The meeting was called to order by President, Randall Winchester at 1920 hours. In attendance were:

Self-introduction of members took place while trying to get the sound working on the computer. “Why you are an Amateur Radio Operator” was the question of the day. Everyone had a different reason and the reasons ranged from “parents are licensed and wanted me to get my license,” “study partner and decided to take the test also,” “always interested in electronics,” to “saw a shortwave radio as a kid and thought it was exciting.” The reasons are as varied as the individuals who make up the ranks of Amateur Radio Operators.

Minutes – Dale Barrett made a motion to accept the minutes as written, Al Grant seconded, motion passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report – Bill Call reported no changes from the last meeting, therefore the current balance is $723.83 and he has a deposit pending.

Systems Report – Bill Call reported that he worked on the duplexer and is still not sure what is causing the noise on the ‘94’ Repeater. Farmington now has a new antenna which was installed Monday. Hamlin system is working fine. UHF is working pretty well but Bill Call would like to tune it up one of these days. Bill did report being able to track down the mysterious noise heard on the 440 repeater and was glad to report that it has been corrected as of today.

Staff Advisor Report – John Hart reported the new antenna towers still not up due to bids being too high for moving the tower, still looking for a contractor to move them. The cable boxes have been mounted and the conduit pulled through.

Net Report –Matt Freeman reported 4 sessions, 37 check-ins, 2 pieces of traffic, 88 minutes and 54.26 operator hours.

VE Report – Currently there are no license exam sessions scheduled. If anyone would like to schedule an exam please call Bill Call. May possibly want to schedule classes in January.

QSL Manager’s Report – No cards received.

Old Business – Christmas Party, Holmes Family Restaurant is available on Friday, December 7^{th or Saturday, December 8th. Al Grant made a motion to have the Christmas Party on Friday, December 7th at 5:30 p.m. Dale Barrett seconded. A Chinese Auction will be held with a $10.00 limit if buying a new gift and a 30# limit if recycling your prized possessions. Motion passed unanimously.}

Ham of the Year - Bill motioned to change the nominating of candidates to November for this year out of necessity (as we didn’t get that accomplished in October). Randall appointed John Hart and Rich Beam to count the votes at the December meeting. Ballots will be provided, nominations are as follows:

Dale Barrett nominated Matt Freeman, WX4MET

Bill Call nominated Debbie Barton, W8IBT and

Raymond Bradley nominated Dale Barrett, WB7D

Ham Bits – A bit of history (originally produced in the late 1940’s) was presented and was quite interesting.

Program – John Hart presented a program on NVIS antennas. The definition of a NVIS (Near Vertical Instance Skywave) is an antenna that sends most of it’s energy straight up. The height of an 80 meter antenna would be 26 feet and and 40 meter antenna would be 13 feet because the height would be between one tenth and 2 tenths of a wavelength. Commonly NVIS antenna for 80 meters is at about 10 feet. To view a near real time propagation map go to http://www.spacew.com/www/fof2.html

New Business – Murray Christmas Parade will be December 1st and we need radio operators along the parade route. Please contact Bill if you will be able to help out. All participants will meet at the Memorial Baptist Church on the corner of Main & 10th Street to determine where the radio operators will be stationed on the parade route.

The Paducah Club is having the Section Manager speak November 12th and Bill will try to send out an email so everyone will be informed of the particulars regarding that meeting.

Joseph Winchester applied to the club for Associate Membership. He is interested in WX spotting, Public Service Operations, Traffic Nets, Emergency Operations, ARES and MARS and received his license earlier this year. Bill Call made a motion to accept Joseph’s application and John Hart seconded. Motion passed with all in favor. Welcome to the Club, Joseph.

There being no further business. Debbie Barton made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Dale Barrett, motion passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 2035 hours.

Respectfully submitted,

Debbie Barton, W8IBT, Secretary