The club met at the new venue, Vista in Manhattan, KS. The majority found this place a good meeting spot, so we will meet here again next month.

The club welcomed Dane Nichols, KK4RUH, into membership. Dane is stationed at Ft. Riley, and is active with Scouts.

Club discussed how we might support local scouting, either giving training for merit badges or operating a Jubilee on the Air (JOTA) station in October.

Repeater Upgrade

Mark and Dave gave a status update on the repeater. Setup is complete, but modulation is not happening as it should. That will be fixed. Next step will be to do the programming. A date for this has not been set. The phone line is being maintained until the new repeater can be brought online.

Treasurer

Dave gave the treasurer's report. Current assets of the club total $131.80. Suggestion was made to set out a donation jar at bike rides. The club is in favor of this move. It has also been decided that we be careful about how we ask; this must be clearly a request for general repeater support, not payment for the event.

VE Testing

Jim presented a list of our club members who are on the books as VEs with ARRL. We have enough extras to present an exam for all levels, including extra. Club has agreed we will hold a testing session some time in April. Myron suggested we do it on KSU's campus, as he can arrange a room. Jim will contact Brian Carter to see if he will be lead VE. We still need to set a date.

There was also discussion of giving training. Decision is that for this session we will not, but will look to do that in the future. General agreement that we need to make testing a regular event, probably twice a year at least.

Fox Hunt

No date was set. Several options were discussed: local (within a park) or regional, plus rules variations. Nothing definite decided. Dave will reach out to a local ham who is a fox hunting enthusiast, asking for support and ideas.

CERT

Mark will talk to Lori about what would be needed for MAARS to support the Riley County CERT training session in April. Jim will arrange a meeting with Chris Trudo to learn more about CERT in Pott county.

Bike Rides

Jim will reach out to Jay for Cabin Fever Ride dates. CASA, our other major ride is May 2nd. Yellow Brick Road bike ride is concurrent with Oztoberfest in Wamego, usually the end of September or beginning of October.

Club agreed that we need some sort of presence, early at the ride, to publicize ham radio participation. May or may not be net control, but a radio and antenna (possibly more than one) should be in evidence along with signage and the aforementioned donation jar. More planning is needed.

Field Day — 27-28 June, 2015

Agreement that we will hold the event again in Wamego City Park. Some discussion of using power besides a generator, nothing solid decided. Discussion of getting scouts involved to help man the station. Will be kept on the agenda for further discussion.

Agenda items for next meeting:

• Repeater Update status — Mark, Dave
• Treasurer's Report — Dave
• Ham Testing — Jim will report on staffing, we need to finalize a date.
• Fox Hunt — Dave will let us know how the discussions with his contact went.
• CERT Training — Mark will let us know more details of the Riley County event
• Bike Rides — Jim will bring details of the Cabin Fever event
• Field Day — further discussion

Attending:

Mark Benfer KCØQAS Manhattan
Laura Benfer
Francis Sable WØEVJ Wamego
David Mills KDØAZG Manhattan
Gordon Alkire KBØYYO Riley
Nancy Calhoun NØKMU Manhattan
Myron Calhoun WØPBV Manhattan
Farren Constable KBØAZJ Blue Rapids
Jim Foster KDØNQQ Wamego
Dane Nichols KK4RUH Wamego