VECTOR February 2020 News

Posted 1 February 2020 in newsletter

Previous newsletters can be found in the archive.

Our next members' meeting is February 5^th. Please register in BetterImpact if you will be attending (in person or online). This month we’ll be focusing on our field activities for 2020 including exercises at community centres, Field Day 2020, and radio events in the park.

To help match priorities and focuses to our combined carrying capacity, your input is required! Please check your email for a link to assign an importance of 1 to 5 for teams and programmes. The survey will be open for responses until March.

Upcoming Training & Practice Opportunities

Remember to check BetterImpact for opportunities, and to track hours spent doing work with VECTOR. Volunteered hours are an important metric for us to show the dedication of our members to city staff and recognize member accomplishments.

ICS Video Resources

The Justice Institute of BC has several videos to keep your Incident Command System knowledge sharp:
- Introduction to the Incident Command System
- ICS Overview video playlist
Table-top Activation Exercise

This 2-hour exercise will prepare you to lead a VECTOR activation. It’s your chance to get a feel for the kinds of issues and skills you need to tackle a real activation and support VEMA well. Get a feel for our available assets. Get familiar with our broader responsibilities in the abstract so you can apply wisdom in reality.
There is space for 6 people to participate in the afternoon on February 8^th. You can register in BetterImpact.
Community Centre Exercise

The exercise team is preparing for a radio activity at community centres on March 7^th. More information to come.

VECTOR Team Updates

VE7RVZ Repeater on the air!

The new VE7RVZ repeater has been installed at Vancouver Firehall #5 and is on the air. See our blog post for more information.
Field Day 2020 Planning

Field Day doesn’t plan itself! VECTOR needs a team of volunteers to organize, plan, and execute Field Day in June. Please attend the members' meeting to join the conversation if you’re interested in helping with this effort.
Next-Gen Grab & Go Kits

The Grab & Go Kit team is presenting their work on the new Kerrisdale Community Centre radio kit in early February. They are also continuing work on the 4^th prototype VECTOR kit.
High(er) Speed Data Team

The data team is looking for members that want to help VECTOR build a wireless data radio network. If HAMWAN, AREDN, and BCWARN sound interesting, this might be the group for you!

Weekly Net

The weekly net takes place at 20:00 every Wednesday on the VE7TEL repeater (VECTOR channel 2, 145.170 MHz, -0.6 MHz offset). Each week, a secondary net follows on a different frequency, providing an opportunity for amateur radio operators to test their radio with other bands and modes of operation.

The schedule for upcoming secondary net frequencies is as follows:

Date	Channel	Frequency Information
February 5	201 (VE7RVK)	224.640 MHz, -1.6 MHz offset
February 12	4	146.580 MHz simplex
February 19	401 (VE7RVU)	443.725 MHz, +5 MHz offset, 88.5 Hz tone
February 26	44	146.430 MHz simplex
March 4	7	147.450 MHz simplex, 100.0 Hz tone

Monthly Members' Meeting

The monthly VECTOR members' meeting is the first Wednesday of every month. The next 3 meeting dates are as follows:

February 5^th in the E-Comm Media Room at 18:30
March 4^th in the E-Comm Media Room at 18:30
April 1^st in the E-Comm Media Room at 18:30

Look for a link to the Zoom online conference room in your email ahead of the meeting to join remotely. You can sign up for upcoming members' meetings in BetterImpact.