Welcome to the Lothians Radio Society

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Brian GM4DIJ has just received this from his friends in the SOC - Second-Class Operators Club:

From SOC mailing list
Temporary Ham Radio Q-Codes for our times:
QLD: I am locked down.
QUA: I am quarantined.
QPD: I am in the middle of a pandemic.
QTP: I have toilet paper. Want to trade for a new car?
QFC: I am flattening the curve.
QHG: I need a hug.
QSH: I am sheltering in place.
QHS: I have hand sanitizer. Want to trade for two new              cars?
QSD: I am observing social distancing.
QCV: I hate Coronavirus

Click for Special Instructions.

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MESSAGE FROM RSGB TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS

Dave Wilson, M0OBW, RSGB President, and Ian Shepherd, G4EVK, RSGB Board Chair have a message to radio amateurs.

“We hope that you all understand the very serious nature of the current health crisis. As you are now aware, the situation has dramatically worsened and we have all been ordered to stay at home unless travelling for a specific and unavoidable reason. As radio amateurs we are in the fortunate position of being able to talk to other amateurs and chat to those who are finding it tough going. Ian and I are asking you, as radio amateurs, to please do one thing for us: search out local amateurs and arrange a sked, not necessarily on air: there are many alternatives we can all use such as video calls, or even a simple phone call. Pay particular attention to those who you know or learn to be alone or who are vulnerable for whatever reason. We are all in this together! Keep safe.”

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 WorldRadioHistory.com

Many thanks to Brian GM8BJF who has just reported finding a potentially very useful website: https://WorldRadioHistory.com which provides detailed links to a very large number of publications serving the Amateur, Broadcasting and Music interests. You can search for specific pages in the publications, from the first edition onwards.  

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In view of the current Coronavirus pandemic with the risk of infection being passed from one person to another when attending meetings, the LRS Committee has decided to stop all meetings for the time being at the Braid Hills Hotel and the Surplus Equipment Sale at St Fillans' Church, up to and including 24th June (BBQ).

Alan J. Masson GM3PSP

LRS President. 

PS - Click for special instructions.

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PS In the meantime, if you have any reports on your radio activities - portable expeditions, technical projects etc, that you would like to share with LRS members, please let me have them, preferably with photos (and not too much maths!), and I will put them up to keep the website fresh. 

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The first is already up (GM4DIJ 23cm DXpedition)     - see this page. - psp.

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Brian Howie GM4DIJ took part in the UK Microwave 23cm contest on Sunday 8th March from a site near Stranraer. He has kindly provided these photographs. 

Click for full report with more photos.

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Geoff's yacht Contender approaching Rockall during a charity sail there in 2018.

At the meeting on March 11th our good friend Geoff Crowley MM5AHO returned to talk about "How Not to Sail to the Faeroe Islands". 

Synopsis: Sleep deprivation is a problem in radio contesting and also in sailing single-handed. Geoff Crowley does both, and he recounted a few experiences during 2019 when lack of sleep caused problems in both sailing and in contesting. Some further examples from 2018, including a 1000 mile round trip to Rockall added interest about managing 24 hour activity. 

Click for full report including summary by Vic GM3OWU, and Geoff's slides.

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Photo courtesy RadCom

The RSGB Convention video "The Raspberry Pi Explained for Radio Amateurs" by Mike Richards G4WNC was shown  by James GM4WZP at the meeting on 26th February 2020. Click for short report with link to the video (RSGB Members only).

This lecture is based upon a new RSBG book by Mike - see above / click here.

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At the LRS meeting on 12th February Dr Roger Hill talked about "Robot Wars + Rampaging Chariots  and showed videos of robots in combat. He wrote: 

"Peter Bennett, (who was present at Roger's talk) once a test pilot, gathered a team of engineers from Selex (now Leonardo) to assist in building a family of robots to compete in the BBC ‘Robot Wars’ programme. Typhoon 2 won the heavyweight title of the 7th BBC series in 2006. Peter then designed a simpler robot called the Rampaging Chariot, to compete in the British Robotic Games where it won 27 of 42 medals at its first outing held in Wigan. In this talk, I describe the engineering features of these and other micro-controller-based projects".

Prototype of the Autonomous Rampaging Chariot. 

Click for Full Report.

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Pete Bates GM4BYF talked about Aircraft Scatter Communication and Useful Test Equipment for it at the  meeting on 22nd January 2020. 

Aircraft scatter can be used on bands from 2m upwards and up to 500km range is achievable, depending on the band and geography. The talk started with some audio examples of aircraft scatter - available in the full report.

The requirements for an accurate frequency reference led to the purchase of some cheap test equipment which has many other uses.

Click for Full Report with Slides and Audio Recording of QSO.

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  1. 8th Jan 2020 - LRS Video Night - "The Cold War" at Edinburgh Cine & Video Society
  2. 11th December 2019 - LRS Christmas Curry at the Gurkha
  3. 27 Nov 2019 - uBITX Radio Kit - John Innes MM0JXI
  4. 13th Nov 2019 - SOTA & 13cm Escapades, Jack Hood GM4COX