THE NORTH ALABAMA REPEATER ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 2025
President: Ralph Hogan W4XE- president@n4hsv.net
Vice President: Steve Smith KM4CJ – km4cj@comcast.net
Treasurer: Bill Yell K4IBY – treasurer@n4hsv.net
Secretary: Brian Wingfield KO4FV – secretary@n4hsv.net
Technical Advisor & Repeater Coordinator: Mark Bond W4FMX- techadvisor@n4hsv.net
Officers Listed Above Are Repeater Control Operators… if You Need Help
Web Design: Jared Cassidy KQ4VT – webmaster@n4hsv.net
Technical Contributor, DMR/Fusion Steve Smith KM4CJ – km4cj@comcast.net
Test and Integration, Brian Wingfield KO4FV – wingfba@gmail.com
Test and Integration, Paul Batiz W4END – paul.w4end@gmail.com
Technical Contributor: Gary Dion N4TXI – garydion@yahoo.com
The Repeater Girl, Kelley Vann Johns – kelleyvj@mac.com
What is NARA?
The North Alabama Repeater Association is an organization of Hams who maintain several amateur FM repeaters in the Huntsville, Alabama area. At present we have three VHF and three UHF machines located at several elevated locations in the hills around Huntsville. What’s this mean for us? Excellent repeater coverage! It’s easy to work most of these machines using a handheld on low power. This is great during severe weather events, public service nets (like the Huntsville Marathon, etc), and for general recreational use.
Who can be a member?
NARA membership is open to all amateur radio operators. The NARA constitution allows us the option of a loosely defined “corporation acceptance” wherein we have voted in members in a similar manner to other clubs in the past. While this allows us to police ourselves in the event of malicious interference, it is difficult to implement in practice because NARA only meets twice a year. An open policy of membership upon payment of dues only has worked very well for us in the past few years and we will continue in this spirit unless changes become necessary.
NARA dues are $19 per year per family and are prorated to $5 per quarter beyond the midpoint of each quarter. NARA is glad to accept donations of any amount to improve its capabilities. While it is our policy to hold treasury funds in reserve for emergency repairs, there are times when special projects stretch our budget beyond what is needed to do the job correctly and designated contributions have really helped us out. CLICK THE “JOIN NOW” button and join us now.
Becoming a Ham
Amateur Radio is a fun, challenging, and rewarding hobby with more facets than this page could possibly cover. There are several license classes, each with its own unique requirements and privileges. The classes are Technician, General, and Extra. Many new hams these days opt to start out with a Technician class license. The Morse code requirement has been eliminated for all license classes. The Tech license is the easiest to learn and with a little study on www.qrz.com , one can soon take and pass a 35 question written test. Amateur radio license testing is conducted monthly. The exam sessions are normally scheduled for the first Saturday of the month. If a holiday or special event falls on or adjacent to the first Saturday, the exam is scheduled for the second Saturday. Please see the Testing Schedule page for specific dates.
The Huntsville CAVEC exam sessions will be held at The Madison County Fire Training Building (to the right of the Fire Marshal Building), 300 Shields Rd, Huntsville, AL 35811. The exam sessions start promptly at 9:00 AM. Please plan to arrive between 8:45 and 9:00 AM.
Preregistration is available and preferred at hamstudy.org , but walk-ins are always welcome!
***If you are age 13 or younger a COPPA form must be completed by your parents and emailed to coppa@examtools.org***
What you need to bring to the exam session:
1) Government-issued picture ID.
2) If currently licensed, the official copy (signed) and an extra copy of your current FCC amateur radio license. The extra copy will be attached to your NCVEC Form 605 (License Application.)
3) Test fee, CASH ONLY, exact amount (if possible): $5.00 for adults, free for students (a current student ID may be requested.),
Active U.S. Military and First Responders.
**One fee will cover all tests taken at a particular session…no extra charge for extra tests (or retests)!**
4) Any current CSCEs that have not yet shown up in the FCC database.
5) Your FCC Registration Number (FRN). You have to apply for an FRN at the FCC website at least one week ahead of the exam session you plan to attend. More information is located here: FRN Info
For more information on amateur radio testing please visit CAVEC.
When you pass your exam, you’ll most likely have a call sign within a few days!
If you’re interested in becoming a Ham, by all means email us and we’ll be happy to help you! We can provide advice, suggest books, and assist with learning the various things a new Ham needs to know.