A little about my location

My QTH is on Quadra Island, which is located across from the city of Campbell River near the northern part of Vancouver Island.  The island is accessible by a 10-minute ferry ride from Campbell River.  The ferry is visible from my house, which is about 40 metres above the water on the southwest side of the island. 

Quadra Island has approx. 2700 residents with at least 90% of those living on the south end of the island.  Most of the northern part is all trees, mainly fir, but some cedar, pine and spruce.  The roads are well maintained and local stores have all the essentials for regular living.Quadra Island on the map.

From a radio perspective it is a fairly good location.  While there is some noise from badly designed electronics, the HF noise level is certainly lower than that found in cities.  However, VHF and UHF noise is noticeable and will probably be an obstacle to working EME, for instance.  Of course, the close proximity to water helps HF radio propagation.  The Pacific rim countries are quite easy to work from here - on all HF bands.

The many trees on and around my property are very useful for antennas, but they also tend to entangle the antennas at times - especially when it is windy.  We call them "organic antenna towers".

The climate here is temperate with fairly mild winters, although it can and will usually go below freezing for several days during the winter.  Snow usually falls briefly in November, but will melt quickly.  Another snowfall or two can be expected during the winter.  Fall and winter storms can sometimes cause power outages, but they rarely last very long - at least on the south end of the island.  The summers are mostly mild and mostly dry and we get few thunder storms.

There are about 40 hams on the island although only about half of those are active and only a handful are able to work HF.