The regular February meeting of the Mercer County Amateur Radio Club was called to order on February 27, 2001 at 7:41 PM by President Tom Galloway, K3TG.  There were 17 members present.  All members present received the Carrier Wave.  The minutes were ammended and clarified according to an informational email received from Tim Duffy, K3LR.  (This email will be attached to both the  Jan. 2001 and Feb. 2001 minutes.)  A motion by Chuck Thomas, KB3DAK, and seconded by Dennis Gregory, WM3H,  to accept the ammended November 2000 minutes passed. Jerry Parkany, N8PY, reported on the equipment for the back-up repeater.  Barney Scholl, K3LA, was unavailable for the meeting.  Tim Jellison, W3YQ, can be called locally at 866-1012 if there are any questions.  A point of order was made by Dave Magargee, N3CM.  He said that
the November 2000 minutes recorded accurately what was reported at the November meeting; however the report made
at the meeting was in error.

Treasurer's Report:  Chuck Paddock, K8CLP, moved to accept the November treasurer's report as printed in the Carrier Wave. Bob Trodden, N3ZZR, seconded the motion.  The motion carried.

EMA:  It was reported that Jim Thompson, Mercer County EMA Director, said that the County grant is in "working progress."

VE Session:  Dennis Gregory, WM3H, reported that there were 6 new Technicians who passed their tests at the last VE session,  many of whom received a perfect score.  These were people who had come from the 20/9 Club.  The new fee for taking an exam is  now $10. The next VE session in Mercer will be on Saturday, April 21st at the EMA Building.  Registration is at 9 AM. Testing is at 10 AM.

Membership:  Nothing to report.

Net/Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Good Hams:  It was reported that there were a couple of ragchewers on last week's 10m Net
(Thurs. at 8:30 PM on 28.450 MHz).  About 18 checked-in to last week's Emergency Communications Net (Thurs. at 9 PM).
There will be no net on March 8th due to Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, speaking at the McKay Auditorium in Beehgly School of Education at Youngstown State University.  He will begin at 7:30 PM.  Talk-ins will be on the 146.745 repeater starting at 6 PM.

OLD BUSINESS:  BBS:  Doug Noderer, W3FYV, will have the 4 port muxboard completed for the workshop on Fri., Mar. 2nd at the Good Life.  The muxboard allows the use of additional ports for passing information through the system as well as the EMA direct link.  (A 440 MHz link to the BBS from the EMA is used since the EMA does not have RF issues on this band as it does  on 2m.)  A 4 port muxboard is very expensive (of the order of 2 dual band radios).  One port is able to address many ports.  Presently an old 486 is in use at the BBS.  The 486 is slow since it goes into sleep mode.  It will be replaced by a Pentium which is faster and has more memory.

Field Day:  FD will take place on the weekend of June 23rd and 24th this year.  The Club will hold it at Buhl Park. Chuck Thomas, KB3DAK, says that he may be interested in selling sandwiches for fund-raising.  Chuck Paddock, K8CLP,
said that Buhl Day is a better occasion for this.  KB3DAK asked if the Club has an auxilary with wives and spouses. It was discussed whether or not the Club is allowed to sell to the general public at FD in Buhl Park.  The leadership of Buhl Park was also discussed.  No problems were reported except for one particular security guard.  Concerning funds, Dave Magargee, N3CM, said that the Club comes through with  money when the need arises.  KB3DAK said that he will be willing to assist in fund-raising.  KB3DAK also said that he will chair the FD food committee.  Tom Galloway, K3TG, gave him the Club's appreciation.  Still needed is a  FD chair who would also be responsible for the tables, chairs, tents,  etc.  There were no volunteers.

Picnic:  The Club Picnic will take place the 4th Tuesday in July (July 24th).  The Club provides hamburgers, hot dogs,
sausages, table settings, and condiments.  Funds for the picnic were allocated at the January meeting.  Tom Galloway,
K3TG, reminded all that Howard Anderson, KE3FO, donated the grill last year.  It is being stored at the house of Jerry
Parkany, N8PY.

Minutes:  Dave Magargee, N3CM, moved to enter Tim Duffy's, K3LR, email message into the February minutes.  Joe Vaccaro, W3JTV, seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

Club Elections:  The Club elections will take place at the