Early years VOAR first began broadcasting in the fall of 1929 as
8BSL. In 1930, the station was renamed
8RA. It received the
call sign VONA (
Voice of the
North
Atlantic) in 1931 (using the
ITU prefix VO that was assigned to the
Dominion of Newfoundland before it joined Canada. It later switched to
VOAC (
Voice of the
Adventist
Church) in 1933, then once more to its current call sign,
VOAR (
Voice of
Adventist
Radio) in 1938. VOAR is one of four Canadian stations, along with
VOWR 800,
VOCM 590 and
VOCM-FM 97.5, to still use call signs beginning with
VO rather than
C. 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. The new dial position was coupled with a boost in power to 10,000 watts, which was approved by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in 1991. But because 1210 is a
clear channel frequency reserved for
Class A WPHT Philadelphia, 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.
Expanding through Canada In 2002, VOAR began adding a network of FM rebroadcasters, while the main station was 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 expanded 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 October 6, 2016, the CRTC received an application from VOAR to move to the FM band, with the
call sign VOAR-FM. The proposed new station would have an
effective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000
watts. At the same time, it would shut down its AM signal and its
Bay Roberts repeater, VOAR-1-FM 95.9. The other VOAR repeaters would begin
simulcasting the new FM signal. Reasons for the conversion request stated in the application were listener confusion with
VOWR 800 AM (both stations receive each other's mail), signal reception issues in portions of the St. John's area, and the AM station's transmitter (installed in 1990) reaching the end of its usable life. On June 27, 2017, the CRTC approved VOAR's application to replace its AM radio station VOAR and its rebroadcaster in Bay Roberts. The new FM station in Mount Pearl would operate at 96.7 MHz with an ERP of 100,000 watts using a
non-directional antenna at a
height above average terrain (HAAT) of 156.8 metres (515 feet). VOAR began testing its new FM transmitter in December 2018. It officially signed on the air the following month. VOAR completed its transitions to FM with the station's moniker becoming
Lighthouse FM. On January 10, 2020, the AM signal
shut down. ==Rebroadcasters==