Scottish Charity number SC045038
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LRS Messages of the Day:
4 Nov 2026- GMRT Report by Bill Dent GM8RBT – see below.
Wed 4 Nov 2026 – LRS Net 211 – 20:00h 144.350MHz SSB – all welcome.
Wed 11 Nov 2026 – 7:30PM – LRS Open Meeting – Need to book your place – The end of the BBC 198kHz Radio 4 long wave service – Mark Hughes GM4ISM. Note that this meeting will be held in the larger Buckstone Bar, next to the Braid Hills Hotel.
LRS MEETINGS
LRS meetings are normally held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month (except July and August) at 8:00pm at the Braid Hills Hotel, 134 Braid Road, EH10 6JD.
In July and August Pub Nights are held at 7:30pm at Wee Bennet’s Bar at Morningside Station, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. There are also occasional Wee Bennet’s evenings arranged during the main club season.
Most items are archived in Meeting Reports or Society Activities.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
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Wed 11 Nov 2026 – 7:30pm – Open Meeting – The End of the 198kHz Radio-4 Long Wave Service by Mark Hughes GM4ISM.
There is an intention that every year we have an open evening with a keynote speaker, to which guests of the society are very welcome to attend. Because these are likely to be attended by more people than usual, they will be held in a larger room, and at an earlier time. Members and guests will need to register their interest in attending so that all attendees can be accommodated.
This year the event is: The story of the Radio 4 Long Wave service on 200 and 198kHz by Mark Hughes GM4ISM
Mark Hughes GM4ISM will tell the story of the last 35 years of evolution of the BBC Long Wave service and a glimpse at the engineering challenges that kept him (in the technical specialist team) busy as they pushed elderly transmitters way beyond their design life. The inevitable was warded off for a long time to a point that with changes in technology and the ‘political’ and contractual environment, we ended up with the services ceasing this year.
Mark Hughes GM4ISM was a keen young radio ham (licensed at 14), and a career in Electrical Engineering seemed to fit. After graduating in Electrical Engineering at Warwick University he was recruited by BBC transmission. He worked extensively with antennas and transmitters, ending as team manager of the Forfar and Shetland teams before moving to a technical specialist team which started with four members and ended up with over thirty by the time he retired.
11 November 2026 in the Buckstone Bar next to the Braid Hills Hotel.
Note that the open event starts 30 minutes earlier than our usual talks: 19:00 for 19:30 start.
Please reserve your place through this link:
https://www.lothiansradiosocie
ty.com/open-event-registration/ Please remember to add your email address on the form so that you receive an acknowledgment which is effectively your ticket for the event.
RALLIES AND OTHER EVENTS
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31 Oct 2026 – Scottish Microwave Round Table GMRT 2026
The 2026 Scottish Microwave Round Table was held, appropriately, on Halloween this year. The event was sold out and the lecture room at the MOC/Burntisland was full. There were interesting talks – several from LRS members, including Andy (GM4LLD) on portable microwave operating (lugging dishes up some cold Scottish mountains), Peter (GM4BYF) and Brian (GM8BJF) on tricks and techniques on SM component soldering (with lively participation and experiences from the audience). Also Martin (GM8IEM) talked about his sequencer design for the IC9700, and Mark (GM4ISM) gave some ideas about modding commercial microwave gear for amateurs (aka ‘bodging’). There were some cool bits of identifiable (and unidentifiable) microwave goodies for sale, some fancy test gear for GHz visitors, and tasty food for lunch. A good day out and meet up with other microwavers from Scotland and south of the border.
The room was full! 
Andy introduced Brian GM8BJF talking about SM soldering tricks 
Mark/GM4ISM talked about bodging commercial microwave equipment for amateur use. 
Some interesting microwave bits for sale 
Fancy testgear available (not for sale) 
Speakers: Mark/GM8IEM, Peter/GM4BYF, Brian/GM8BJF, Martin/GM8IEM, and Andy/GM4LLD 
More pictures at https://gmroundtable.org.uk/gmrt-2026-photos/
CONTEST CALENDAR
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The LRS operates GM3HAM/P from a great site near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries & Galloway.
(This photo by Andy MMØFMF / now GM4LLD, is in RSGB RadCom Sept 2025, p.80).
RSGB GB2RS NEWS
Every Sunday morning in the Edinburgh area at 09:30h from LRS member Peter Dick GM4DTH. 70.425MHz FM, 145.525MHz FM & 433.525MHz FM. Then call-in to Peter at 10:00h on 145.575MHz for local net. Several LRS members often there.
RADIO NEWS, RECENT MEETINGS, SILENT KEYS and FOR SALE / WANTED
Click on image or “read more” to open full article.
Send items to Alan GM3PSP:
webmaster@lothiansradiosociety.com
Items usually archived as News or Silent Keys in LRS Archive after 1 month.
1. RADIO NEWS ITEMS
There are no RADIO NEWS ITEMS. Click on the heading to see the radio news archive.
