The Salt Spring Island Amateur Radio Society (SSIARS) operates the VE7EMG repeater. It is located Salt Spring Island west of Ganges on the north slope of Mt Erskine and it is intended to provide coverage on the north end of the Island. It was placed on the air on October 15, 2017. VE7EMG is on 444.375 MHz. It has a + offset. It was using DCS 073, but it was changed to CTCSS 88.5 Hz on June 1 2019. Like our other repeaters, it is a Yaesu System Fusion repeater which can handle analog FM and digital C4FM. If you have BCL (busy channel lockout) it would be a good idea to enable it, especially if you can do it on a per-channel basis. This will help prevent FM stations from doubling with digital stations. As with any mode of voice communication, it is a good idea to leave a gap of a few seconds in case another station needs to break in.
The repeater will seamlessly go back and forth between FM and digital C4FM FDMA depending on what it hears.
As is standard on all repeaters, there is a time out timer. The TOT is set for three minutes. To prevent the repeater from timing out, try to keep your transmissions short. The TOT will reset when you unkey, but It is good practice to let the repeater drop between transmissions. This will make it easier for anyone with emergency traffic or otherwise to access the repeater. As on directed nets, it is best to just give your callsign to break in. Saying such things as station, contact, or break don't convey any meaningful information.