Company History

VEMCO was first registered in November 1979. Founder Fred Voegeli started the company to manufacture ultrasonic fish tracking transmitters. Fred had completed his masters degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and worked with Dr Doug Pincock in the Ultrasonic Telemetry Lab (aka. Fish Lab). In order to manufacture the miniature and complex circuits VEMCO purchased a Lead Bonder, a machine which could interconnect semiconductor chips in their unpackaged state. At that time VEMCO did not have a receiver but marketed the Communications Associates Inc (CAI) CR-40 receiver and CI-40 decoder. The CR-40 receiver was a great narrow band receiver but required a separate crystal for each transmitter frequency. It is worthy of note that the companion CI-40 decoder was designed by Doug Pincock under contract to CAI in 1977.

The VEMCO VR-60 receiver was designed in 1982 and was the first frequency synthesized ultrasonic telemetry receiver, it could also contain an optional decoder and LCD display. This allowed the user to display data from transmitters in Engineering units and save the data to an internal memory circuit board. Algorithms were developed to automatically detect and log the time and date of fish passing by a stationary VR-60 receiver. The transmitter types used were crystal controlled “pingers” (aka. Fish tags) which transmitted a tone at a very accurate repeat interval. The identification algorithm looked through a list of pre-entered intervals to determine which fish were present. The algorithm could identify up to ten tags present at the same time. By using multiple frequencies up to 100 fish could be identified. Some years later the automated fish tag detection features of the VR60 were packaged in an underwater simplified receiver called the VR20.

The VRAP system which was developed in collaboration with Dr Ron O’Dor of Dalhousie University Biology Dept in 1985 provided precise positioning of tagged animals in their natural environment. VRAP positioning systems are still in production and have been adapted for military diver training and underwater surveys of historic sites.

In order to expand the number of unique ID’s available and to reduce the effects of man made periodic noises from seal scare devices and sounders, a new coding scheme was introduced. Instead of a fixed rate pinger transmitting continuously, the new scheme transmitted an infrequent code burst lasting a few seconds. The code is repeated at a pseudo-random rate so that code collisions will not continue between two tags. This approach increased the number of unique ID’s to 256 on each frequency. Perhaps more importantly it allowed the use of very low power single frequency receivers (VR1) which could be submerged for over 6 months to gather data from passing fish tags.

The other significant development at that time was the miniaturization of transmitters to the level where they could be implanted in wild Atlantic salmon smolts. Furthermore the new miniature tags had to generate the new pseudo-random codes. VEMCO invested in custom silicon to provide all the circuitry on one silicon chip which would run at sub-microamp current levels. The resulting V8SC (SC for Single Chip) tag was a breakthrough in size, complex coding and extended battery life.

The VR1 was quickly replaced by the VR2 receiver which expanded the coding scheme to include up to 65,000 unique ID codes plus up to 256 unique telemetry transmitters. There are now over 3000 VR2 receivers spread all over the worlds oceans collecting data. Collaborative studies have been started so that different research teams can share data when fish move through an array of receivers placed by a colleague perhaps for a different species.

In 2003 VEMCO was merged with Amirix Systems Inc, a product development company specializing in embedded electronics systems. VEMCO had been working closely with Amirix throughout the years and had contracted the development of the VR60 RF and decoder boards. The Amirix team was founded by Dr Doug Pincock who continues to this day as Chairman of the board of directors.

The merger has vastly increased the engineering resources available for new product development. In 2004 VEMCO announced the new VR-100 tracking receiver and field tested two new VR3 remote telemetry Receivers. The VR3-UWM allows deployment of a receiver for up to four years with data communicated to the surface through an underwater telemetry modem. This allows placement of receivers without surface floats and can be left under ice in lakes or Polar seas. The new VR3-Argos is deployed on the surface and can send data to the Argos satellite system to be transferred via the internet to the scientist’s desk. First deployments in the Indian Ocean by FADIO were successful, showing how tuna and other species orient to fish aggregating devices (FADs)

VEMCO’s first sale was also its first export, to Biologische Anstalt Helgoland in Germany, pressure sensing depth telemetry tags for tracking the migration of eels. Since that time VEMCO has exported products to over fifty countries. New depth telemetry transmitters in 13mm diameter and 9mm diameter were announced in 2004. Battery life for pressure transmitters with new coding can extend to multiple years. Miniature transmitter size has been reduced to allow implantation in smaller fish with introduction in 2004 of a 7mm diameter tag. Plans exist for a 6mm diameter tag which will continue the VEMCO leadership in ultrasonic telemetry, tracking and positioning systems.

Our product line includes various types and sizes of underwater acoustic transmitters that are attached to fish, automated receivers for long term fish behavioural studies, receivers that deliver real-time, high-resolution position information, and temperature and depth data storage recorders. Our 10,000 square foot manufacturing plant is equipped with advanced manufacturing equipment, a machine shop, a calibration laboratory, and waterfront access for field trials of new equipment.