In 1961 the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) was being prepared to export the world's first fast reactor produced electricity to the National Grid. The same year, a few local enthusiasts and some scientists and engineers from Dounreay decided start an amateur radio club, the Caithness Amateur Radio Society.

The first meeting was held on 21st February, and the late Geoff Woffinden (callsign GM3COV) was elected President. The aims of the club included promotion of amateur radio as a hobby, helping newcomers to pass the necessary exams and taking part in contests.

One contest eagerly awaited every year was National Field Day (NFD) where participating clubs had to set up a radio station away from mains power and contact as many stations as possible over a weekend. CARS normally chose Brims Hill as their 'field' location, because the Post Office had thoughtfully left some wooden masts there from an earlier radio station! A tent was often scrounged from the Scouts, and the biggest aerial possible erected.

Nearly sixty years on, DFR is in the process of being decommissioned, but CARS is still going strong. The club aims remain pretty much as they had been when the club was formed. The examination regime has been amended, and there is now a phased licensing system in place.