COARC Serving Central Ontario Join the club

Newmarket, Ontario · Est. Central Ontario

A radio club advancing with today’s technology.

Five tower sites. Thirteen repeaters. A linked network stretching from Newmarket to Haliburton and Bancroft, built and kept on the air by volunteers.

Explore the network Join the club · $30/yr
Tower sites
5
Repeaters
13
APRS nodes
6
Membership
$30/yr
The main tower at the Ballantrae site seen from below, antennas against a winter sky

VA3BAL · Ballantrae, Ontario

VHF output 147.330 +
AllStar node 568770
01 · Who we are

We are an amateur radio club based out of Newmarket, Ontario.

Five tower sites across Central Ontario: the main site in Ballantrae, with sites in Grass Hill (near Lindsay), Eagle Lake (near Haliburton) and two near Bancroft.

More about the club

“All of our members contribute in some way or another. Each gifted in their own unique way, working together to make the hobby better for everyone involved.”

The COARC membership
  • 01

    Communication is key

    Everything we build exists to get a signal from one place to another, cleanly and reliably.

  • 02

    Working in a professional manner

    Commercial-grade sites, tidy racks, documented systems, and members who show up when it matters.

  • 03

    No drama

    This isn’t a coffee club, though Tim Hortons is appreciated. When projects are ongoing, everyone pitches in.

Looking up the main lattice tower at Ballantrae
VA3BAL · Main tower
The McCrae lattice tower with dish antennas and the site building at its base
VE3ZFM · McCrae tower
02 · The network

Five sites, linked into one network.

Ballantrae is the hub. From there, VHF and UHF links tie in Grass Hill, Eagle Lake and the three Bancroft-area sites, with AllStar, IRLP and EchoLink reaching out to the rest of the world.

Full repeater listing

5
Tower sites

Ballantrae, Grass Hill, Eagle Lake and the Bancroft area

13
Repeaters

VHF & UHF · FM, DMR and Fusion

6
APRS nodes

Five digipeaters and two iGates

7
AllStar nodes

Tying the sites together over IP

COARC repeater coverage across Central Ontario · Approximate · Drag to pan, +/- to zoom
VA3BALHub site
Ballantrae · Main site
147.330 + / 103.5
AllStar 568770IRLP 2641EchoLink 132815
VE3LNZLinked
Grass Hill · Near Lindsay
147.195 + / 156.7
AllStar 568772IRLP 2870VHARA Radio Club
VA3MINLinked
Eagle Lake · Near Haliburton
145.210 + / 162.2
AllStar 568776Linked to VA3BAL
03 · On the air

Voice, data and linking, all week long.

From an everyday morning commute net to emergency services support, the club runs the infrastructure that keeps Central Ontario talking.

Repeaters

Thirteen VHF and UHF machines from Newmarket to Bancroft, with tone access and full linking back to Ballantrae.

See the listing

Digital voice

DMR on 442.025 and 444.9875, plus C4FM Fusion on 146.925 and 444.425, alongside classic VHF/UHF FM.

Modes & tones

APRS & packet

Five VHF digipeaters and two iGates at 144.390, one also gating 30 metres HF, plus packet ports at Ballantrae and Grass Hill.

APRS nodes

Linking & remote

AllStar ties the sites together and reaches other clubs; IRLP, EchoLink and an HF remote keep the world one call away.

Our projects
04 · In the works

What we’re building next.

We are open to linking with other clubs to enhance repeater usage and emergency services via AllStar. Want to partner up? Use the contact page and send us an email.

Ongoing AllStar

Repeater linking

Every COARC site already links back to Ballantrae. The next step is reaching further: working with neighbouring clubs so more repeaters, more hams and more emergency services can share the same infrastructure.

Read more
Planned DMR

DMR expansion

DMR is already live at Ballantrae on 442.025 and 444.9875. The future project is widening digital voice coverage across the rest of the network, and making it easier for visitors to roam onto our systems.

Read more
05 · From the field

Towers, racks and the people behind them.

Every one of these sites was built by members: on weekends, in the snow, with a lot of coax and a lot of coffee.

Open the photo gallery

Panoramic view of the Ballantrae repeater room with cavity filters and equipment racks
VA3BAL · Repeater room
Looking up the McCrae lattice tower and its dish antennas against blue sky and clouds
VE3ZFM · Looking up the tower
Cam presenting Doug with his 80th birthday gift from the club members
Doug’s 80th · a gift from the members
06 · The club

A hobby is only as good as its people.

Members contribute in their own unique way, and when someone goes above and beyond, the club notices.

Cam presenting Doug Peckhover with an engraved clock for his 80th birthday
Appreciation

A gift for Doug, VE3ATP

Cam presents Doug Peckhover with an engraved clock on his 80th birthday, an appreciation gift for his unwavering support of amateur radio and the club.

07 · Membership

Come and get on the air with us.

New members are always welcome, licensed or just curious. Membership is $30 per year, and once you’re accepted you’re added to the Groups.io group and get the Zoom meeting links.

Get in touch Visit our Groups.io
Meetings Zoom

Next club meeting

Monday, October 5th at 7:00 pm, via Zoom. Meeting links are shared on the Groups.io group.

Where
Newmarket, Ontario
Cost
$30 per year
Email
tech@coarc.on.ca