Welcome to the Lothians Radio Society

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Bob McFarlane, one of the last surviving members of the S.O.E. - Special Operations Executive - in WWII, died at home in Kelso on 30th January 2017 aged 93. Bob had given two talks in recent years about his experiences - to the LRS on 24 February 2014 and at the MoC on 24 September 2014. (Click for reports).

Bob's good friend, André Saunders GM3VLB writes:

'As many MoC members know, Bob was never a ham himself, but as a radio operator behind enemy lines with Churchill’s Special Operations Executive in WWII, he got to know the famous B2 ‘spy set’ intimately, using relatively high-speed, coded CW, beginning as a 19-year old when he parachuted, at night, into the then Yugoslavia where he remained, with the partisans, till the end of the war in Europe. Following further jungle training in what was then Ceylon, he then had to dodge the Japanese in the Malayan jungle, before being sent to Hiroshima, just after the A-bomb. Those who attended his joint LRS/MoC talk in Sept 2014, will remember him as a modest, still military-like gentleman and indeed gentle man'.
 
Bob's funeral at Melrose Crematorium on 14th February was attended by several LRS members.
 
Click for Full SK.  Click for Scotsman VIP Obit.
 

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At the meeting of the LRS on 8th February  2017 our good friend Prof. Tom Stevenson of the Museum of Communication in Burntisland presented a biography of James Clerk Maxwell and described some of his contributions to science which have had a huge impact on our modern way of life. Maxwell [1831 – 1879] was a member of the Clerk family of Penicuik. He was one of our greatest scientists, ranked alongside Newton and Einstein, yet he is not well-known even in the land of his birth. 

The lecture was interspersed with music.  Maxwell was fond of the poetry of Burns and he wrote his own poems, some amusing, some thought provoking.

Click for Full Report.

 

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A 2017 replica edition of the VHF/UHF DX Book is now available free online. (Info from GM4BYF).

Click for DETAILS.

'The VHF/UHF DX Book' was written in the early to mid-1990s by a team of experienced VHF/UHF DXers and equipment developers, in an effort to pass on our knowledge and stimulate further developments. But eventually the book went out of print, and information of lasting value became trapped on the printed pages.
To keep that information alive for future generations of VHF/UHF DXers, a digital replica of the Second Printing (1995) has now been released as a free download, by kind permission of the copyright owner TRPublishing and its proprietor Trevor Preece.

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The meeting of the LRS on 25th January 2017 was a talk on "How Theo Williamson's Amplifier Changed the Sound of Music" which was given by Prof Joe McGeough (above), a former Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh.

Photo courtesy Science Museum, London

The Williamson amplifier refers to a type of valve audio amplifier whose circuit design used the same principles as a design published by Theo Williamson of Edinburgh in 1947. He proposed the standard which became generally accepted as the target figure for high-quality audio power amplifiers - for less than 0.1% total harmonic distortion at full rated power output. The amplifier was one of many achievements by Williamson who failed to gain a degree at Edinburgh University by his inability to pass his Maths-1 exam after four attempts!  Click for Full Report.

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It is with great sadness that we record the passing of LRS member Vic Imamura JA5VQ / MM0JVQ at the age of 74 on 8th January 2017 in Japan. Vic and XYL Keiko JG5JUS came to Edinburgh for some months every summer for a number of years, living in a flat in Morningside and attending LRS meetings and the annual barbecue. Vic was an outstanding DXer with a magnificent station / antenna farm. He gave a lecture on Amateur Radio in Japan on 12th September 2012. Click for report.

 Vic and Keiko at an LRS BBQ.

 

 Vic at his DX station back in JA.

 

Click for full Silent Key.

 

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The annual LRS Video Evening was presented by Peter Dick GM4DTH on 11th January 2017 at the Edinburgh Video Society, and was enjoyed by all present.

Before the main feature, The Dish, Pete GM4BYF: gave a very useful description of the radio communications used for the Lunar Landing including the role of the Parkes Dish.

 

The Dish is a warm-hearted and hilarious comedy of what the world didn't see when in 1969 the Apollo 11 astronauts were preparing to walk on the moon. A huge satellite dish outside an Australian sheep farming town had been chosen to beam the live footage globally. Then, at the last minute, technical problems occurred and gale-force winds approached! 

Click for Full Report.

 

 

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Mike MM0MLB, Kay GM6KAY & OM Pete GM4BYF, Marwyn XYL-GM8OTI, Andy MM0FMF

The LRS 2016 Christmas Curry was held on Wednesday 14th December at the Himalaya Tandoori Restaurant at Bruntsfield Place. There was a turnout of 15 for a very merry evening. 

Peter GM4DTH, Tommy GM4DCL, Roy GM3SRV

Click for Full Report with more photos.

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The 1921 transmitter in Greenwich CT

courtesy Scotsman.

Scottish RSGB Board member Len Paget  GM0ONX and Jason O'Neil GM7VSB recreated the first reception at Ardrossan in 1921 of a transatlantic transmission from the USA by Paul Godley in Greenwich, CT. Click for full story.

  1. 23 Nov 2016 - Valves, Tubes & Bottles - Malcolm Hamilton GM3TAL
  2. 12 Nov 2016 - GMRT-2016 - Scottish Microwave Round Table at MoC
  3. 9 Nov 2016 RAYNET FEEDNET Emergency Communications System - Charlie Duncan GM6MUZ, Stan Frey GM8ZQY
  4. 26 Oct 2016 - Aerial Photography - James Gentles GM4WZP