The August 19, 2006 meeting was held at the Food Court at the Newton Factory Outlet Mall.  The meeting was called to order at 9:17am by President Dan Inskeep.  Present were Lee Buller, Lon Buller, David Duerksen, David Godshall, Kent Harder, Dan Inskeep, Bob Ogden, Kent Stutzman, and Roger Wilson.

Minutes: The July Minutes were accepted without corrections.

Treasurer's Report: Starting with $775.30 in the checking account, there were payments of $250 to Harvey County to help with the installation on the antenna and coax on the Camp Hawk tower, and $106.61 for the coax connectors for that installation, for a total left in checking of $418.69 and $105 in petty cash, totaling $523.69 in club funds.

EOC Project: Two dual band UHF/VHF radios and antennas were installed, and an HF radio and antenna, however there is currently an antenna or coax problem with that setup as there are severe SWR issues.  There is also a computer with a sound card for linking with the radios, APRS software, repeater software, etc.  Roger asked for some volunteers to help check out the HF antenna problem in the near future.

Camp Hawk Tower: Lee talked with Don Gruver, said the current holdup is there is no power at the Camp Hawk tower site yet; it will need to be trenched in from the road.  The tower climbing hasn't happened yet, but our coax and antenna are at the location in preparation for the installation.

Repeater: The 440 repeater will be put on the top on the mill and the backup 61 repeater will be placed in the current 61 location at the mill.  There was discussion about linking repeaters, split antenna systems, and other future options.

Bike Ride: In addition to Roger and David, Kent Stutzman also help the McPherson club with their bike ride.  Kent was in Burton, David was in Buhler, and Roger was at the SAG between Burton and McPherson.

Emergency Practice: Kent Stutzman talked about an upcoming emergency simulation.  The purpose of this SET is to find out the strengths and weaknesses of RACES and ARES in cooperation and support of other emergency agencies.

Tax Exempt Status: Dan reports we will probably need to rewrite our bylaws to mention and stress that we are a non-profit organization, list our purpose, and some other minor changes.  He will submit specific suggested updated bylaws to the club membership.

Meeting Location: Dan talked with the new owners of the Newton Outlet Mall, and they are fine with us continuing to meet here.

Club Member Projects: Lee talked about antennas he's building or looking forward to building.  Suggested visiting raibeam.com and downloading a DOS yagi design program.  Roger is working on installing a radial system for his antenna; he's thinking if he goes to the trouble of installing a good permanent set or radials, his house might finally sell.

RACES: Kent Stutzman posed the question of whether the RACES on-the-air nets should be moved from Monday to a different day due to low check-in numbers.  The feeling was that moving it would not increase attendance and might lose those who can't check in every time but know when it is supposed to be.  Lee initiated discussion on the need for and value of emergency practice.  Lee pointed out that when a disaster actually happened, all the plans in the world can't predict the actual emergency and most of the response is going to be seat-of-the-pants improvisation.  We can assume that in the event of an emergency, everyone able to response will do so with all their equipment at their disposal.  The main thing that is necessary from a communications standpoint is having a strong net control to keep orderly communications.

Meeting adjourned at 10:23am.

-- David Godshall, Secretary/Treasurer