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SCMP Reporter

Recently there have been a number of hikers lost, injured, or drowned in remote areas in Hong Kong.  
Clearly, if increasing traffic on our various hiking trails is any indication, outdoor exploration has become very popular. 
As many know, mobile phones do not work in every corner of Hong Kong. 
I would like to draw to the attention of the public and authorities  that we already have in place an excellent  FM radio repeater network covering the whole of Hong Kong.  This means that the ubiquitous and inexpensive walkie-talkies which are  available in Hong Kong  can be programmed very easily to transmit to our  radio repeating stations sited in strategic locations. These repeaters can amplify a walkie-talkie signal  so it can be picked up anywhere in Hong Kong. 
Amateur radio buffs  already monitor these repeater frequencies on virtually a 24-hour basis. 
We already have the infrastructure in Hong Kong to ensure than any hiker, fisherman, or anyone else in any remote corner of Hong Kong is a mere walkie-talkie call away from help. Recently I was on a remote uninhabited island  excavating a historic plane-crash site when I saw that  a hiker had slipped and fallen into the sea. 
I sat and watched a police boat in the distance and although I had a radio, I had no way to get in touch. He was eventually rescued by a private pleasure craft, but after a long period in the water. It was  only after this  incident  that I learned of Hong Kong's radio repeater system. 
I encourage the government to work with Hong Kong's various  amateur radio organisations on this matter, which would require modifying existing regulations to remove the need for a licence to use these repeaters in emergencies.
With such a relaxation in the regulations a single frequency could be chosen for such use  and promoted among  hikers. 
This would ensure that the already existing  repeater-based system could then be easily used as a backbone to co-ordinate with the police and other  search and rescue units in the event of emergencies in remote locations.  
Tobias Brown, Central



FM repeater network could be used by hikers in emergencies