VECTOR February 2025 News

Posted in newsletter

Wishing everyone a happy lunar new year for the Year of the Snake. One of the traits associated with the zodiac sign of the snake is resilience, and that aligns nicely with one of VECTOR’s core purposes.

Previous newsletters can be found in the archive.

VECTOR News

  • February Members' Meeting - February 5th at 18:30

    The February members' meeting will take place on Wednesday, February 5th, at 18:30 in the E-Comm Media Room. We encourage in-person participation, but you can also join remotely on Zoom.

    This month’s meeting will feature a practical exercise, coordinating our community and civic event service, and updates about ongoing projects.

  • Field Day Crew Kick-Off - February 8th at 18:30

    Our annual setup in Queen Elizabeth Park for Field Day will happen the weekend of June 28th. We’ll have our usual tents and big antenna masts and HF radio kits set up for folks to use, along with the traditional BBQ social on Saturday evening.

    Putting this event together requires help from a group of volunteers. Last year we noticed a few things we wanted to update for this year’s Field Day. On Saturday, February 8th, we gather a crew to begin planning for 2025. You can find more details in Better Impact.

  • 2025 City of Vancouver Volunteer Form

    City policy requires that on an annual basis volunteers review and accept the Volunteer Form. The 2025 Volunteer Form is now available on Better Impact for your review and acceptance. Your annual acceptance of the Volunteer Form confirms that you understand the policies and procedures that guide our volunteer programs, your roles and responsibilities as a volunteer and the role of the City when you are on volunteer assignment for the City.

    To ensure you stay an active member of VECTOR, you need to accept the Volunteer Form by February 14th, 2025. Please do so on Better Impact.

Hands-On Opportunities

  • Monthly Emergency Communications Test - February 5th at 9:30

    City of Vancouver will be conducting their monthly emergency communications test on Wednesday, February 5th, at 10:00. VECTOR needs operators at the radio room, the VFRS & VPD DOCs, and DSA 2 in East Vancouver.

    You can find more information and signup in Better Impact.

    The March test will take place on March 5th and include DSA 3.

  • WinLink Data & Packet Radio Practice - February 19th at 18:30

    Get hands-on with the WinLink radio email system and learn how to use your radio to send and receive messages from your laptop or phone. It’s best to bring your own radio and laptop, but VECTOR can provide radios and other equipment to practice with.

    Your goal by the end of the evening will be to have your very own WinLink account, know how to send and receive emails over radio, and be able to check-in to the VECTOR Net through packet data.

    You can find more information and signup in Better Impact.

Trainings & Practice Opportunities

  • Net Control Operator Training

    Want to level-up your comfort on-air and support your fellow operators? Join the VECTOR Net Control programme and learn how to run a net. You’ll help run the weekly check-in nets, and also qualify to be a Net Control Operator for events like Vaisakhi, Celebration of Light, and the BC Shake-Out. Contact Andrew VA7YAA to sign up.

  • ICS 100 Review

    Do you know the Incident Command System? In our emergency communications support role, we’ll be expected to work within an ICS structure involving multiple agencies. It is expected that all VECTOR members are familiar with the basics of ICS. To test your knowledge, try the practice quiz on Better Impact.

    If you want to refresh your ICS knowledge, look for the ICS 100 Student Workbook in the member resources section of the VECTOR website.

On-Air Nets

The weekly net takes place at 20:00 every Wednesday on the VE7RVF repeater (VECTOR channel 1, 145.450 MHz, -0.6 MHz offset, tone of 100.0 Hz). 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 20 147.200 MHz, +0.6 MHz offset, tone 100.0 Hz
February 12 7 147.450 Mhz simplex, tone 100.0 Hz
February 19 4 146.580 MHz simplex
February 26 2 145.170 MHz, -0.6 MHz offset
March 5 430 446.100 MHz simplex

We encourage WinLink check-ins to the VECTOR net every week, just address your message to VA7EOC. Connect to VA7EOC-10 using simplex UHF on 441.025 MHz (VECTOR channel 420), or send your message through one of the other local WinLink gateways.

Upcoming Meetings

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

  • February 5th in the E-Comm Media Room at 18:30
  • March 5th in the E-Comm Media Room at 18:30
  • April 2nd in the E-Comm Media Room at 18:30

We highly encourage attending in-person, but recognize that online participation is more accessible for some members. Look for a link to the Zoom online conference room in your email ahead of the meeting to join remotely.