Learn with us!
The Ottawa Amateur Radio Club (OARC) has the courses, workshops, exam supervision and learning resources you need to become a certified Amateur Radio operator and become actively involved in the hobby.
Watch the OARC Calendar for courses and workshops.
Courses
In Canada, Amateur Radio certification is regulated by Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), a federal department. To be an Amateur Radio operator in Canada, you must pass the ISED exam for the Basic Amateur Radio Operator Certificate or Advanced Amateur Radio Operator Certificate. OARC courses prepare you for these exams. The Club also offers courses to prepare you for the Morse Code (CW) exam and an Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) training course. More information on all of these appears below.
Basic Amateur Radio course
3 hours every Sunday for 12 weeks, hybrid, Spring and Fall
Cost : $100 Regular, $80 Student
The basic course prepares you to write the exam for your Amateur Radio Operator Certificate with Basic Qualification. The course covers all 100 Basic exam topics over 12 weeks. All course materials are provided.
A mark of 70-79% on the Basic exam affords you access to radio wave bands that are great for short-range communication and the presence of repeaters in many places extend the range of communications. If you get 80% or more (Basic with Honours), you’ll have greater operating privileges.
Fall course registration opens in August. Spring course registration opens in January.
If you need a basic course at a time other than these two, please Contact Us and we’ll help you find one offered by someone else.
Advanced Amateur Radio course
The advanced course is not currently offered by OARC but we can help you find one.
The course prepares you to write the exam for your Advance Qualification. A mark of 70% or better on the Advanced exam takes you deeper into the hobby, allowing you to build and operate your own transmitting equipment, sponsor a club station, run at higher power and operate your own repeater station.
If you need an advance course, please Contact Us and we’ll help you find an one offered by someone else.
Morse Code (CW) course
This course prepares you to communicate using Morse Code (CW). Proficiency in Morse Code is no longer mandatory to obtain your Basic certification but adding it to your Basic certification affords you greater operating privileges. Demonstrating the ability to send and receive Morse Code at 5 words per minute is required to pass the exam.
Fall course registration opens in August. Spring course registration opens in January.
If you need a course on another timeline, please Contact Us and we’ll help you find a CW course offered by someone else.
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) training course
2 days on a weekend, 9:00-4:00 each day, in-person only
Cost: $25, Bring your own lunch, refreshments provided
This course teaches the skills necessary to provide a wide range of effective emergency/disaster communications. It is designed for certified Amateur Radio operators but we also welcome West Carleton community members who are not licensed, so they will understand the techniques and can work along side ARES-trained operators during exercises and live events.
The course will include: ARES organization, roles and responsibilities, deployment kits, net operations, operating etiquette and radio procedures, and a deployed exercise.
Prerequisite: Before taking the ARES Course, you must take the Introduction to Incident ManagementSystem (IMS 100) course, available online through the Emergency Management Training Portal Ontario. Click here IMS 100 course to take that course now.
ARES is organized and sponsored by the ARRL (American Radio Relay League) in the United States and Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) in Canada.
Read the report from the May 2025 ARES Course. Search the OARC Calendar to find the next ARES Course.
Exam supervision
In Canada, you must pass an exam to qualify for the Amateur Radio Operator Certificate. Certification is regulated by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). Take your Basic, Advanced, and Morse code (CW) exams with us, under the supervision of an ISED-accredited examiner.
Contact Us to book your exam.
Workshops
The OARC offers structured, interactive, hands-on workshops designed to facilitate collaboration and problem-solving. Workshops help foster a club culture of innovation and experimentation where OARC members can experiment with new technologies, techniques, and innovations in radio communication, including antennas, radio setups, and digital modes. Watch the OARC calendar for upcoming workshops.
Get on the Air (GOTA) workshop
2 hours once a week for 2 weeks, in-person only
A GOTA workshop is part of the OARC new-hams package, offered at the end of each Basic course for students who passed at least the Basic exam and ordered their Free OARC membership.
