Welcome to the Lothians Radio Society

6 Dec 2017 - Christmas Curry at the Himalaya Tandoori

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Written by Alan GM3PSP

The annual LRS Christmas Curry was held on Wednesday 6th December at the Himalaya Tandoori Restaurant at Bruntsfield, with 14 diners, including a very welcome DX visitor - Eric Worley W0RLY, a United Airlines pilot between flights, who had spotted our dinner notice on this website. (On left above with Alan GM3PSP and Pete GM4BYF).  Click for More Photos.

22 Nov 2017 - Optimization of Antenna Height over Terrain - Brian Howie GM4DIJ

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Written by Alan GM3PSP

LRS member Brian Howie GM4DIJ gave an introduction to antenna modelling at the LRS meeting on 11 March 2015. This time he talked more specifically about "Optimization of Antenna Height Over Real Terrain in the Low VHF Bands" at the meeting on 22nd November 2017.

Brian writes: "It is common intuition that the higher an antenna is above the ground, the better it performs. Whilst this is true in most cases, the performance of an antenna a few wavelengths above ground is a complex interaction of the beam patterns and the local topography. It can be shown that in some cases a lower antenna can outperform one much higher.
I've been looking in particular at the local terrain at our contest site at Gatehouse of Fleet using an ARRL- supplied program HFTA, designed primarily for the HF Bands, to explore terrain effects on antenna performance at low VHF". Click for Powerpoint.

8 Nov 2017 - 'Pirates - Offshore Radio 1964-1974 - ding-ding' - James Gentles GM4WZP

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Written by Alan GM3PSP

James Gentles GM4WZP gave a great talk on 'Pirates - Offshore Radio from 1964 to 1974, ding-ding!' at the meeting on 8th November 2017. He covered the history of the pirate radio stations located in ships around the British Isles, including the best-known, Radio Caroline which used its famous "ding-ding" jingle. They all disappeared after the BBC introduced Radio 1 in 1974 to cater for the pop audience, and re-named the existing stations Radios 2, 3 and 4. REPORT

Radio London

Sat 4 Nov 2017 - GMRT - Microwave Round Table at Museum of Communication

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Written by Alan GM3PSP

The GMRT speakers: Mark Hughes GM4ISM, Geoff Pike GI0GDP, Martin Hall GM8IEM (Session Chair), Andy Sinclair MM0FMF, David Anderson GM6BIG.

The 2017 Scottish Microwave Round Table was held on 4th November at the Museum of Communication in Burntisland followed by a dinner and musical entertainment at the Kingswood Hotel. Programme:

A 10GHz Home Station (Mark GM4ISM)

A High Quality 10GHz Beacon (David GM6BIG)

13cm SOTA (Andy MM0FMF & Jack GM4COX)

Replacement L.O. options for the DB6NT G2 Transverters (Geoff GI0GDP)

The GM round of the UK Microwave Group Projects Trophy was awarded to Kevin Avery G3AAF.

For full report and music video, go to GMRT website: 

http://www.gmroundtable.org.uk/  

Kevin Avery G3AAF received the constructors trophy from John Worsnop G4BAO.

25 Oct 2017 - Having fun on a shoestring - Tom Wylie GM4FDM

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Written by Alan GM3PSP

Well-known Scottish DXer Tom Wylie GM4FDM from Paisley returned to the Lothians on 25th October 2017 to talk on Having fun on a shoestring. He described how careful advance planning is essential for any DXpedition and how quite simple antennas can be very effective while saving on weight and complexity. Report

 Tom GM4FDM with Ronald PA3EWP in Dakar, Senegal in 2010. 

Wed 18 Oct 2017 - LRS Autumn Surplus Equipment Sale - St Fillans Church

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Written by Alan GM3PSP

The LRS Autumn Surplus Equipment Sale was held on 18 Oct at St Fillan's Church with a good turnout and almost everything sold. Full Report.  

Norrie GM1CNH was a happy raffle winner!

20 September 2017 - Silent Key - George Burt GM3OXX

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Written by Alan GM3PSP

George GM3OXX in his shack near Turriff in 2010. Photo by Alan GM3PSP.

We have heard with great sadness of the Silent Key at the age of 81 on 20th September of George Burt GM3OXX, formerly of Edinburgh, after a long illness. An outstanding constructor and QRP operator, he held the world 3cm record in 1976.

George's funeral was held at Warriston Crematorium on 6th October 2017. Nine Amateurs attended.

 George operating GM3OXX/P on 3cm in 1976.

A full Silent Key for GM3OXX  is in preparation. Please send any photos etc to Alan GM3PSP.

Click for full Silent Kay.

27 Sept 2017 - From Holyrood to Hollywood, a Technical Career in Motion Pictures with Kodak - Alan Masson GM3PSP

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Written by Alan GM3PSP

Alan Masson GM3PSP gave an autobiographical talk about his career in the Motion Picture Division at Kodak in the UK and the USA at the meeting of the LRS on 27th September 2017 at the Museum of Communication in Burntisland.  As well as his chemistry training, which was vital in film processing issues, his radio hobby was useful in projects with film sound tracks. Full Report.

Alan meets R2D2