Ham radio is alive and well throughout Vancouver Island.
You may not notice them at the bathtub race or at local parades and other events, but they are often the backbone of communications when large crowds come together.
Two main area clubs — the Nanaimo Amateur Radio Association (NARA) and the Cowichan Valley Amateur Radio Society (CVARS) — maintain an Island-wide trunk system of radio tower repeaters. Two of these are in the Ladysmith area.
A ham radio gathering will be held at the Cedar Community Hall Sat., Sept. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The general public is welcome to come and learn. There will be prizes, mini-workshops, opportunities to write exams, a fox hunt and much more. Food will be catered by the Cedar Lions Club.
That’s right, a fox hunt — but no animals will be harmed. The fox, a small radio transmitter, is hidden, and you have to locate it using a handheld radio. Sounds a bit like a war game doesn’t it? Using things like signal strength and a bit of tinfoil, a direction can be found, and then it’s tally-ho.
All joking aside, amateur radio is no longer difficult or expensive to get into, and the licence lasts a lifetime. Morse code is no longer required, and handheld radios are as inexpensive as $45. Using only a handheld radio and thanks to the Island Trunk System, from most places on Vancouver Island, you can reach as far away as Port Hardy, Tofino, Victoria, northern Washington, Powell River and Chilliwack. Spend a bit more money to set up a high-powered, high-frequency rig, and when conditions are right, you can talk to fellow hams around the world.
Using Echolink and IRLP technology and a handheld radio or even an iPhone, you can signal a repeater to connect to another repeater most places in the world. Recently, Ladysmith residents Katherine and Devan Banman radioed home to Gary and Teesh Backlund from a cruiseship off Hawaii by connecting a Hawaiian repeater tower to a Vancouver repeater.
If any of this interests you or sparks your curiosity, or if you’re an old ham wanting to get reconnected,visit the Cedar Community Hall at 2388 Cedar Rd. on Sept. 8 and see what’s going on. For more information, click here.
— Submitted
