About the York Region Amateur Radio Club
CLUB HISTORY - York Region Amateur Radio Club (originally called York North Amateur Radio Club) was founded in 1959 in York County, Ontario, Canada (York County is now the Regional Municipality of York). In the 1990's another radio club in southern York Region, Thornhill Radio Amateurs Club amalgamated with YRARC and the club's members now come from all parts of the Region and beyond. We are one of the largest radio clubs in the Greater Toronto Area.
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ABOUT YORK REGION - York Region is located north of Toronto. York Region extends from Toronto's boundary north to Lake Simcoe, west to Peel Region and Simcoe County, and east to Durham Region. It is a mix of urban/suburban areas and rural countryside. The current population is just over one million.
The following municipalities are part of York Region: the City of Vaughan, City of Markham, Town of Richmond Hill, Town of Aurora, Town of Newmarket, King Township, Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, Town of East Gwillimbury, Town of Georgina.
Local communities in these municipalities include: Woodbridge, Maple, Thornhill, Unionville, Nobleton, King City, Schomberg, Oak Ridges, Sharon, Holland Landing, Mt. Albert, Queensville, Keswick, and Sutton.
Our club has also become an active community partner supporting charitable and other non-profit organizations across York Region. We provide free communications services to community events to help improve coordination and safety. We also train and prepare to provide emergency communications services in times of need, coordinating our efforts with government emergency managers across York region. As another form of community service, we offer nearly-free training to help people obtain their amateur certifications, and we arrange training in related areas such as first-aid, emergency preparedness, and emergency management.
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Club members are active with ongoing technical projects across a range of interests. We maintain three repeater systems, providing coverage for portable and mobile communications across the region.
Software Defined Radio has grabbed the interest of our members, some of whom have built powerful but inexpensive radios from kits at the club’s project nights. Our members reflect the multi-faceted nature of the hobby, with interests ranging from using Morse code for distant communications to building and using satellites or bouncing signals off the moon.
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We also like to get together in person, with meetings on the first Tuesday of each month from September to June, getting together for Field Day in June, running our annual Hamfest, or meeting up for a Saturday morning “fox hunt”.
If you’re interested in amateur radio, please come out to one of our meetings – no other invitation required - or contact us for more information.