VECTOR January 2026 News

Posted in newsletter

Thank you to everyone who attended the AGM in December, it was great to see so many faces! Special thanks to Anthony VE7XAK for serving 5+ years as treasurer, and to Mike VA7AZF for stepping up to take on the role going forward.

Hope everyone had a good holiday season and start to the new year. Let’s keep our momentum going into 2026. Happy New Year!

Previous newsletters can be found in the archive.

VECTOR News

  • January Members' Meeting - Wednesday, January 7th, at 18:30

    The January members' meeting will take place on Wednesday 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 recap of VECTOR radio room and equipment policies, brainstorming activities for the year ahead, and ways to foster connections between members and other groups in the amateur radio and emergency preparedness communities.

  • Chinatown Spring Festival Parade - Sunday, February 22nd, at 09:30

    The annual parade through Chinatown for the lunar new year will take place in late February, and VECTOR will be looking for volunteers to provide communications coverage along points of the parade route.

    We’ll have more details to share in the February meeting, but you can sign up to help at the event in Better Impact - Chinatown Spring Festival.

Hands-On Opportunities

  • Monthly Emergency Communications Test - Wednesday, January 7th & February 4th, at 09:30

    The City of Vancouver will be conducting their monthly emergency communications tests on Wednesday, January 7th at 10:00. You can find more information and sign up in Better Impact - Monthly Radio Tests.

    February’s test will be on Wednesday, February 4th and will include a test at DSA 2.

  • Provincial ERTEX Exercise - Wednesday, February 4th, at 09:00

    This annual exercise from the Provincial Emergency Radio Coordination Service (PERCS) simulates an emergency situation with communication between EOC and PREOC radio rooms. VECTOR will be aiming to staff our radio room and make contact on HF with the South Coast PREOC as part of the exercise.

    More information is available on the PERCS website. If you are interested in staffing the VECTOR radio room for this exercise, please contact Darryl VA7DPO.

Community News

  • Burnaby Amateur Radio Swap Meet - tentatively Saturday, March 7th, at 09:00

    For 2026, we intend to run a VECTOR information table at swap meets so we can connect with other operators and foster connections in our community.

    For more information, see the VE7BAR website.

  • The Communicator Magazine

    “The Communicator” from Surrey Amateur Radio Communications (SARC), serves as a bi-monthly electronic periodical for amateur radio operators. It covers a wide array of topics, including historical figures in radio. The Communicator also features emergency preparedness strategies, and the diverse interests and community focus within amateur radio.

    You can read the January/February edition of The Communicator online and find previous versions online at the VE7SAR archive.

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
January 7 44 146.430 MHz simplex
January 14 20 147.200 MHz, +0.6 MHz offset, tone 100.0 Hz
January 21 7 147.450 Mhz simplex, tone 100.0 Hz
January 28 4 146.580 MHz simplex
February 4 2 145.170 MHz, -0.6 MHz offset

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), simplex VHF on 145.600 MHz, or by sending your message through one of the other local Winlink gateways. The VA7EOC-10 gateway supports both AX.25 packet and VARA.

VECTOR also maintains a list of other local radio nets on our website.

Upcoming Meetings

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

  • January 7th in the E-Comm Media Room at 18:30
  • February 4th in the E-Comm Media Room at 18:30
  • March 4th in the E-Comm Media Room at 18:30

We strongly 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. You can find more details about members' meetings and RSVP in Better Impact.