RAFARS Monthly Newsletter

RAFARS Airfields on the Air

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.

The dates are the first and second weekends of April, but the event can be put on any other time of the year. All that is needed is either a current or an old RAF Military Establishment which was used during the wars or perhaps may still be in current use. The usual Amateur Radio Licensing Regulations apply. You can either use a SES, GX or /P call sign to make it possible for your activation to give out points.

You must register with the RAFARS AOTA Manager by completing the Activation Form on the RAFARS AOTA web page with details of callsign to be used, the Location, Airfield, Name and Callsign of person operating or running the SES.

Once you have registered, you will then be able to inform stations that you are on the AOTA Activation's list and points can be claimed from your Station by any Station or SWL for an AOTA SES Certificate.

The operating modes are primarily SSB or CW on any amateur band. However, RAFARS have decided to now include DATA, AM and FM modes in the activation. PSK31, FT8, RTTY and Olivia 16/500 will all be accepted. It is appreciated that virtually no airfield information can be given, but the recipient station is able to look up your callsigns, which will also be on the RAFARS website.

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 Journal QRV Spring 2025 Edition

The Spring 2025 edition of QRV has now been delivered. If you have not received your copy, please make sure that RAFARS holds the correct postal address for you. This edition has also been published in the RAFARS website Member Area for online reading and/or download.

RAFARS Membership Subscriptions 2025-2026

A reminder that membership subscriptions are due on 1st April 2025 to cover the period 2025-2026. If you pay by Standing Order, then no further action is required. 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.

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 Accounts Examiner

The Treasurer reconciles RAFARS accounts each month, and these are inspected by the Accounts Examiner before being distributed to council for approval. Vince G4DQP fulfilled this role, so with his loss, a new volunteer is required. The Accounts Examiner plays a vital role in ensuring the correct and efficient running of the society. The position does not require any specialist accounting knowledge and can be undertaken remotely, and a full briefing will be given by the Tresurer to any prospective candidate. If you would like to know more or are interested in volunteering, please contact the Tresurer at treasurer@rafars.org.

RAFARS QRV JOURNAL ARCHIVE

The drafting of the Spring 2025 edition of the RAFARS journal QRV is progressing well and will soon be sent to the printers for production and distribution. If you have content for the journal, it's too late for the Spring edition, but Autumn will soon be here so get writing!

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