Newly licensed amateurs will learn how to Get on the Air (GOTA) with supervision and encouragement from an experience Amateur Radio operator. The workshop includes the basics of programming a radio and setting up a base and mobile Amateur Radio station. New hams will also learn the etiquette of operating on the air. The on-air portion will be with an instructor as Net Control to allow all of the students to get on the air and get over “mic fright” in a safe environment.
After the GOTA workshops, new hams will be ready to participate in the New Hams Net on a weekly basis.
To participate in this workshop, you’ll need to be an OARC member. Stay tuned for more information.
Soldering-skills workshop
The soldering-skills workshop provides participants with hands-on experience and instruction in the fundamental techniques of joining metals using solder. These workshops typically cover basic soldering techniques, safety practices, and the use of various tools and materials. Participants will learn to create strong and reliable joints, essential for electronics assembly and a range of other applications.
To participate, you’ll need to be an OARC member. This workshop will normally be held right before an OARC kit-building workshop so you can do both.
To participate in this workshop, you’ll need to be an OARC member. Stay tuned for more information.
Kit-building workshop
Ready to turn your electronics curiosity into hands-on experience? Sign up for one of our kit-building workshops, and join a welcoming and energetic group dedicated to building, learning, and soldering electronics projects together!
Whether you’re a new ham looking to expand your technical skills or a seasoned builder with a bench full of dreams, this group is the perfect place to bring your projects to life. Work on kits, troubleshoot, share tips, and enjoy the satisfaction of building something from the ground up.
This workshop will normally be held right after an OARC soldering-skills workshop so you can do both.
To participate in this workshop, you’ll need to be an OARC Club member and also have completed our soldering-skills workshop. This helps ensure that everyone has a solid foundation in safe and effective soldering techniques. Don’t worry if you’re new—we’ll help get you there!
Read about past kit-building workshops.
Stay tuned for more information.
Pico balloon workshop
Join us for a unique, sky-high experience where you’ll learn from experts about the science and tech behind pico balloons — ultra-lightweight, high-altitude balloons capable of traveling thousands of kilometers high up in the atmosphere.
After a crash course in high-altitude flight, tracking, and design, we’ll work together as a team to build, launch, and track a single group balloon. It’s hands-on, high-flying fun with a mix of learning, teamwork, and real-time adventure!
To participate in this workshop, you’ll need to be an OARC member. Stay tuned for more information.
Fox hunting and Geo Foxing Activities Workshop
Learn to build, set up and run “fox hunting” and “geo foxing” activities, where participants use radio direction finding equipment and techniques to locate one or more radio transmitters and/or geocaches hidden within a designated search area. These are typically a casual, social activity.
There is also a competitive sporting style of Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF), called radio orienteering that combines elements of orienteering, cross-country racing, and transmitter hunting. It is sometimes referred to as “radio sport”. The much more formal rules for international ARDF are maintained by the IARU Region I ARDF Working Group.
To participate in this workshop, you’ll need to be an OARC member. Stay tuned for more information.
Learning Resources
- RIC-3 Information on the Amateur Radio Service, section 5 lists the exam topics
- RBR-4 Standards for the Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service
- CPC-2-0-03 Radiocommunication and Broadcasting Antenna Systems, legal requirements you need to meet before erecting antenna systems
- Understanding Safety Code 6: Health Canada’s radiofrequency exposure guidelines
- RIC-1 Section 8 Requirements and procedures for administering the Morse code examination
- Practice the exam on line
- Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Band Plans, guidance for the usage of the Canadian Amateur bands
- ICAO Phonetic Alphabet
- Q-codes and other ham abbreviations
- HAMpuzzle, a program to practice assembling block diagrams for the Canadian Amateur Radio Basic certification
- SI abbreviations (Canada)
Contact Us if you have questions about OARC educational offerings.
Last Updated on 2025-06-15 by Joannadanna