There was "Three Guys Radio". Those three guys were David Metz, WA0AUQ, Randy Nelson, WB0VHB, and Steve Sagarian, KA0YRE. Steve had come up with the idea of a club for "thinkers and doers". So Randy gathered Dave and Steve together and they attended a meeting of the Central Iowa Technical Society in Des Moines, Iowa. This group had a short business meeting and a program on antenna theory. The "Three Guys" were all very impressed with how the organization was run. The most important things they saw were: 

1. 1. A strong sense of mission. 
2. 2. AMSAT rules (He who does the work decides what work gets done.) 
3. 3. Money could not be discussed for more than 5 minutes!

Somewhere along the line they came into joint possession of a large pile of surplus radio "junk". They took their pile of "Stuff" to the next Peoria Hamfest and turned some it into cash, each donating $100 to start the club off right. After more consideration the SouthEast Iowa Technical Society (SEITS, pronounced SEE-ITS) was formed. 

The first service project was to get the Mt. Pleasant 147.390 repeater back on the air after a prolonged period of antenna failure. We did some trading and ended up with a Hustler G-7 antenna and managed to get it up and the repeater working with the assistance of several other area hams. From there we organized the first meeting. 

We decided right at the first on the dinner meeting format as being more relaxed and offering more fellowship than the normal formal meeting. We also noted that all ham club meetings ended at a bar or fast food joint, so we might as well start at one and cut out the travel! 

Comments or submissions for publication can be sent to muldoon@seits.org