A true historic lighthouse, Souris East Lighthouse, as it was known, was built in 1880 to a design by the Department of Marine and Fisheries. Operated and maintained by a resident lighthouse keeper until 1959, it had living quarters attached until being removed in that year. In 1961 the sixty foot tall lighthouse became automated, housing one of only four 400 Watt mercury vapour lamps in Canada. These later became standard across the country.
Today the lighthouse is open to the public, housing an interpretive centre, with a gift shop and wash rooms adjacent.
In June of 2016, for their annual emergency preparedness exercise, P.E.I.’s amateur radio operators chose the Souris East Lighthouse as their site of operations in an attempt to contact other hams around the world. Being on the coast and over salt water, a lighthouse is an excellent site for such an adventure. The following news article has some of the details of the event.
HAM radio operators in Souris lighthouse make contact around world
Mitch MacDonald | Jun 27, 2016
Contest, educational event helps operators learn to cope in sub-optimal conditions away from home base
SOURIS – The emergency preparedness of P.E.I.’s amateur radio operators was put to the test this weekend.
Members of several radio clubs in the Maritimes took part in the Field Day event organized by the Charlottetown Amateur Radio Club at the Souris Lighthouse.
Club member George Dewar said the site made contact with more than 125 other operators throughout the United States and Canada during the 24-hour emergency simulation.
“It’s temporary antennas and temporary installation, we could get extra points if we ran the radios off a generator but it makes too much noise,” said Dewar, noting the location was excellent for making contact with U.S. operators. “What we’re doing here is radiating over salt water. That makes your radio signal much more effective.”
Field Day stretches back to the 1930s and is one of the most anticipated days for HAM radio operators, with thousands setting up temporary stations to simulate emergency conditions while attempting to make as many contacts as possible.
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The event is jointly sponsored by the American Radio Relay League and Radio Amateurs of Canada.
While most today rely on cell phones and internet communications, the goal of HAM radio from a public interest standpoint is to provide effective means of communicating during natural or man-made disasters.
“If cell towers go offline or power fails, HAM radio operators can still get on the air and pass messages and even vital information,” said Charlottetown member Brent Taylor.
Even in the absence of emergencies, HAM radios are often used by organizers during marathons, fundraisers and other pre-planned activities.
Read on at the Charlottetown Guardian