Hello from HARC, the Halifax Amateur Radio Club. 

This year HARC celebrates its 90^th year of continuous operation.  To mark this incredible milestone, HARC is holding a two-day Conference and Gala Dinner.  The dates are Friday evening, August 18 to Sunday afternoon, August 20, 2023.  The conference location is the Salvation Army at 50 Gesner Street, Halifax.  A banquet will be held on the Saturday evening at the Comfort Inn, 88 Chain Lake Drive, Halifax.

These events are shaping up to be a great time for all.  We are honoured that the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) will cohost the conference holding their President’s Fireside Talk and Annual General Meeting as part of our conference. RAC celebrates their 30^th and their Executive and Directors will be in attendance.

The program continues to develop.  There will be formal presentations on a range of topics from leading amateurs from our region and beyond.  The list of presenters grows, check out these callsigns: VA1CC, VE1AJP, VE1BSG, VE1FA, VE1GRM/N4GRN, VE1RM/WIVE, VE1RPX, VE1YY, VE9OHM, VO1NO.  Details of the program and presentations are available on the HARC website.

In addition to the formal presentations, we are planning a series of less formal, practical talks and demonstrations.  These talks will be shorter in timeframe and will be more hands on.

There will be vendors and service providers in attendance demonstrating their products and services.  Coupled with this, there will be a number of First Responder agencies present displaying their command centre vehicles and communication capabilities, aka, a Show & Shine.

In order to make this truly a hamfest, there needs to be on-air events.  HARC is sponsoring a QSO Party on the Halifax Natal Day weekend prior to the conference.  Awards will be presented at the Gala Dinner on the Saturday evening.  There will be an event station setup where amateurs can try out current and vintage equipment at the conference site.

A Gala Dinner will be held on Saturday evening where we will hear from Phil McBride, President of RAC, and there will be a segment for recognition of notable amateurs and awards presented for the on-air activities.

We are arranging two special events for Sunday morning. There will be an ecumenical church service recognizing first responders, and alternatively, attendees can tour the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and the museum ships berthed there.

Lunch will be served at the conference site on Saturday with refreshments available throughout both days.

As with all amateur events, there will be door prizes, raffles, 50/50 draws and merchandise for purchase.

We hope amateurs and non-amateurs alike will look to attend our celebration.  Tickets are available online through the HARC website. There are a range of options: Full Conference and Gala Dinner ticket for $80, Conference only ticket for $35 and Gala Dinner only ticket for $50.  Note, due to the size of the banquet venue, tickets for the Gala Dinner will be limited to first come first served.