Shuswap Area

The Shuswap area is in South Central British Columbia about half way between Vancouver and Calgary. It is the area that surrounds the Shuswap Lakes and their various tributaries. On the far western edge in a area of grassland and ponderosa pines is the Village of Chase where the North Thompson River flows out of Little Shuswap Lake. To the east, and these borders are very debatable, are the Monashee Mountains east of the community of Sicamous. To the North is the forested wilderness areas that extend beyond the Seymour Arm of Shuswap Lake. The Southern border of The Shuswap melds with the North Okanagan in and around Enderby and Falkland..

The main urban area of the Shuswap is the City of Salmon Arm. Salmon Arm is a City of about 15,000 inhabitants lying at the southern most arm of Shuswap Lake. The trading area including Sicamous, Chase, Enderby, North Shuswap, Sorrento and Falkland, has about 35,000 inhabitants plus or minus 10,000 depending on the season. The city lies at an elevation (Lake side) of 345 meters. The weather is fairly moderate for an interior area with winter temperatures of about minus 5 to 10 degrees and summer temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees. The average precipitation is about 70 centimetres. With much less in the dry western area and far greater in the Mountain rain forest areas of the eastern end.

From a Radio Amateur's standpoint, the area has its advantages and its challenges. Some of the challenges come from the mountainous terrain and the relatively poor conductivity of the soil. The lack of electronic supplies in the area cane also be a challenge. On the plus side, there is very little man made radio interference in the area. The area has only one major AM Broadcasting Station (CKXR at 580 KHz at 10 Kilowatts daytime and reduced to 1 kilowatt at night) with its transmitter located on the western boundary of Salmon Arm (This station is in the process of switching to FM. The AM signal should be off the air by December 2006 however, for reasons only the CRTC can answer, it is still on the air). All other broadcasting facilities, Television and FM Radio are of the low power variety. With an amateur population of much less than one thousand, there is very little QRM in the area. The Latitude and Longitude for the city is 50:42 North and 119.18 West. It is located in Field DO Square 00.