RAFARS Monthly Newsletter

RAFARS Equipment Disposal Sep 2024

Kenwood TS-440 Cables, Fist Mike, with Kenwood PS-50 PSU, tested and Working £375

Kenwood TS-690, Manual Cables and Fist Mike, Kenwood PS-52 £375

Yaesu FRG-100 HF Receiver with PSU £75

SEM Trans Z Match £50

Kenwood IF-232C Interface, with Cables Boxed £25

Kenwood R2000 V/HF receiver £120

Items are destined to travel to Newark Hamfest and the bring and Buy, unless you want to purchase prior to Next Wednesday 25th, Please contact Robert Pearce GW6GBY QTHR.

Meta suspend the RAFARS Facebook page

Meta have judged that the RAFARS Facebook page breaks their rules so they have suspended it. I have appealed and got an immediate reply to say that the appeal was refused. Not a great loss, as the only use made of the page was to post a notification when an item was added to the website latest news section.
I’m assuming that Meta think we are pretending to be the Royal Air Force? I do wonder if a ‘complaint’ has been raised against the page?

73 Gary G0DNI

RAFARS AGM Zoom Attendance

If you are unable to attend the RAFARS AGM on Saturday 5th October, you can register to attend virtually via Zoom. See the link to the registration form on the AGM and Dinner page here on the website.

National Hamfest 2024

RAFARS will be attending the National Hamfest at Newark show ground on 27-28 September (Friday and Saturday). Do stop by and say hello.

Member List interface updated

The searchable Member List is well used, but I have had observations that it's annoying to have to choose which field to search and that the is/is like/equals options are confusing. The Member list is now deployed a little differently in that there is just one search box but that searches everything in the list. So DNI will find me (G0DNI) as will Gary or Shropshire (although there are a few of us in Shropshire so probably not the best way to search).

In fact, the search is even cleverer than I thought. You can't remember my callsign so you type 'Gary' into the search box but that brings up a few of us, them you remember I'm in Shropshire so you type a space and then Shropshire like 'Gary Shropshire' and there you have it, you've found me. The columns headings can be clicked on to sort by that column, click again to reverse the sort order, this can be done with the search results listing too.

I do my best to keep up to date with new and rejoined members, but it does depend on how soon I'm informed of new members. If you have joined recently and don't appear in the list, do let me know. If you appear in the Newsletter, you are automatically added to the main Member List.

73 Gary G0DNI RAFARS Webmaster

QRV Journal production and postal costs

Council have taken steps to ensure that QRV continues to be delivered to you twice a year, but once again costs are driving the output we can produce. We now undertake the 'typesetting' or construction of a high quality PDF document to send to the printers for production and distribution. This saves approximately £500 per issue so an overall saving of £1000 per year. However, postal costs increase if we exceed a 100gm limit. So the 40 (inside) pages of the Autumn 2024 edition of QRV has had to be reduced to 36 pages to keep the weight, including inserts, down to 100gm.

At almost every council meeting, the discussion turns to 'physical or electronic QRV?' A significant saving could be made by adopting an 'electronic' (PDF) version of QRV, made available for viewing or download via the RAFARS website and this is the direction taken by many other clubs and societies. However, there is concern that there will be members who are unable to access an online version of the journal. Also, it's sometime nicer to have a physical paper edition to hold and read, but I wonder what the consensus is amongst the membership? This is a subject I will be adding to AOB for the upcoming AGM.

If you haven't already registered for access to the member area and taken a look at the QRV Archive, please do take a look. The more recent editions are now displayed in 'flip book' format where you can 'flip' though the journal as if you were reading the paper edition. These can also be downloaded as a PDF document for reading offline, although they will not be in the flip book format after download.

Of course the question that might arise is 'If I choose to receive the electronic version of QRV, can I have a reduced membership subscription?'. The answer to this will be 'No' but it would help to keep subs at the current rate. There are no plans to increase subs, but the books must be kept balanced.

73 Gary G0DNI RAFARS Webmaster

Airfields on The Air (AOTA) RAFARS Certificate Claim Update

The Cost of a Certificate is £5, payable to RAFARS and sent to Vince G4DQP. Send Vince the usual details required from your log: Date, Time, Call-sign, Band, QTH, Op Name, Name of Airfield or Military Establishment. Do not forget to enclose the address where Certificates are to be returned.

RAFARS QRV JOURNAL ARCHIVE UPDATE

Thanks to the amazing work done by Duncan G0NWY hunting down and scanning all the editions of QRV that he can lay his hands on, the QRV Archive here on the website has expanded dramatically. There are now some 136 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 in 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 membership 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). Other resources include copies of QRV.

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

RAFARS LOGOS DOWNLOAD

Several members have asked if RAFARS produces a 'digital' QSL card for use with online QSL bureaus such as eQSL. No such card is available but it is possible to create your own card using any computer graphic design programme.

To assist members in producing such QSL cards, the Webmaster has redrawn the classic RAFARS wings and diamond logos. These designs are the property of RAFARS and can therefore be made available to members.

The logos are available for download in the website Member Area under the heading RAFARS Logos. Note that you will be required to log into the Member Area using your website username and password.

If you have not yet registered for access to the Member Area, see the registration form under the Members menu heading.

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 2024

• 6 February 2024
• 9 April 2024
• 10 June 2024 (Monday, the day after the RAF Cosford Airshow)
• 3 September 2024
• 5 October 2024 (AGM & Dinner, not a council meeting)
• 12 November 2024

Any member may attend Council meetings, 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. 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 dependant on the availability of the Webmaster and the reliability of the Internet connection at the HQ.

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.

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