft they are approved to fly.

Norman. S, via email

JUMBO SCANNER

I have a mass of local public records, mainly minutes of meetings, going back almost continuously to 1894. There are nine volumes of hand written bound books with pages size 8" x 12½". I wish to transfer the contents to CD so they can be circulated to interested parties. I have not been able to find any scanner larger than A4, which is smaller than my pages and scanning each page twice and joining would only lengthen an already long task. The volumes do not open flat and photographing with a digital camera results in poor quality. Pressing with a sheet of glass to flatten the page produces a reflection into the camera. Ideally I need a lightweight scanner big enough to cover the whole page at one go and which I can press face down on the page. One of the old handheld scanners which one rolled down the page might do the trick but no longer seems to be available. This is an amateur project and the use of a commercial service is out of the question.

Michael Stevens, via email

Digitising bound books, whether printed or handwritten, is notoriously difficult with standard scanners or cameras - pages cannot readily be laid flat without damage or destruction of the binding, the binding curve of the pages makes focusing and lighting difficult, and fixed cameras and lighting generally produce images with poorly lit edges.

However, as the documents in question are public records, then Michael Stevens may like to contact his local County or Municipal Records Office (contact details from local council). They should be keen to assist with conservation and publication of local history material, and able to provide a safe repository for historical records and documents.  They may also have a dedicated book scanner, such as the Digibook, (www.i2s-bookscanner.com/) capable of handling bound volumes and automatically compensating for the binding curve of the pages, or a book-imaging cradle with built-in lighting and camera mount.

Edward Bean, via email

I suggest, in the probable absence of a flatbed scanner being sold in the UK capable of handling the US legal size - 8.5 x 14 inches - that he considers an A3 flatbed. For example, look at the Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB capable of scanning 297 x 432 mm for less that £100. Dabs.com, Simply and others sell it. A handheld scanner is a non-starter - guaranteed to drive him up the wall trying to keep the thing on track.

Don Perham, via email

Several companies manufacture large format scanners but these can be frighteningly expensive so they are probably out of your price range, though I note several companies rent or lease these machines and maybe they could be approached for a ‘favourable rate’ as your project is obviously socially beneficial. Have a look at the following web sites:

www.contex.com/ and www.rod-neep.co.uk/books/production/library/

Thomas Taylor, via email

I’m fairly sure that hand scanners have gone the way of the dinosaur but they can still be found and I noticed that several were available on the web auction ebay today (www.ebay.co.uk), most selling for under £10.

Simon Walters, via email

The only hand scanner that I am aware of, that recently ceased production was the Mustek CG-8400T; you should try a Google search as several companies still have stocks.

Alex Timmings, via email

CAN YOU HELP?

I am involved with a very small scale musical production concerning music of the Second World War and I am trying to find a website from where I can download recordings of famous speeches of WW2, i.e. Chamberlain's speech telling the UK that we were at war, Churchill's "we will fight them on the beaches" etc. Does anyone know of a website that I might find useful?

John M. Allistone, Poole, Dorset.

I have just installed a web cam on my PC. The box vaguely refers to the possibility of being able to access images from it over the Internet. Has any one any idea how this might be accomplished, or suggest appropriate software as I would like to be able to keep an eye on my car and front door on my laptop whilst I am away from home?

David Mayall, via email