The regular September meeting of the Mercer County Amateur

Radio Club was called to order on September 23, 1997 at

7:33 PM by President Tom Galloway, KA3MYM. There were

23 members present and 5 guests: Bernie Fuller, N3EFN,

who was the guest speaker for the evening; Roger Laird,

KC8HVC; Jerry Viele, W8JV; Bonnie Viele, N8MCX; Chip

Catalano, Jr., N3TLG. Sicknesses: Chet Dorsh who is

not a current member. All but one got the Sept. Carrier

Wave. Contributions are needed for Carrier Wave articles.

The editor's deadline is now the 10th of the month.

The August 1997 minutes were adjusted to read the correct

call of Tom Junk, N3ZLV. A motion by Scott Jones, N3RA, and

seconded by Steve Shemancik, AA3EW, to accept the minutes

passed.

 Treasurer's Report: Blaine Smith, N3UGN, moved to accept the

August Treasurer's report. Jerry Parkany, KB8YBE, seconded

the motion. The motion carried.

 Membership Committee: There were two (2) fully-paid ($20/yr)

applications on file: Albert "Chip" Catalano, Jr., N3TLG,

Tech, Greenville; Roger A. Laird, KC8HVC, Tech, Masury.

Tim Duffy, K3LR, moved to accept both into membership.

Tom Junk, N3ZLV, seconded the motion. The motion passed.

 EMA: Nothing to report.

 Repeater Committee: Thanks was expressed to Tim Jellison,

W3YQ for his repair work on the repeater. The power

supply still needs to be repaired. There are now spares

and backups available on the repeater. A piece of the BBS

antenna that was struck by lightning was shown. It had

fallen 300 ft. Thanks were also given to Tim Duffy,

K3LR, and Joe Vaccaro, WA3YAO for there work in repairing

the repeater. It was mentioned that a thank you and

$100 was sent to Andy Bowell, WB8HYO, for his assistance.

A thank you was also sent to Jane Suber at Wilcom-Cellular

for the one telephone and 2 handsets that they donated.

 Constitution & Bylaws Committee: Nothing to report.

 RFI/TVI Committee: Nothing to report.

 VE Testing: The next VE session in Mercer is on Sat.

October 18 with registration at 9:00 AM and testing at

10:00 AM. Contact Dennis Gregory, WM3H, for details.

Tom Galloway, KA3MYM, also mentioned the Mahoning Valley

ARA has testing on the third Thursday of every odd month

at the Red Cross Building in Youngstown, OH at 6:30 PM.

MVARA will not be hosting an exam session on the National

Exam Date this fall.

 Net/Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner: There were 27 checkins

into last week's Emergency Communications Net; 6 persons

attended last Saturday's 8:30 AM breakfast at The Suburban.

No one attended the Wed. 11:30 lunch at Wendy's; 9 or 10

attended the 8:30 PM dinner at The Suburban on Friday.

 OLD BUSINESS: Auditor: Dan Smith, K3DR, along with Steve

Shemancik, AA3EW, have audited the books. All are in good

order. Also, they did a study on yearly activity from 1993

to the present. The findings are that the Club is holding

its own with no forseeable problems financially.

 Library: A thank you was received and noted from the

Shenango Valley Community Library for the memorial

book given in the name of John Hendrickson, KE3TA.

 Foxhunt: Sat., August 30, 1997: Winner: Tim Duffy,

K3LR. Second place: Scott Jones, N3RA. Chuck Paddock,

W8AOO and Jim Clinefelter, N3BAT, were the fox. The next

Foxhunt is planned to take place on a Saturday in December

sometime before Christmas. The date will be revealed at

the November meeting.

 Vanity Calls: An increase from $30 to $50 for a 10 yr

term took place on Sept. 15. Also, a remittance advice

form, Form 159, is now required when applying for a vanity

call. The 1st wave of Gate 3 came last Thursday. It is

unclear when Gate 4 will open.

 NEW BUSINESS: Computer Group: Tom Galloway, KA3MYM,

mentioned that it is of interest to form a computer

group within MCARC that would deal with buying, pricing,

choosing, etc. of computer equipment. Jerry Parkany,

KB8YBE, suggested that packet radio could also be included.

Jerry suggested the group may be an informal one with some

expertise.

 Field Trips: Joe Vaccaro, WA3YAO, asked what the Board of

Directors had discussed in terms of the Club taking field

trips in the future. It was mentioned that there was a

discussion at the last Board meeting. Possible places

to tour were mentioned: Shenango Valley Dam, nuclear

power plant, Lightning Volt in Volant, Rock 'n Roll Hall

of Fame, NWS in Pitt., coal electric plant, Dow Jones,

Pro-Football Hall of Fame.

 NWS: The NWS in Pittsburgh had requested permission to put

a link on their homepage to our page. Jerry Parkany, KB8YBE,

moved that the Club authorize the NWS in Pittsburgh to place

a link to our page. Steve Shemancik, AA3EW, seconded the

motion. The motion carried.

 Public Service: Gary Semrock of Rail-To-Trails has again

commended the MCARC for their public service offered during

the Bike-A-Thon this spring.

 Hamfest: Oct. 18, Fort Venango Mike & Key Club Ham Radio

Flea Market and Auction. Includes VE Session, breakfast,

lunch.

 Contests: Oct. 11 & 12: PA QSO Party; Oct. 25 & 26:

CQ WW SSB DX Contest.

 Election: The Director for the ARRL Atlantic Division

will be elected this fall. Scott Jones, N3RA, recommended

Kay Craigie, WT3P.

 Christmas Party: The MCARC Christmas Party is planned

to take place on the second Tuesday in December. More

details will be forthcoming.

 Program: Speaker Bernie Fuller, N3EFN, ARRL Vice-Director,

Atlantic Division. Question & Answer Session.

 Raffle: World Radio Year Subsciption, Oct. Issue,

Talkies (W8AOO), QST/CQ (W3KHS/K3LR), $28 collected.

 The meeting was adjourned at 8:13 PM.

 Respectfully submitted by Michael S. Varga, NR3C, Secretary

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