Welcome to the Lothians Radio Society

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Eventual winner Melvyn GM4HYR making his first decision on which direction to boldly go to find the Fox station GM3HAM/P.
The LRS annual D/F Hunt was held on Wednesday 25th May 2016, organized by Peter Dick GM4DTH using the callsign GM3HAM/P transmitting on 1.875 MHz. There were only two receiving stations - Melvyn Bond GM4HYR and Mike Brunsdon GM8KCS (assisted by son Mike Brunsdon Jr MM3MDB and Alan Masson GM3PSP). The fox station was located close to the Union Canal near the Slateford  aqueduct and was first found by Melvyn GM4HYR in 1h 4m  followed by Mike GM8KCS and his team in 2h 1m. After the event the participants adjourned to the nearby Blue Goose hostelry for diet lemonades.  

Mike MM3MDB, Peter GM4DTH,
Melvyn GM4HYR, Mike GM8KCS.

Photos - GM3PSP. Full report / more photos.

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At the meeting of the LRS on 11 May 2016 LRS President Andy Sinclair MM0FMF talked on "Holiday HF - or how to have your cake and eat it". His informative presentation covered the practical aspects of preparing for and operating a successful DXpedition - researching and knowing the foreign regulations, obtaining a CEPT TR61/01 foreign licence when necessary, luggage regulations for checked-in and carry-on bags, especially regarding batteries. He stressed the need to prove the whole system works - well in advance of the trip!

Click for full report with slides & photos.

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The GM3HAM/P contest group of the Lothians Radio Society operated in the RSGB Microwave Trophy contest on 7-8 May 2016 from our usual site on a hill above Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries & Galloway. The operators were L-R: Mike GM4IGS, Pete GM4BYF and Alan GM3PSP. The wx was unpleasantly windy but dry on the Saturday and sunny and warm on the Sunday. 

Click for report with all photos and claimed scores.

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Kenneth Barlee, assisted by Dale Atkinson, gave a most interesting talk with demonstrations of SDR - Software Defined Radio - at the meeting of the LRS on 27th April 2016. 

Kenny is a 2nd-year Ph.D student at Strathclyde University and is already a co-author of a text-book on SDR.

Talk content:

1. Introduce SDR in general.

2. Talk about the RTL-SDR - go into details about its discovery + architecture.

3. Explain about the signals the RTL-SDR can receive (25MHz to 1.75GHz).

4. Talk about the purpose of the book (www.desktopSDR.com).

5. Give a couple of demos from the book.

Click for Full Report with slides.

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LRS members Brian Flynn GM8BJF and Briain Wilson GM8PKL made an expedition to Telegraph Hill near St Abbs in Scottish Borders on March 19th to check reception there of the GM8FFX/B 10GHz beacon at 126km near Aberdeen which Brian built and installed last year. They found the signal strength was excellent on this clear sea-path.

They also found a very old but largely-complete wooden radar- or radio tower on the site. Later investigations unearthed interesting theories about its history.

Click for full story and more photos. 

 

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The LRS Spring Surplus Equipment Sale was held on 6th April 2016 at St Fillan's Church, Buckstone. There was an excellent turn-out of 33 for what proved to be an entertaining evening with lots of quality items for sale at very reasonable prices. (We never use the word 'cheap')! There was also the usual raffle for interesting "bottles".

 Full report with many more photographs.

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 At the meeting of the LRS on 23rd March, Malcolm Hamilton GM3TAL ran the first quiz we have had for a long time, on the broad theme of communication. He achieved his aim to have an evening of fun with an opportunity to quench our thirst, as well as to show how much we knew, (or how good we were at guessing!). We formed teams of about four and enjoyed the questions which included trying to identify various digital modes and the locations of radio events. Sadly, though, there were no laser display boards, and Samantha was not available to keep the score! The prizes were interesting "bottles", presented at the end of this enjoyable evening.

Team 1, consisting of Andy MM0FMF, Pete GM4BYF and Mike MM0MLB were the winners, closely followed by Team 2 - Brian GM8BJF, Bernie GM4WZG, Tommy GM0GEC and Alan GM3PSP.

Report with more photos.

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At very short notice, Pete Bates GM4BYF jumped in  on Wednesday 9th March to replace the scheduled talk which had to be cancelled. Pete presented his talk "A Programmable Sequencer / Control Unit for £20", originally scheduled for the next meeting on 23rd March. Synopsis:

-  Design specification for a QRO 23cm setup; the program; demonstration.

Click for Full Report

  1. 24 Feb 2016 - 3cm Personal Beacons - Brian Flynn GM8BJF
  2. 10 Feb 2016 - Repeaters - Crawford Ross GM8HBY & Allister Watson GM7RYR
  3. 27 Jan 2016 - Activating Orkney Lighthouses - Geoff Crowley MM5AHO
  4. 13 Jan 2016 - Video Night at ECVS - The Use of Bombing in WWII