Every April, the OARC hosts its annual Homebrew Night, our show-and-tell evening of your home-made projects. Every year, presenters show off their “homebrewed” projects, the crowd celebrates their accomplishments, and there are awards!

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!

Don’t forget: OARC can provide you with ideas, plans and a parts list. Then you get the bits and pieces and build it.

How exactly does Homebrew Night work?

Perhaps you have some ideas about a DIY project or piece of home-made gear you’d like to attempt?
Build it in time for Homebrew Night in April, register in advance, and bring it along.
Prepare about 5 minutes of remarks:
- Explain what you did
- Highlight any particular successes or lessons learned that you experienced along the way
- Finish with one piece of advice you think anyone attempting this project should consider

Homebrew Night Awards

The Clare Fowler Award
In March 2025, Clare Fowler passed away. Click here to read his full obituary. He 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.

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).