The February 17, 2009 meeting was held in the Newton Public Library.  The meeting was called to order at 7:12pm by Secretary/Treasurer David Godshall.  Present were Lon Buller, David Duerksen, David Godshall, Bob Harder, Dan Inskeep, and Kent Stutzman.

Minutes: The January Minutes were read and approved.

Treasurer's Report: Added $15 in dues to petty cash, for a total of $30 in petty cash, a checking account balance of $626.13, and a total of $656.13.

MCC Relief Sale:  There was discussion about whether the dates for the Mennonite Relief Sale as reported last month were correct.  The dates April 17-18, 2009 were confirmed.

Club Equipment:  Dan did some legwork on determining the whereabouts and recovering the club's missing equipment and is still working on it.

Repeater: There's a website, tinwhiskers.com, that talks about a degradation that can occur in cans with fine tin filaments that can form over time.  Dan believes our repeater could be suffering from this condition.

Emergency Center: New coax has been run to get the radios in the command center fully functional again.

Kansas QSO Party: Work progresses in the planning stages of the Kansas QSO Party.  There is no firm date yet, but the hours of operation will be probably be 9am-9pm on a Saturday, and 9am-3pm on Sunday.  They are working on making and checking the rules and those will be going up on the website when it's ready for prime time.  Bob Harder asked the group what they thought might be a good prize to give out that would be a good representation of Kansas.  Some suggestions, not all serious, were sunflower seeds, cheese curds, hedge apples, pepper nuts.

Storm Spotter's Meeting: The annual Storm Fury on the Plains is coming up Thursday, March 5th, at 6:30pm at the Chisholm Middle School.  Lon Buller talked about a change in the use of HAM Radio operators during storms.  While ham operators with recent storm spotter training are still welcome to do spotting, and spotting from your home location can also be very useful, Lon will not be assuming the general ham operator will be going out into the field.  There are plans to have some advanced storm spotting classes in April with more advanced training than the regular Storm Spotter's meeting; due to limited space, attendance will be open to those invited to participate.  HAM operators interested in being active in storm spotting can contact Lon Buller for information on getting into the class.  Those taking the advanced class will be counted on more heavily to provide storm spotting assistance.

EOC: The EOC, including the radio/ham room, will undergo a renovation this summer.  Some old obsolete equipment and furniture will be eliminated, and new mounting furniture will be purchased.  Dan inquired as to whether there was any possibility of finding a mire direct route to get the coaxes to the antennas on the roof, such as going through the ceiling.  That does not appear possible, but they will look and see if there's any other possibilities.

Derby Sidewalk Sale: The Derby HUGE Sidewalk Sale will be Saturday, June 20, 2009, from 8am-Noon at the Derby Radio Shack, 707 N. Baltimore, Derby, KS 67037.  316-788-4225.

Meeting adjourned at 8:13pm.

-- David Godshall, Secretary/Treasurer