2. RECENT MEETINGS
3. SILENT KEYS
There are no current silent key notifications. Click on the heading to see the silent key archive.
4. ITEMS FOR SALE
There are no current items for sale. Click on the heading to see any archived items.
Lothians Radio Society activities – latest reports
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12 Apr 2023 – LRS Spring Surplus Equipment Sale
12 April 2023 – Spring Surplus Eqpt Sale & Raffle St Fillan’s Church. Click for report with photos. Great turn-out of 40. The all-important raffle! ====================================
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22 March 2023 – Brian Flynn GM8BJF – “Nano-VNAs 2 – OPeration & Practice.-
22 March 2023: Brian Flynn GM8BJF – “NanoVNAs – Part 2: Operation and Practice” There was an attendance of 22 for the second half of Brian’s talk on Nano-VNAs on 22 March 2023. Click for report w / audio 2. ========================================== In Part 1 – “In Theory” Brian talked about the theory of Vector Network Analyzers…
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22 March 2023 – Brian Flynn GM8BJF – “Nano-VNAs 2 – OPeration & Practice.-
22 March 2023: Brian Flynn GM8BJF – “NanoVNAs – Part 2: Operation and Practice” There was an attendance of 22 for the second half of Brian’s talk on Nano-VNAs on 22 March 2023. Click for report w / audio 2. ========================================== In Part 1 – “In Theory” Brian talked about the theory of Vector Network Analyzers…
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8 March 2023 – Brian Flynn GM8BJF – Nano-VNAs (1) In Theory
8 Mar 2023 – Brian Flynn GM8BJF – Nano-VNAs (1) – in Theory. In Part 1 – “In Theory” Brian talked about the theory of Vector Network Analyzers to an audience of 21 at the meeting on 8th March. Click for Report w / audio. ==========================================
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22 Feb 2023 – André Saunders GM3VLB Awards 2022
22 Feb 2023 – André Saunders GM3VLB SOTA Scottish Islands Awards 2022. The award has run for its first year and the winners are now announced: 1st place is Dr Colwyn Jones, MM0YCJ of Edinburgh with 15 GM/SI summits in 2022. Colwyn was presented with his trophy by Veronica Saunders, XYL-GM3VLB-SK, at the LRS meeting on…
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22 Feb 2023 – Peter Dick GM4DTH – “Receiving MF D/F Beacons”
22 Feb 2023 – Receiving MF D/F Beacons – Peter Dick GM4DTH Peter Dick GM4DTH At the LRS meeting on 22nd Feb 2023 Peter Dick GM4DTH talked about receiving MF D/F non-directional beacons from his QTH in Edinburgh and played many recordings of their CW IDs. There was an excellent attendance of 23. Click…
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8 Feb 2023 – Dr Roger Hill – “Plasmas – their Generation & Application”
Dr Roger Hill. Plasmas – their generation & application – Mercury arc, Neon lamp, Radio wave propagation, Laser design and manufacture. There was an excellent attendance of 18 for this very interesting talk. Click for report.. ===========================================
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25 Jan 2023 – Peter Scott – “Pre-War Television”
25 Jan – Pre-War TV – Peter Scott Peter gave a most interesting talk about the pre-war days of television in the UK and Germany with many photographs of early TV cameras & receivers. Great turnout of 22. Peter’s comprehensive slide-show is available on this website – click. ============================================
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11 Jan 2023 – LRS Video Night – ‘A US Selection’
Peter Dick GM4DTH The theme was the Cold War, including early space-based communications: 01 – Communism 10:41 02 – The Big Bounce 15:23 03 – Atlas in Orbit 5:37 04 – Kennedy on Telstar 1:19 05 – A Day in History – Telstar. 3.18 06 – On Guard! – SAGE 12:14 07 – Plane Talk…
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3 Jan 2023 – LRS New Year Pub Night – Wee Bennets Bar
“Wee” Bennets Bar, Maxwell St, Morningside Tues 3 Jan 2023 – LRS New Year Pub Night Colin GM4HWO, Colin GM4EAU, Peter GM4DTH, Mike GM8KCS. Photo tnx HWO. ===========================================
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14 Dec 2022 – Christmas Curry – Gurkha Cafe
14 Dec 2022 – LRS Christmas Curry Peter, Colin, Alan & Colin at the Gurkha There was a small (but distinguished) group of 8 who defied the arctic wx to come to the Booking Office for pre-drinks and the Gurkha Cafe for the LRS Christmas Curry on 14th December. “A merry time was had by…
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1 Dec 2022 – Committee Meeting
Colin GM4HWO, Andy MM0FMF, Colin GM4EAU, Pete GM4BYF, James GM4WZP, Peter GM4DTH, Alan GM3PSP. The meeting was held at Colin’s QTH. After 2 hours of hard work we were rewarded with a very nice pizza supper – tnx Colin! ==========================================