The February 18, 2006 meeting was held at the Food Court at the Newton Factory Outlet Mall.  The meeting was called to order at 9:20am by President Dan Inskeep.  Present were Lee Buller, Lon Buller, Tom Dhooge, David Duerksen, Marc Friesen, Sean Kelly, Mike Harvey, David Godshall, Dan Inskeep, guests Don and Janet Smith, and Roger Wilson.

Minutes: The January Minutes were accepted without corrections.

Treasurer's Report: We currently have $1,142.87 in our checking account, $105 in petty cash, for a total of $1,247.87 in club funds.

Repeater: Roger reported it's working great.  Mike gave a repeater report.  The took the cans out and checked them, found they were out of tune so they added some tuning stubs and fin tuned them.  The repeater is now a lot more sensitive.  When the weather gets a little warmer, planning on some additional tuning.  Mike has a 440 repeater he's working on which is close to being ready to go and is looking for a site.  The controller is a GE Master II.  Lee mentioned the possibility of putting it on the grain tower where the 146.61 repeater currently is located, once the 61 repeater is moved to the new location, and Mike has been considering it.  Lon hasn't gotten the official approval on putting our repeater on the new tower, but is expecting approval in March.

Tax Exemption: Dan got information and paperwork from the State on becoming a tax-exempt 501c3 organization.

Classes: Dan met with some Newton Middle School officials and talked about the possibilities of teaching a Ham Radio course, and got a positive reception.  They will discuss it and get back to Dan.  Don Smith said there is an Explorers group that could benefit from a Ham Radio class.  He will check with them on their interest level, Lee offered to help, David suggested Nelson Kilmer, N0LRA, might be a good teaching resource for either endeavor.

Emergency Coordinator Report: Lon Buller was on TV a number of times with the Burton fire.  He said Ham Radio involvement was discussed a number of times but ultimately not called in.  In the review they will discuss whether there were areas where Ham Radio operators could have benefitted the operation.  There were issues with the various services having trouble communicating with each other.  The fire affected about 15 square miles.  There was discussion about the various challenges the fire fighters ran into trying to put out the fire, including tall grass, high winds, and lots of old timber.  No cause of fire has been officially determined yet.

Field Day: Start thinking about it.

Weather Spotters Meeting: Tuesday, March 7, 6:30pm at the Chisolm Middle School.

Linked Repeaters: Roger talked about an organization that links repeaters.  The closest of the linked repeaters is a 440 repeater Mattfield Green.  Do a web search for "K0HAM" to find their website.  Roger wondered if there is interest in the club linking their repeater with this group.  There was enough interest to authorize Roger to contact this club and get some more information.

Guests: Don and Janet Smith of El Dorado were here, interested in finding a HAM Radio class and becoming Hams.

North Pole DX:  There are 17 stations currently set up at the North Pole doing a DXpedition.  Lee worked them on voice and CW.  More information at http://www.peterone.com

Meeting adjourned at 10:04am.