OARC Monthly Meeting – April 2026 (Homebrew Night)

The April 2026 OARC Monthly Meeting on April 8, 2026 at 6:45pm will be Homebrew Night, our annual show-and-tell evening. Bring your “homebrewed” hardware / software Amateur Radio projects, DIY apparatus, and home-made gear.

Whether your latest creation is polished perfection or still held together with hope and hot glue, bring it along and share your story! We celebrate low-cost, scrounged, and inventive solutions — proof that you don’t need deep pockets to make something amazing. We will celebrate your accomplishments and hear tales of your successes and lessons learned. And there are awards!

All Amateur Radio enthusiasts are welcome: OARC members and non-members, licensed and not-yet-licensed hams, friends and family.

Most monthly meetings will be hybrid. Attendance options:

(1) Attend in person at Scouts Headquarters, 1345 Baseline Road. Parking is free.

 CLICK HERE TO GET A FREE TICKET. This link will be active closer to the time. This link takes you to Eventbrite, a free online ticketing system. Please register in advance for the meeting so that we can be sure to:

• Have enough chairs and refreshments for everyone, and
• Send you a reminder closer to meeting.

(2) Attend virtually using MS Teams  Need help?  

• Click here to Join the meeting [link will be active closer to the meeting]
• Meeting ID: [to follow]       Passcode: [to be follow]

Draft Agenda

• Welcome, updates (Roger, VA3EGY)
• Homebrew presentation and demonstrate their Homebrew projects
• Judges deliberate on the Clare Fowler Award (1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize)
• Attendees vote on the People’s Choice Award
• Awards are presented

Photos may be taken. Portions of the meeting may be recorded.

More info on Homebrew Night and the awards appears below…

Why is Homebrew Night so important?

• Building your own amateur-radio equipment is frugal and satisfying.
• Telling other OARC members about your project is fun and offers an opportunity for discussion, technical questions and answers, and suggestions for how to address challenges.
• Homebrew Night is a key part of your amateur-radio training: it is first and foremost about experimentation, development of technical skills, problem solving.
• You can win the Clare Fowler Award (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, decided by a panel of judges) or the People’s Choice award (decided by secret ballot). Award details below.

What can I bring?

• Any home-built, non-commercial amateur radio equipment.
• Unfinished projects are welcome; tell us what you’ve done so far.
• It doesn’t have to be complex, fancy, or elaborate, just something that you have done and want others to know about.
• It can also be from a kit you build at an OARC kit-building session.Bring out your projects and celebrate your technical accomplishments with the OARC!

The Clare Fowler Award

Clare Fowler was a life-long Amateur Radio operator and a beloved, long-time member of the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club. He enjoyed countless hours contacting radio operators around the world, testing and building antennas, and sharing his knowledge on radio calls, at Club meetings, and in international publications. The OARC’s Clare Flower Award was named for him because he won it so many times! It will be awarded in perpetuity in his memory at the OARC’s Homebrew Night.

What are the criteria used by the judges for the Clare Flower Award?

Originality (30%)

• 10 – not original, circuits and applications in most amateur publications, kits, existing software.
• 20 – modifications to published circuits and applications, modify existing software, modifications and additions to kits.
• 30 – new original concept and/or application, little or no info in most amateur publications, develop new software, mathematical calculations, not a kit.

Complexity (30%)

• 10 – simple, few parts/components, dimensions, layout and lead lengths not very critical or easily measured, multimeter instrumentation, make in a day or less.
• 20 – fair number of parts/components, chassis, circuit board, some attention to dimensions, layout and lead lengths, simple software program, use vswr meter, signal generators etc., construction time between one day and a week.
• 30 – relatively large number of parts/components, one or more circuit boards, critical layout, dimensions, write and debug software programs, more advanced instrumentation, time more than a week.

Craftsmanship (15%)

• 5 – very simple tools, crudely constructed 10 – more advanced tools, nicely constructed
• 15 – beautifully made, clean, labeled.

Presentation (15%)

• 5 – short or rambling presentation, few details or explanation.
• 10 – reasonable explanation about item, how it works and was constructed.
• 15 – very well thought out short and concise description of how the item was developed and constructed, hand out information available.

The People’s Choice award

In 2025, the OARC introduced a new trophy for the People’s Choice award. The new trophy is a magnetron from a microwave oven found at a local hamfest, mounted  on a cedar fence-post top as a base. This meets the classic Amateur Radio criteria for “scrounged” and “low or no cost”. In the spirit of Homebrew, the winner will take it home, add something fun to it (e.g., by soldering or gluing), and bring it back to Homebrew Night the following year to be awarded again. Over time, the award will become increasingly elaborate (and possibly hilarious).

Click here to read reports from past Homebrew Nights