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The Amateur Radio Club of the Thetis Island Community known as ARCTIC was born of the desire to support amateur radio communications within the community. The group started when there were 20 known ham operators on the island, 7 of whom all took the course together and received their certification in 2011. It was from this group of new radio operators that this club was formed to foster the building of skills in the community. Many of these new radio operators took an interest in radio communications in support of emergency planning and preparedness on Thetis. Some of the original numbers have passed away or left the island, but others have taken the course since. Now in 2022 there are 23 full-time residents and 2 part-timers who are participating "hams". A more or less current list of these can be found at the end of the Emergency Preparedness section in the Thetis Island Phone Book.

In the case of an emergency - like earthquakes, wildfire, extreme storm conditions - the Ham radio operators may be called into service to assist in on-island and off-island communications.

ARCTIC holds a radio communications net on Sundays at 19:00 in order to practice basic radio communications skills. These practice sessions help ensure that equipment is in an operational condition and island wide communication limitations are understood by all the stations.

The stations may also choose to go on the air during severe weather situations, island power outage or telephone system failures in readiness to support communications amongst islanders and services as required.

In the event of a major emergency the Community Centre, Forbes Hall, would become the meeting place for information and communications through the Emergency Social Services. It is hoped that a Ham radio operator would be operating from there to communicate to other agencies to provide support and emergency services to the island. Radio operators across the island would ideally make contact with the Ess designated station to coordinate communications between Local Emergency Response Neighbourhoods and the ESS center. More information about ESS, LERN and personal preparedness can be found on the Emergency Preparedness page.

From the Radio Communication Act (Canada)

Prohibition

9(1.1) Except as prescribed, no person shall make use of or divulge a radio-based telephone communication
(a) if the originator of the communication or the person intended by the originator of the communication to receive it was in Canada when the communication was made; and
(b) unless the originator, or the person intended by the originator to receive the communication consents to the use or divulgence. Marginal note:Idem
(2) Except as prescribed, no person shall intercept and make use of, or intercept and divulge, any radiocommunication, except as permitted by the originator of the communication or the person intended by the originator of the communication to receive it.

HAMSPEAK

The Q code is a standardized collection of three-letter message encodings, also known as a brevity code, all of which start with the letter "Q", initially developed for commercial radiotelegraph communication, and later adopted by other radio services, especially amateur radio. 73 = Best regards
88 = Love and kisses
QTH = Home
clear and monitoring = finished your communication with the other party but continuing to listen on this frequency
clear and QRT = finished your communication with the other party and not listening (terminated)
CQ CQ CQ callsign = someone listening for stations to call
QRI = How is the tone of my transmission?
QRL = Are you busy?
QRV = Are you ready?
QRZ = Who is calling me?
QSA = What is the strength of my signals (or those of ... )?
QSO = Can you communicate with ... direct or by relay?
QSP = Will you relay a message to ...?
QSY = Shall I change to transmission on another frequency?
QTH = What is your position in latitude and longitude (or according to any other indication)?
QTR = What is the correct time?  

INTERNET LINKS

• Radio Amateurs of Canada : http://www.rac.ca/

• Ham License Plate link: https://www.icbc.com/vehicle-registration/licence-plates/Documents/personalized-ham.pdf
  Please note that this is not just a "vanity plate" option. Having a call sign license plate means you can be identified as a possible communication point should a general emergency arise while you are out in the car.

• Cowichan Valley Amateur Radio Society : http://www.cvars.com/

• The Island Trunk System : http://www.islandtrunksystem.org/

• The Provincial Emergency Radio Communications Service at www.percs.bc.ca

• Call-sign database QRZ.COM : http://www.qrz.com/

• HAM radio on the net, at EHAM.NET : http://www.eham.net/

• BC AMATEUR RADIO COORDINATION COUNCIL : http://www.bcarcc.org/

• Wouxun Radios

• Anytone Radios

ARCTIC NET SCRIPT

This downloadable script is intended for use during net exercise Sundays at 19:00hrs on 147.500 mhz simplex (i.e. channel SIM75 on the pre-programmed ARCTIC Wouxun radios.)

Some common radio frequencies used in the Cowichan valley and points north

General use Ham Frequencies
(Ch # and Name as pre-programmed in the ARCTIC Wouxun radios)  
Weather Channels  
Marine Channels  

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet is formally known as the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet. The NATO Alphabet assigns code words to each letter of the alphabet. These are often used in Amateur Radio and SSB Cb Radio. Ham Radio and Sideband CB Radio operators often use these code words to accurately convey messages in weak signal conditions.

A = Alpha
B = Bravo
C = Charlie
D = Delta
E = Echo
F = Foxtrot
G = Golf
H = Hotel
I = India
J = Juliet
K = Kilo
L = Lima
M = Mike

N = November
O = Oscar
P = Papa
Q = Quebec
R = Romeo
S = Sierra
T = Tango
U = Uniform
V = Victor
W = Whiskey
X = X-ray
Y = Yankee
Z = Zulu

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