The October 15, 2001 meeting was held at Spear's Restaurant in Newton. The meeting was called to order at 9:10am by Vice-President Kent Stutzman. Present were Dave Duerksen, Ko Bartel, Xon Fesler, David Godshall, Kent Harder, Dan Inskeep, Robin McDaniel, Kent Stutzman, and Roger & Dr. J.J. Wilson.

The September minutes were read with no corrections.

Treasurer's Report: No change to balance of $893.80.

Repeater Problem: Has been intermittently not working very well. Robin tried check in to the last Sunday net from Halstead and couldn't even trip the repeater. Robin thinking the problem is probably the receiver rather than the antenna; he knows of a documented problem with the GE MasterPro models that can cause a short on the receiver front-end, and will check if our repeater is suffering from this problem -- a cleaning could fix it.

Antenna: Given the lack of good mounting and the fact that the current antenna is still functional, Robin was wondering if we should continue with our plans to purchase a new antenna. He was also worried the grain mill operators would not be receptive to the idea of a new antenna mount. David encouraged Robin to bring Lon Buller along as Emergency Management Coordinator to lend official support when he talked to the mill operators. Roger Wilson and Kent Stutzman wondered if the grain mill in North Newton would be an alternate location we could look at if we have problems with the current location.

Antenna/Generator: Ron Farthing had talked previously about a portable antenna and generator on a cart. He is planning on taking delivery of it soon.

Skywarn Recognition Day: The November QST (Pg. 76, hamradio.noa.gov) has an article announcing the NWS/ARRL Skywarn Recognition Day, UTC Midnight to Midnight (CST 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday), Saturday, December 1st, at the Wichita Weather Service on Tyler road and attempt to contact other National Weather Service stations on HF 10-80 and 70cm, 2m, and 6m. Dan made a motion, Roger seconded, that the NARC club offically participate in this event. Motion passed. Kent Stutzman will get with Ron Farthing to fill out the proper forms, and additional plans can be finalized on the Sunday nets and the next club meeting.

Emergency Preparedness Tips: Kent Harder had some miscellaneous emergency preparedness tips he found on the Internet (eham.net among other locations): Virginia RACES has training materials Lon could probably request, also hospitals often use and dispose of a lot of sealed lead-acid batteries that are still usable (Kent Stutzman will ask Lee Buller knows if the Newton hospital is disposing of any). Kent Stutzman said the Harbor Freight store at Pawnee & Seneca has some good supplies, including inexpensive battery chargers, flashlights, etc.

Sunday Net: Some discussion about whether Sunday 8pm is a good date/time for the net. Dan also wondered about the possibility of starting an HF net any encouraging more HF communication.

Meeting adjourned 10:00am.