In any emergency, secure, effective Communications is vital. In a major emergency on Quadra, telephone and internet will most likely be down over large areas for a long period of time.

HAM RADIO communications will most likely be the ONLY way of communicating between neighbourhoods, emergency and rescue personnel, and emergency centres.

The Quadra Island Emergency Communications Team is comprised of ham radio operators from across the island, working in an integrated manner within the Quadra Island Emergency Program. 

Our goal is to train enough operators to have at least one in each neighbourhood in order to provide emergency communications when the island is without telephone/internet for an extended period of time. This will enable damage to be assessed and response actions to be prioritized and coordinated.

The QI Ham Radio operators keep their skills sharp by participating in regular Emergency “nets” every Wednesday evenings which allows our ham operators to be in contact with Victoria and with other areas on Vancouver Island.

• At 1845 hours (6:45 pm), The Comox Valley Emergency Program operates their VHF net using the Mount Washington Repeater receiving on 146.78 Mhz and transmitting on 146.18 Mhz with a tone at 141.3 Mhz.  For those with Quadra Emergency Program Radios, please tune to channel 39.
• At 1900 hours (7:00 pm) Emergency Management BC in Victoria operates an island-wide HF net operating on 3.735 Mhz.
• At 1915 hours (7:15 pm), Emergency Management BC operates a VHF net using the Campbell River Island Trunk Repeater receiving on 146.82 Mhz and transmitting on 146.22 Mhz.  For those with Quadra Emergency Program Radios, please tune to channel 34.
• Finally, at 2000 hours  (8:00 PM), The Quadra Island Emergency Program operates our net using the Mount Menzies repeater transmitting on 146.36 Mhz and receiving on 146.96 Mhz with a tone at 100 hz.  For those with Quadra Emergency Program Radios, please tune to channel 33.

In the event of an emergency, all Quadra Island hams are asked to tune their radios to channel 33 (Mount Menzies repeater) to report on conditions in their neighborhoods.  In case of a significant weather event (moderate storms, etc.), we usually run a net at noon following the emergency in order to touch base with all areas of the island.

While we are pleased with the way the Emergency Communications Team has developed, we still have a number of areas where we do not yet have ham radio operators.  So please, if you are at all interested in helping out with emergency communications, do get in touch and we will do whatever we can to help you get involved in this very worthwhile process.

For more information, please contact:

Erik Skovgaard  1 (604) 803-3547, or by email ve7mdl@gmail.com