VOAR first began broadcasting in the fall of 1929 as 8BSL. In 1930, the station was renamed 8RA. It received the call sign VOAR in 1931. Over the years, the station switched its frequency several times. From the 1950s through 1991, it broadcast at 1230 kHz, originally powered at only 100 watts. It then moved to its final AM frequency, 1210, getting a boost in power to 10,000 watts, which was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 1991. But because 1210 is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class AWPHTPhiladelphia, VOAR used a directional antenna to avoid interference. It later moved its city of license from St. John's to Mount Pearl, the community where its transmitter and studios are located.
Since 2002, VOAR has added a network of FM rebroadcasters, while still being heard on the AM band in St. John's. At first, the rebroadcasting stations were in small communities around Newfoundland and Labrador. In recent years, VOAR has expended into other provinces and territories. It currently has about 30 rebroadcasters, stretching across Canada. It is heard in four provinces and in the Northwest Territories.
Moving to FM
On 6 October 2016, the CRTC received an application from VOAR to move to the FM band, with the call signVOAR-FM. The new station will have an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts. At the same time, it would shut down its AM signal and its Bay Robertsrepeater, VOAR-1-FM 95.9. The other VOAR repeaters would become repeaters of the new FM signal. Reasons for the conversion request stated in the application were listener confusion with VOWR, signal reception issues in portions of the St. John's area, and the AM station's transmitter reaching the end of its usable life. On 27 June 2017, the CRTC approved VOAR's application to replace its religious AM radio station VOAR and its rebroadcaster in Bay Roberts. The new FM station in Mount Pearl will operate at 96.7 MHz with an ERP of 100,000 watts using a non-directional antenna at a height above average terrain of 156.8 metres. VOAR began testing its new FM transmitter in St. John's in December 2018. As of January 2019, VOAR-FM is on the air. On 2 December 2019, VOAR completed its transitions to FM, increasing its power to 100,000 watts and was rebranded as Lighthouse FM. On 10 January 2020, the AM broadcast was scheduled to come to an end as the station has moved to FM.
Rebroadcasters
In 2002, VOAR added several FM rebroadcasters in various parts of the province, too far from St. John's to get a clear signal from the AM transmitter. Over the years, other rebroadcasters were added in other Canadian provinces and territories. VOAR is also carried across Canada on Bell TV Channel 950 and locally on Rogers Cable Channel 929. A new broadcasting license was issued in 2008. Also in 2008, several transmitters were put on the air in British Columbia. The station also had repeaters in Prince George, British Columbia 107.3 ; Kamloops 105.1 ; Kelowna 98.9; and Oliver 106.1, but they were taken off the air due to licensing issues with the CRTC in January 2009. The station also had applications to expand into 25 additional communities in British Columbia in early 2009.
