[PvK]

Originally posted by Kamog:
I thought that a Star Trek quadrant was a fourth of the galaxy. The Earth and the Federation are in the Alpha quadrant. The Borg are in Delta quadrant. The wormhole at DS9 goes to Gamma quadrant. I don't know what the fourth one is (Beta quadrant?)

Since a quadrant just means a fourth of something, it could have different meanings in different contexts, and the context is often left out. The use you describe above sounds like a Next Generation and beyond thing, whereas in The Original Series, it apparently meant a very much smaller area, especially judging by the number of times Kirk's ship was the "only one in the quadrant".

PvK