RAFARS Monthly Newsletter

SK John G3JVC

Today we received the sad news that John G3JVC #3488 became Silent Key on 14th January 2025 at the age of 89. John completed national service in the RAF as a telegraphist, including a posting in Germany in the 1950s. His daughter would be very happy to hear from any member who was in contact with her father, as he was a long-standing member of RAFARS and had many friends and contacts through the amateur radio community. If you have any stories or anecdotes that you would like to pass on, please contact the Webmaster at webmaster@rafars.org.

Airfields on the Air

We have a volunteer to take over the coordination of the Airfields on the Air (AOTA) Events.

A notification form has been added to the Airfields on the Air web page. The form is live, so you can submit your AOTA events for 2025.

Further details to follow.

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 Survey - Completed

The survey regarding preferences for the receipt of QRV, either in paper form or online, is now complete. Some 190 members completed the survey out of a total of around 420 email invitations. It won't surprise you that the broad result is a 50/50 split between paper and online. The full results of the survey will be published in the Spring 2025 edition of QRV and will be discussed at the next council meeting.

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 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).

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.

24 February 2025 1030 hrs at RAFARS HQ RAF Cosford (Monday).

Other meetings for 2025 to be notified.

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