Robert Dalgleish in Scotland has announced that he will be holding a U.K. Genealogy Skypecast on Saturday, the third of March. Anyone and everyone with U.K. ancestry is invited to join in. Conversation will be limited to topics concerning genealogy research in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
Skypecasts are very similar to telephone conference calls with one exception: there is no telephone. A Skypecast is a free conference call service provided by Skype. A moderator sets up the call in advance. In this case, the moderator will be Robert Dalgleish.
At the appointed time, Skype members connect headsets to their computers and connect to the Skype service. By clicking on the appropriate link, each person is connected to the conference call in progress. All can chat with each other, and there are no toll calls or conference call fees.
All you need is a computer, an Internet connection, Skype software, and a headset (headphones and microphone, either separate units or combined into one). Free Skype software is available for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and even Windows Mobile handheld computers. Skype works with dial-up Internet connections although at significantly reduced fidelity. DSL or cable broadband connections work much better and usually sound better than normal telephone calls.
Before you can participate, you need to download the free Skype software, connect your headset and microphone, and then test. I'd suggest that you connect to the free Skype Echo number at echo123. The Skype Echo records ten seconds of your talk and then plays it back to you so that you can hear what your equipment sounds like. You can test over and over until everything is hooked up correctly. You are then ready to join a Skypecast or to place free calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world.
You can join Robert Dalgleish and the other genealogists in the free UK Skypecast on Saturday 3 March at 9 PM UK time. That is at 4 PM Eastern U.S. time or 1:00 Pacific Standard Time. You can convert that date and time to your local time zone at http://www.worldtimeserver.com/convert_time_in_GB.aspx?y=2007&mo=3&d=3&h=21&mn=0.
At that time, you can join the UK Genealogy Skypecast at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk=469808.
