Welcome to the Lothians Radio Society

Details

Competitors at the start of the 2018 D/F Hunt

The LRS Direction Finding Contest (D/F Hunt) was held 23rd May. Fox station GM3HAM/P on 1.875MHz AM was operated by Peter Dick GM4DTH. 

A new competitor was James Gentles GM4WZP.  

The fox station was located in woods near Cramond and was found first by Melvyn Bond GM4HYR at 21:06 and then by Mike Brunsdon Sr GM8KCS and Mike Jr MM3MDB at 21:11. Afterwards we all repaired to the Cramond Inn. Click for Full Report and photographs.

 

Details

The AGM of the Lothians Radio Society was held in the Braid Hills Hotel on Wednesday 13 June 2018.

Brian Flynn GM8BJF elected President, Mike Burgess MM0MLB Hon Sec, Peter Dick GM4DTH Treasurer. 

Elected committee members: Pete Bates GM4BYF, Andy Sinclair MM0FMF and James Gentles GM4WZP.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Treasurer Peter Dick GM4DTH reported that the club's finances were healthy and recommended that the subscription should remain at £20 for adults and £10 for scholars. This was agreed. 

FUTURE MEETINGS: President Brian Flynn GM8BJF asked members to volunteer to give talks to continue our very successful program. 

Click for Full Report.

 

Details

LRS President Brian Flynn GM8BJF presented the video of the RSGB 2017 Convention lecture "Amateur Deep Space Reception" by Paul Marsh M0EYT at the meeting on 9th May 2018. Summary:

When in January Scott Tilley VE7TIL/VA7LF discovered a signal coming from the "dead" IMAGE satellite, Paul Marsh M0EYT gave the first independent confirmation.

In this video Paul Marsh, M0EYT gives an introduction to deep space mega-DX, the equipment needed and the techniques used to identify extremely weak signals coming from human-made space probes in various parts of our solar system. X-Band (8.4GHz) is the primary band of discussion but Paul also talks briefly about S and Ka reception equipment and antennas. 

You can receive signals from spacecraft in excess of 1 billion km with a modest size dish in your garden. If you have an interest in EME or microwave weak signal reception, Amateur DSR can help you push the limits of what is possible with home-built equipment. 

Click for full report with link to RSGB video.

 

Details

Brian Flynn GM8BJF talked about Using Chinese ADF4351 and ADF5355 PLL Boards as Microwave Signal Sources at the meeting on 25th April. He writes:

"Recently PCBs have become available from different Chinese internet outlets which have Analog Devices ADF4350/1  ADF5355 PLL ICs on them. The ADF4351 boards are available for prices starting at about £30 and the ADF5355 about £55 which is about the one off price for the chips in the UK. The chips have Microwave VCOs incorporated in them. The ADF4351 covers 35 MHz to 4.4 GHz and the ADF5355 covers 54 MHz to 13.6 GHz. Clearly these are very useful as microwave signal sources for our purposes. They cover all of our bands up to 19 GHz and can be multiplied further to our higher bands. As always every silver lining has a cloud and this talk will address some of the issues in using these devices and how to get best performance they are capable of from them". Full Report & ppt slides.

Details

 

The LRS "Spring" Surplus Equipment Sale on 11th April at St Fillan's Church was well attended. Most of the items were sold, with 10% donation to club funds.

 

A moment of merriment in an otherwise serious evening!

Full photo report.

 

Details

Paul at Dante's View, Black Mountains, CA.

We were delighted to welcome Paul Gacek W6PNG and his XYL from Laguna Beach, CA as the speaker at our meeting on 28th March 2018.  Paul is a SOTA friend of Andy MM0FMF to whom our thanks for arranging this talk. Originally from London, and now splitting his time between CA and Berwick-on-Tweed, Paul talked about "Wilderness radio in the Western US with an emphasis more on photos than any kind of tutorial" and showed many photos of the beautiful places he has operated from. Click for Paul's blog.

Click for Full report with photos. 

Details

(Photo of a similar installation)

John McCormick from Leonardo Airborne & Space Systems gave a talk about the Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) at Crewe Toll, Edinburgh, at the meeting on 14th March. 

CATR is a dual-reflector test facility enclosed in a 24m x 14m x 8m anechoic chamber. It makes measurements of antenna performance from 500MHz to 40GHz.

Click for full Powerpoint presentation. 

John McCormick

 

Details

 

Allister Watson GM7RYR, who is beacon-keeper for GB7EE, talked about Digital Voice Modes at the meeting on 28th Feb 2018 at the Braid Hills Hotel. 

This talk looked at the different digital modes used on the VHF / UHF bands: D-Star, Fusion (C4FM) and DMR, the developments of the Local, National and International Networks and compared this with the state of the networks at the last talk given to the Lothians RS in February 2016. (Click)
 
There was a good turnout of 11 in spite of the blizzard blowing outside - "The Beast from the East"!
 
 Photos by Peter GM4DTH   
 
  1. Wed 14 February 2018 - Battery Types & Behaviours - Stan Frey GM8ZQY
  2. Wed 24 Jan 2018 - 3D Printing - Neil Gillies (ex-GM6BZF)
  3. Wed 10 Jan 2018 - Video NIght - The Role of Radio in Aviation - Peter Dick GM4DTH
  4. 6 Dec 2017 - Christmas Curry at the Himalaya Tandoori