The Almanor Repeater Foundation (ARF) is a non-profit organization that was formed primarily to support (a) public service radio station WRTZ-707, and (b) the establishment and maintenance of a 2 meter (VHF band) amateur radio repeater in the Lake Almanor basin. The repeater is open to all amateur radio operators. It transmits on 147.735 MHz and can receive inputs with a -0.6 MHz offset, tone 123.0 Hz. ARF also supports amateur radio more generally, promoting radio knowledge and proper amateur radio procedures, as well as periodic amateur radio license testing sessions.

Our earliest community project was the creation of an amateur radio emergency network that connects the local hospital with the several local fire stations. The Almanor Emergency Net consists of 2 meter amateur radios located at those sites, staffed by volunteer operators. In situations where conventional communications become degraded due to outages, the net can be activated by the hospital or any local fire chief. It creates a backup linkage that does not rely on repeaters to function and avoids interfering with official emergency response radio channels. Net volunteers hold weekly radio check-in sessions on the designated net frequency.

For further information on ARF you may contact the Foundation President, Tom Nelson (AB6TN) at tomgnel@gmail.com. For information on upcoming license testing, please contact Bud Wasson (AJ6PA) at bud.aj6pa@yahoo.com.