About

In 1992 local Hams would gather for coffee on Saturday mornings and discuss all things Radio Amateur. They would gather and help out with the local Scouts and assist at Jamborees. Somewhere along the way the High River Amateur Repeater Group was formed. In 1995 the Hams assisted the Town of High River around the clock during the flood. A few years later they set up the VE6HRB repeater southwest of Nanton and changed the name to the Foothills Amateur Radio Society to reflect the fact that Hams from all over the Foothills area were members of the Society.



Today FARS operates and maintains a repeater network that covers ~47,000 km2 of Southern Alberta, roughly covering areas between Highway 3 on the south, Highway 2 on the east, Highway 27 on the north, and the Rocky Mountains on the western side of the area. It is a fully-linked hub-and-spoke style network using UHF for linking and (mostly) VHF for drop repeaters. Each repeater can be operated independently of the network on demand, suitable for periodic Public Service events.

FARS interests are as diverse as its Members. Digital modes (HF and above), SSB, CW, Contesting, field operations, Emergency Communications, kit-building … the list goes on.