RAFARS Monthly Newsletter

RAFARS Airfields on the Air

The RAFARS airfields on the Air event has attracted a lot of attention and many activations. All Radio Amateur Stations Worldwide are welcome to take part, and in particular RAFARS Members/RAF Air Cadet Squadrons/Clubs are welcomed to take part and put on as many AOTA Stations as possible, which would make it a great success.

Certificates are available for all Radio Amateurs/SWL so to obtain a Certificate you must work/hear a minimum of 5 AOTA Registered SES's for a Bronze Certificate, 25 for a Silver and 50 AOTA Registered SES's for a Gold Certificate. For the first time, there is no charge for certificates, as they will be issued by email in PDF format for printing by the recipient. Send the details from your log by email to the AOTA coordinator to include: Date, Time, Callsign, Band, Location, Operator Name, Name of Airfield or RAF Military Establishment.

David M0SKT is the AOTA coordinator, and you can contact him using the notification form or the general enquiries form on the AOTA web page. Full details including the list of activations, can be seen on the website at https://www.rafars.org/rafaota/

RAFARS Membership Subscriptions 2025-2026

A reminder that membership subscriptions were due on 1st April 2025 to cover the period 2025-2026. If you pay by Standing Order, then no further action is required (however, see below). If you pay by bank transfer or cheque (or even postal order!) then please make sure that you make your payment promptly. Once again, there is no increase in subscriptions for 2025-2026.

Problems with some Standing Order Membership Subscription Payments

A number of member S/O payments were set up with the Alliance & Leicester bank where the RAFARS account details was hosted.

For the past few years our current bank, who took over the Alliance & Leicester, have internally managed to arrange payment to our current bank account but have apparently now decided they can no longer do this. The account number remained the same but the SORT CODE has changed.

RAFARS were unaware of this change in policy and can only apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have had a message from your bank to say that the S/O could not be paid, please contact the Treasurer by email at treasurer@rafars.org

RAF Cosford Airshow

The 2025 RAF Cosford Airshow will take place on Sunday 8th June 2025. RAFARS will be hosting a stand in the STEM hangar. If you are visiting the airshow, do come and say hello and sign the visitors book.

For further information, see the airshow webpage https://cosfordairshow.co.uk/

RAFARS AGM and Dinner 2025

The RAFARS 2025 AGM will take place at 1.30pm on Saturday 25th October 2025 at No 1 Radio School, Flowerdown Hall, RAF Cosford. Members are reminded that items for inclusion under 'Any Other Business', at the AGM, must be received by the Secretary no later than Thursday 10th October 2025.

The Annual Dinner will be on the Saturday evening, 8.00pm at the Ramada Hotel in Telford. The booking form for the AGM and the dinner will be distributed with the Autumn edition of QRV and will also be available for download and printing from the RAFARS website.

RAFARS QRV JOURNAL ARCHIVE

There are over 130 editions of QRV dating from 1937 to the present day available in the form of PDF documents. Head over to the Member Area to visit the eQRV Journal section, and you will see thumbnail pictures of every cover.

You do need to apply for a password to access the website Member Area. There is a link at the bottom of the Members menu, it's a simple (and free!) process, so please do register. Currently, only about 180 of the 650 strong members take advantage of the additional content in the Member Area, so if you haven't registered, you are missing out!

RAFARS WEBSITE MEMBER AREA

Members are reminded that there is a Members Area on the website at https://www.rafars.org/welcome/ containing a searchable list of members (Number, callsign, first name and county).

Access to the member area is by registration at https://www.rafars.org/register/

RAFARS QRV JOURNAL SUBMISSIONS

The twice-yearly QRV journal is for some of our members the only contact they have with RAFARS during the year. Of course, we have the website but not all members have access to the Internet so the paper edition of QRV remains very relevant. It should also be remembered that QRV is your journal and therefore relies heavily on your contributions.

The QRV Editor is actively seeking content for the next edition of QRV. Submissions can be anything that you think might interest the members, personal stories, technical items, aviation stories etc. There is no need to write War and Peace, a couple of pictures with some descriptive text would be perfect. Please send submissions to the Editor at QRV@rafars.org

Digital jpg photos should be sent as an attachment to Word documents. Please do not import them into the text.

COUNCIL MEETINGS 2025

The Chairman is reviewing the council meeting process with a view to reducing the number of meetings to the 3 per year as required by the constitution, and changing the day of the week so that serving members can attend the meetings. It is probable that more council meetings will be held virtually using Zoom, dates will be published here as notified.

If a council meeting is held at RAFARS HQ at RAF Cosford, members may attend, but travel costs cannot be paid. Members wishing to attend must initially contact the Secretary by e-mail at secretary@rafars.org

Members can attend Council meetings 'virtually' using Zoom. and dates for such meetings will be promulgated in due course. The link for the council meetings is the same as for the weekly Zoom Net (see below). Please note that provision of the council meetings on Zoom is dependent on the availability of the Webmaster and the reliability of the Internet connection at the HQ.

3 December 2024 1900 hrs Zoom. Council meeting called by the Chairman.
4 February 2025 1030 hrs at RAFARS HQ RAF Cosford (Monday)

The following dates are provisional and may well change depending on the availability of council members. Attendance during the working week isn't always possible, so meetings may move to weekends or evenings.

1 April 2025 (Revised date, was 8 April)
9 June 2025 (The day after the RAF Cosford Airshow)
2 September 2025
AGM 25 October 2025 (not a council meeting)
4 November 2025

RAFARS WEEKLY ZOOM NET

The RAFARS Weekly Zoom Net has proven to be a great success with members using the video conference as an additional way of keeping in touch. The Net takes place on Fridays at 1400-1800 local.

The link to the Zoom net is available in the Member Area at https://www.rafars.org/zoomnet/
You will need to be registered for access to the website Member Area, it's a simple process and you can do so at: https://www.rafars.org/register

JOINING THE ROYAL AIR FORCE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY

All Radio Amateurs and SWL's, (no requirement to be Ex RAF), are invited to apply for RAFARS Membership if you have an interest in the Amateur Radio, the RAF, or Military aviation and are prepared to help the society achieve its published aims and objectives. Membership details are available on the website at https://www.rafars.org/join

Two formats (PDF) of the membership application are available for download, completion and return by post on the Join RAFARS web page.

A new online application form is also available, to be completed online and then printed and posted with your membership fee. The online form is “smart” in that it will display the appropriate membership fee as the form is completed. Those joining after 1 October pay half the normal membership fee.

RAFARS NEWS DESK

This newsletter is published on the RAFARS website every month by the Webmaster Gary G0DNI.

Please send all submissions for the newsletter to Newsdesk@rafars.org