Scottish Charity number SC045038
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LRS Messages of the Day:
Wed 9 Sept 2026 – LRS President’s Address: “Secondary Batteries for Hams”. The new LRS year got off to a good start with Andy’s talk on batteries – report: see Recent Meetings.Wed 23 Sept 2026 – LRS Visit to MOC Burntisland 2026 Exhibition – When Screens were Small, but the Magic seemed Huge – 100 Years of Television. There will also be a lecture by Prof. Tom Stevenson – 100 Years of Television – some Technical Milestones, including the early days of TV in Orkney. 5:00pm Pre-Dinner at Sands Hotel, Burntisland.
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 23 Sept 2026 – LRS Visit to MOC Burntisland 2026 Exhibition – When Screens were Small, but the Magic seemed Huge – 100 Years of Television. There will also be a lecture by Prof. Tom Stevenson – 100 Years of Television – some Technical Milestones, including the early days of TV in Orkney.
RALLIES AND OTHER EVENTS
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Sat 31 Oct 2026 – GMRT-2026 at MOC Burntisland & Dinner at Kingswood Hotel
The 2026 Scottish Microwave Round Table (GMRT-2026) will be held as usual at the Museum of Communication in Burntisland, followed by dinner at the nearby Kingswood Hotel. The panel of speakers is now complete. The registration system is open for booking. We have sold 47 Event tickets – 3 tickets left – max room capacity = 50. Suggest you book asap to avoid disappointment. https://gmroundtable.org.uk/
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9 May – 30 Sept – Weds & Sats – MOC Exhibition 2026

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27 Sept 2026 MOC Goudie Lecture – 100 Years of Television.
The next MOC Goudie Lecture will take place at 7.30 pm on WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER and is entitled 100 Years of Television. It will be presented by Museum Chair Prof. Tom Stevenson. Please see Events – Museum Of Communication for further information.
Sunday 25 Oct 2026 – Galashiels Rally
CONTEST CALENDAR
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The LRS operates GM3HAM/P from a great site near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries & Galloway.
5-6 Sept 2026 – Brian GM4DIJ operated GM3HAM/P in RSGB 2m Trophy from IO74MU near Stranraer. See report in Radio News Items.
5-6 July 2025 – VHF NFD – see report in About LRS – Contest / Portable.

(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
2. RECENT MEETINGS
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9 Sept 2026 – Secondary Batteries for Hams – Presidential Address by Andy Sinclair GM4LLD.

Andy Sinclair GM4LLD got the new LRS year off to a good… Read more
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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7 May 2017 LRS Members at Ham Radio Convention 2017

L-R: Brian GM8BJF, Chris GM3WOJ, Briain GM8PKL, Robin GM4YPL A number of LRS members attended the ASRA Ham Radio Convention 2017 at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow on Sunday 7th May 2017. As well as buying ‘stuff’, it was an opportunity to meet up with old friends. Brian GM8BJF catches a quick QSO on 10GHz…
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10 May 2017 – Radio in WW-I – Malcolm Fergusson

Malcolm Fergusson, formerly of Edinburgh University Physics Department, talked about Radio in WW-I at the meeting on 10th May 2017. His talk was about the start of radio, who was involved, who did what, development of military radio, French Radio, RFC developments and expansion. Marconi’s basic spark transmitter Malcolm revealed that this mystery photo, shown in the meeting…
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24 April 2017 – Malcolm GM3TAL – Our Man in Havana

L-R: Hector; Amed CO2AME; Malcolm GM3TAL; Moises CM2YV On the last day of his recent trip to Cuba, Malcolm was delighted to meet Amed, CO2AME and to exchange QSL cards for a contact made in the Nov 2016 CQWW CW contest. ======================================== VHF NFD Trophies at 26 April LRS Meeting VHF NFD 2016 operators holding the trophies won…
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26 April 2017 – Enigma – the Unsung Heroes – Pete Bates GM4BYF

At the LRS meeting on 26th April 2017 Pete Bates GM4BYF gave a very well researched talk on ‘Enigma – the Unsung Heroes’. He outlined how the Enigma machine was used, the inputs and work required and the lesser known actions of some brave, dedicated people’. A German Enigma machine used for the encryption and decryption of messages during WWII.…
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9 April 2017 – LRS Receives RSGB VHF-NFD Trophies at Norbreck Rally in Blackpool

Len Paget GM0ONX, RSGB Director; Colin GM4HWO, Andy MM0FMF, Mike GM4IGS, Pete GM4BYF, Danny GM6CMQ, Brian GM8BJF, Norrie GM1CNH, Peter GM4DTH. (Photo by Dave GM6KGZ – tnx). At the Norbreck Rally in Blackpool on 9th April 2017, representatives of the Lothians Radio Society were presented with the two RSGB trophies won by the LRS in…
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5 April 2017 – Spring Surplus Equipment Sale at St Fillans

The LRS Spring Surplus Equipment Sale was held on Wednesday 5th April at St Fillan’s Church, Buckstone Drive. There was a good turn-out including members of other clubs from as far away as Glasgow. The sale included a large number of small items from GM0FAL-SK which were sold by Andre GM3VLB and XYL Veronica. Many thanks to them both…
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21 March 2017 – Aurora over Islay – Mike Senior GM3PAK

Many thanks to former LRS member Mike Senior GM3PAK, who lives with his XYL Marion GM1DCB on the isle of Islay, for this nice photo of the Aurora on 21 March 2017. Did anyone work anything via AU? Another aurora is forecast for the following evening but it will probably not be visual in Edinburgh…
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15 March 2017 – FUNcube Satellite Received using Raspberry-Pi – John Cooke GM8OTI

(Photo courtesy AMSAT-UK) Following John Cooke’s talk on amateur radio applications for the Raspberry Pi microcomputer at the March 8th meeting (see report below), John now reports that he has successfully received the FUNcube-1 satellite using a Raspberry Pi 3. He writes: ‘Just managed the next stage of my satellite project successfully. It uses the…
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8 March 2017 – Raspberry Pi – John Cooke GM8OTI

At the meeting of the LRS on 8th March 2017, John Cooke GM8OTI talked about the Raspberry Pi computer’s history and variants, and gave a couple of simple examples with demonstrations of its use in radio applications. Full report. After his talk, John was presented with Raspberry … …tarts by LRS Prez. Andy Sinclair
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22 Feb 2017 – 20 Years with the PO Engineering Dept in the Highlands – John Macdonald GM4XZN

At the meeting on 22nd February 2017 John Macdonald GM4XZN described his career – “1948-1968, 20 Years with the Post Office Engineering Dept in the Highlands” – with many photographs and amusing anecdotes. Click for Full Report with many photos. This talk was an update on the one that John gave on 10th November 2010 (click to link).
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9 Feb 2017 – VHF/UHF DX Book 2017 Replica Free Online

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…
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30 Jan 2017 – Silent Key – Bob McFarlane, S.O.E. Agent

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…

