Nice mirror in Wee Bennet's Bar. 

Some of the starters: Sebastien (French visitor), Mike GM8KCS, Colin GM4EAU, James GM4WZP, Kay GM6KAY, David GM3YMX.

The annual LRS Direction-Finding Contest (D/F Hunt) took place on 22nd May 2019, starting from the Tardis on Braid Hills Road.

The fox station GM3HAM/P was operated by Peter GM4DTH from a location on Wester Craiglockhart Hill.

LOTHIANS RADIO SOCIETY - ANNUAL DIRECTION-FINDING COMPETITION

Information for 2019 D/F Hunt - NOTE LOCATION OF START POINT

The LRS D/F Hunt will take place on Wednesday 22nd May 2019. Start time is 7.30pm sharp.

The start point avoids the high noise level experienced in earlier years near the Braid Hills Hotel. Members (or visitors) wishing to take part are advised to be on Braid Hills Road at the sign for Braids Golf Course (junction with Braid Hills Ave / Braid Hills Approach / Braid Mount (NT-246698) no later than 7.20pm, although this is not essential - some entrants choose to start from elsewhere. There is always room for those not equipped with receivers to join up with members who are so-equipped. The "Fox" will be located somewhere within the City boundary and participants should be equipped with a map and the necessary equipment to draw out bearings. The Fox will transmit using the callsign GM3HAM/P for 5 minutes-on / 5 minutes-off periods starting promptly at 7.30 pm. The frequency will be 1.875 MHz with an amplitude modulated tone being broadcast plus voice identification at the start and end of each period of transmitting. Operation will cease at about 9.30pm and an informal gathering will occur at a pub close to the Fox's location which will be announced at that time.  

Participants are advised to be equipped with a mobile phone. A coordinator will be available at the start to provide the mobile number of the fox station (Peter GM4DTH) and to register the participants' mobile numbers so that in the event of them not locating the Fox, they can request clues regarding the location of the Fox station (or the pub)! Each clue provided will incur a penalty of 20 minutes. Test signals similar to those of the Fox on 1.875 MHz can be provided if requested well in advance - contact Peter GM4DTH to arrange.

On the 8th May, James Gentles GM4WZP hosted the meeting: “WHAT I BROUGHT TONIGHT”.

We were delighted to be joined by Tom Novey W7TAN, visiting from Illinois (photos below).

This was an evening where members and visitors brought along "the smallest radio-related object they have with the biggest story" and made a short presentation about it. These were James's suggestions:

 

                                   When did you last see a cats whisker, in its little yellow box?

                                   What would you do with a piece of 2” Ampex videotape? 

                                   What’s the oldest valve you own?

                                   Your first Log Book with that rare DX on page 1?

                                   The first software you ever bought / pirated?

                                   An edition of Practical Electronics that got you interested in radio?

                                   Or it could be something new, a radio that looks like a USB stick?

                                   The latest microwave goodie - microwave things tend to be small…

 

At the meeting on 24th April 2019 Terry Martini-Yates of Ferrograph World, based in Rosyth, talked about "Writing on Iron" - magnetic sound recording - demonstrating several recorders and playing a number of historical recordings, including John Clarricoats G6CL speaking during a visit to Edinburgh in 1961.

A potted history of the development of the magnetic audio recorder from Valdemar Poulson’s invention of the magnetic wire recorder, the steel tape based Blattenerphone, its further development at AEG in Germany and its use by the 3rd Reich in Nazi Germany for war propaganda, to the overnight sensation it created in post-war America, when an enterprising soldier liberated two of the secret German Magnetophon reel to reel tape machines and 50 reels of recording tape. 

How, at a demonstration of one of these machines at MGM’s studios, was heard by one of America's biggest radio stars of the day, that changed the broadcasting and music industry around the globe forever with the high fidelity and new techniques that it offered.  It appeared a little later in the UK, but by the late 1950s, it had also found its way into the home and kick started the rise of an early form of social media, “tapesponding” leading  to the appearance of specialised magazines devoted to the hobby, and the formation of dozens of tape clubs up and down the UK. 

The talk featured early recording items and historic recordings from Terry’s collection.

The LRS Spring Surplus Equipment Sale was held on 10th April 2019 at St Fillan's Church, Buckstone. It included the remainder of the GM8BYF-SK silent key items left over from the previous sale, which were sold for club funds.

At the meeting of the LRS on 27th March 2019 Prof Win Rampen, the Chair of Energy Storage at Edinburgh University and the former M.D. of Artemis Intelligent Power Ltd, talked about Energy Storage. He wrote:

"For the past 100 years or so, the world has been misusing fossil fuels from the Carboniferous period about 300 million years ago by digging them up and burning them. We have been using them at a rate of 1 million years to 1 year, which is scary. What we should be doing is using the sun's energy in the year that it is provided to us, and we have a long way to go to achieve that.

So the talk will be about renewables in general but more specifically about solving the mismatch between the uncontrolled delivery of power and the equally uncontrolled user demand. I shall be talking about how we can integrate renewable energy into the grid to displace fossil fuels - which Is where energy storage comes in!"

 

At the meeting of the LRS on 13th March 2019 our good friend Winnie Stevenson from the Museum of Communication presented "Phantasmagoria, a traditional magic lantern show". 

Winnie has two magic lanterns. The older, lit by an oil lamp, dates from the 1880s and was on show. The one she used for her presentation belonged to the Roslin Band of Hope and dates from 1906, now with an electric lamp. After a quick introduction to magic lanterns, the talk followed the format of a traditional lantern show starting with a Travelogue, a Victorian and Edwardian journey down the River North Esk and around Edinburgh. We saw the Forth Rail Bridge under construction, and visited London and Yosemite National Park in California. The talk ended with a story and moving cartoons suitable for children of all ages.