Hi,

I don't want to be cynical, but...

I got my first ticket 3 years ago and I used to attend my local Radio
club (if only because I had to). I've heard wonderful words about Raynet
but I've never understood what they actually do in practice.

Their website looks a bit run down with dead links and bitrot. It also
looks like it is a private ltd and not a charity. How does that fit in
the "as a leisure activity and not for commercial purposes of any kind" narrative?

Granted they UK hasn't had major natural disasters for decades, but we
have had floods, terror attacks; now we have Covid.

I like the idea of going out and helping, but I've given a look at
pre-Covid activities and it's all about local marathons, scouts rallies, Christmas/Easter meals, etc. I've also seen events cancelled "due to bad weather". I thought the whole point of an emergency service was to be
there _because_ of bad weather.

I'm obviously missing something. Please tell me what it is.

--
Ottavio Caruso

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On 11/10/2020 20:32, Ottavio Caruso wrote:

Hi,

I don't want to be cynical, but...

I got my first ticket 3 years ago and I used to attend my local Radio
club (if only because I had to). I've heard wonderful words about Raynet
but I've never understood what they actually do in practice.

Their website looks a bit run down with dead links and bitrot. It also
looks like it is a private ltd and not a charity. How does that fit in
the "as a leisure activity and not for commercial purposes of any kind" narrative?

Granted they UK hasn't had major natural disasters for decades, but we
have had floods, terror attacks; now we have Covid.

I like the idea of going out and helping, but I've given a look at
pre-Covid activities and it's all about local marathons, scouts rallies, Christmas/Easter meals, etc. I've also seen events cancelled "due to bad weather". I thought the whole point of an emergency service was to be
there _because_ of bad weather.

I'm obviously missing something. Please tell me what it is.

RAYNET-UK is a charity, and just like most other charities they are a
Company Limited by Guarantee (as is the RSGB). That is a special form of company where that does not allow the distribution of any profits to the members, and any profits have to be used for the furtherance of the
objectives of the company. The reason for it is to protect members and
officers from personal liability, other than some small trivial amount,
usually £1.

The website does suck.

As you say there are few disasters, flooding has seem significant Raynet activity recently.The marathons etc, are not the primary aim , but are
there as a training device as well as a useful community service.

Uptake of Raynet's services is very varied across the country and mostly depends on the attitude of the Local Authority and emergency services in
that area. I believe some groups have been doing things for Covid.

I am sure things that were cancelled due to bad weather were due to the
event that they were covering being cancelled not Raynet themselves.

73
Jeff G8HUL

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 12/10/2020 09:17, Jeff wrote:

On 11/10/2020 20:32, Ottavio Caruso wrote:

Hi,

I don't want to be cynical, but...

I got my first ticket 3 years ago and I used to attend my local Radio
club (if only because I had to). I've heard wonderful words about
Raynet but I've never understood what they actually do in practice.

Their website looks a bit run down with dead links and bitrot. It also
looks like it is a private ltd and not a charity. How does that fit in
the "as a leisure activity and not for commercial purposes of any
kind" narrative?

Granted they UK hasn't had major natural disasters for decades, but we
have had floods, terror attacks; now we have Covid.

I like the idea of going out and helping, but I've given a look at
pre-Covid activities and it's all about local marathons, scouts
rallies, Christmas/Easter meals, etc. I've also seen events cancelled
"due to bad weather". I thought the whole point of an emergency
service was to be there _because_ of bad weather.

I'm obviously missing something. Please tell me what it is.

RAYNET-UK is a charity, and just like most other charities they are a
Company Limited by Guarantee (as is the RSGB). That is a special form of company where that does not allow the distribution of any profits to the members, and any profits have to be used for the furtherance of the objectives of the company. The reason for it is to protect members and officers from personal liability, other than some small trivial amount, usually £1.

The website does suck.

As you say there are few disasters, flooding has seem significant Raynet activity recently.The marathons etc, are not the primary aim , but are
there as a training device as well as a useful community service.

Uptake of Raynet's services is very varied across the country and mostly depends on the attitude of the Local Authority and emergency services in
that area. I believe some groups have been doing things for Covid.

I am sure things that were cancelled due to bad weather were due to the
event that they were covering being cancelled not Raynet themselves.

Thanks for the clarification.


--
Ottavio Caruso

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 11/10/2020 20:32, Ottavio Caruso wrote:

Hi,

I don't want to be cynical, but...

I got my first ticket 3 years ago and I used to attend my local Radio
club (if only because I had to). I've heard wonderful words about Raynet
but I've never understood what they actually do in practice.

Their website looks a bit run down with dead links and bitrot. It also
looks like it is a private ltd and not a charity. How does that fit in
the "as a leisure activity and not for commercial purposes of any kind" narrative?

Granted they UK hasn't had major natural disasters for decades, but we
have had floods, terror attacks; now we have Covid.

I like the idea of going out and helping, but I've given a look at
pre-Covid activities and it's all about local marathons, scouts rallies, Christmas/Easter meals, etc. I've also seen events cancelled "due to bad weather". I thought the whole point of an emergency service was to be
there _because_ of bad weather.

I'm obviously missing something. Please tell me what it is.

D&G Raynet provided emergency support 5 years ago for a few hours when
the Gatehouse of Fleet Telephone exchange flooded. That's the only real incident I know of. There could be others not publicised.

Brian GM4DIJ

--
Brian

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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In message <rlvml0$763$1@dont-email.me>, Ottavio Caruso <ottavio2006-usenet2012@yahoo.com> writes

Hi,

I've also seen events cancelled "due to bad weather". I thought the
whole point of an emergency service was to be there _because_ of bad
weather.

I'm obviously missing something. Please tell me what it is.

What you're missing is that RAYNET don't run the events they provide
support for. If the event gets cancelled, then there's nothing for them
to support. [Or should they turn up, and pretend that it's still taking
place?]
--
Ian

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