Bull Harbor is located on Hope Island, off the north-east tip of Vancouver Island. The station was constructed as a replacement for the one on Triangle Island. Bull Harbor offered easy access for supplies, better weather, room for housing and not so isolated. Its large bottle shaped harbour is a safe haven for vessels to wait out foul weather.
Google Earth location here.
In 1989 Bull Harbor Radio was closed and equipment removed as part of a cost saving consolidating plan. At closing the station had 500kHz/2 mHz/Maritime and VHF capability. The mountain top VHF radio sites on northern Vancouver Island that were remotely controlled by Bull Harbour are now fed back to Comox Marine Traffic Station, the old Cape Lazo. MF & HF capabilities were dropped. A few years later the station was closed down, and the VHF sites it did control, were fed down island to the Victoria MTCS station.
A collection of station photos in chronological order may be seen on this page.
1920 Haughton does extensive tests at Bull Harbor with a decision made to close Triangle and Ikeda. Both stations were difficult to staff and supply. Continuous wave transmitters, as opposed to spark, are being considered.
1921 January 20 construction commenced, operations/powerhouse building and two dwellings. Station assumes Triangle Island's duties at 8 PM on June 23 using a spark transmitter on 600 Meters. 24 hour coverage. July 26, 1921 edition Victoria Daily Times paper lists the station in its weather reports for the first time. Bob Ainslie was the first Officer In Charge. Charlie Acton, Neil McTavish and one (two ?) other as operators. Call sign VAG moved over from the decommissioned Triangle Island.
1923 Operators C.J. Acton, R.Ainslie, C.K. (Lofty) Harris and E. Turner listed in a provincial directory. Station operation is improved with the installation of 8 kWatt four valve continuous wave transmitter equipment. The age of the spark transmitter is coming to a close. (This 8 kW value seems very high for the time.)
Google Earth location here.
In 1989 Bull Harbor Radio was closed and equipment removed as part of a cost saving consolidating plan. At closing the station had 500kHz/2 mHz/Maritime and VHF capability. The mountain top VHF radio sites on northern Vancouver Island that were remotely controlled by Bull Harbour are now fed back to Comox Marine Traffic Station, the old Cape Lazo. MF & HF capabilities were dropped. A few years later the station was closed down, and the VHF sites it did control, were fed down island to the Victoria MTCS station.
A collection of station photos in chronological order may be seen on this page.
1920 Haughton does extensive tests at Bull Harbor with a decision made to close Triangle and Ikeda. Both stations were difficult to staff and supply. Continuous wave transmitters, as opposed to spark, are being considered.
1921 January 20 construction commenced, operations/powerhouse building and two dwellings. Station assumes Triangle Island's duties at 8 PM on June 23 using a spark transmitter on 600 Meters. 24 hour coverage. July 26, 1921 edition Victoria Daily Times paper lists the station in its weather reports for the first time. Bob Ainslie was the first Officer In Charge. Charlie Acton, Neil McTavish and one (two ?) other as operators. Call sign VAG moved over from the decommissioned Triangle Island.
1923 Operators C.J. Acton, R.Ainslie, C.K. (Lofty) Harris and E. Turner listed in a provincial directory. Station operation is improved with the installation of 8 kWatt four valve continuous wave transmitter equipment. The age of the spark transmitter is coming to a close. (This 8 kW value seems very high for the time.)
1924 R. Ainslie, Chas Aitkens, C.K. (Lofty) Harris and E. Turner are operators. Chas Aitkens photo album shows Harold Tee on station. Read Chas' Christmas letter home.
1925 C.K. Harris is the only operator listed, but a H. Higgins (Tel Lineman) is keeping him company. Corriveau arrives from Estevan. Aitkens on station.
1926 H. Corriveau, C.K. Harris, H. Tee and E. Turner are listed as operators.
1927 Fred Cornish appears and stays for six or seven years. Corriveau leaves for Pachena.
1929-30 Annual Report: One end of the operating room was partitioned off and three units of a modern C.W. transmitter, which had been made up in the workshop at Victoria, were installed in this space. The tramway track was extended 17'5 feet beyond the high tide mark, in order to facilitate unloading heavy supplies such as gasoline drums and coal directly from boats to tram car.
1930 Carl Ward, Erik Turner, J.Mennie, Lofty Harris and T. Cornish are operators.
1936 ITU List of Coast Stations: 187, 410, 500kHz. All modulated CW transmissions.
1939 Ward, McDonald and Lloyd are listed as operators in a Vancouver Sun news item. Operators trained and supplied with weather observing equipment. Official weather observations now taken every six hours ( 0600, 1200, 1800 & 2400 GMT) and sent to Vancouver.
1950 In the early 1950's the station handled a lot of traffic for the building of the Alcan Smelter at Kitimat. Amazingly this site was the last to have a 24 hour diesel electric plant installed to power the station and residences. Previously the station receivers were battery powered and if a vessel called, the operator had to start a small diesel electric plant to power the transmitter.
1953 Ernie Coe was OIC, and Mort Kawalski, Les Tickner, Fred Penny and Jim Whiteside made up the rest of the staff.
1965 $300,000 contract let to renovate and expand the station. This will include the construction of a wharf, dwellings and a transmitter building.
1970's Station had 500 kHz Morse plus a working frequency. 2182 kHz, 1630 kHz plus other 2 mHz channels, all voice. VHF maritime mobile 16/26.
1988 December 31 the station is shut down and the operational function transferred to Alert Bay Radio. Equipment removed the following year and the land, originally a 'Cut Off Land' from the local First Nation reserve, was returned.
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1925 C.K. Harris is the only operator listed, but a H. Higgins (Tel Lineman) is keeping him company. Corriveau arrives from Estevan. Aitkens on station.
1926 H. Corriveau, C.K. Harris, H. Tee and E. Turner are listed as operators.
1927 Fred Cornish appears and stays for six or seven years. Corriveau leaves for Pachena.
1929-30 Annual Report: One end of the operating room was partitioned off and three units of a modern C.W. transmitter, which had been made up in the workshop at Victoria, were installed in this space. The tramway track was extended 17'5 feet beyond the high tide mark, in order to facilitate unloading heavy supplies such as gasoline drums and coal directly from boats to tram car.
1930 Carl Ward, Erik Turner, J.Mennie, Lofty Harris and T. Cornish are operators.
1936 ITU List of Coast Stations: 187, 410, 500kHz. All modulated CW transmissions.
1939 Ward, McDonald and Lloyd are listed as operators in a Vancouver Sun news item. Operators trained and supplied with weather observing equipment. Official weather observations now taken every six hours ( 0600, 1200, 1800 & 2400 GMT) and sent to Vancouver.
1950 In the early 1950's the station handled a lot of traffic for the building of the Alcan Smelter at Kitimat. Amazingly this site was the last to have a 24 hour diesel electric plant installed to power the station and residences. Previously the station receivers were battery powered and if a vessel called, the operator had to start a small diesel electric plant to power the transmitter.
1953 Ernie Coe was OIC, and Mort Kawalski, Les Tickner, Fred Penny and Jim Whiteside made up the rest of the staff.
1965 $300,000 contract let to renovate and expand the station. This will include the construction of a wharf, dwellings and a transmitter building.
1970's Station had 500 kHz Morse plus a working frequency. 2182 kHz, 1630 kHz plus other 2 mHz channels, all voice. VHF maritime mobile 16/26.
1988 December 31 the station is shut down and the operational function transferred to Alert Bay Radio. Equipment removed the following year and the land, originally a 'Cut Off Land' from the local First Nation reserve, was returned.
Bull Harbor
VAG