Scottish Charity number SC045038
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LRS Messages of the Day:
Wed 11 Nov 2026 – 7:30PM – LRS Open Meeting – Need to book your place – The end of the 198kHz Radio 4 long wave service – Mark Hughes GM4ISM
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 Gathering Bar at 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.
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28 Oct 2026 – Blood Bikes Scotland by Phil Dodsworth & John Taylor GM3JRT
Blood Bikes Scotland (BBS) is a fully volunteer-run and donation-funded charity that provides a completely no cost courier service to 5 NHS Scotland Health Boards in Lothians, Borders, Fife, Central, and Tayside. BBS use both motorcycles and cars to move a variety of essential items 7 days a week, including: medicines and controlled drugs, tissue and blood samples, prescriptions, clerical and medical documents, medical equipments, and, occasionally, blood.
The alternative courier services cost the NHS precious funds and BBS has saved NHS Scotland over £450,000 in courier costs in the last 12 months.
Phil Dodsworth, a Trustee with BBS, will be giving a presentation all about BBS and how it functions. Our own Treasurer John GM4JRT also volunteers with BBS and will be on hand to answer any specific questions LRS members might have.
More information can be found on the Blood Bikes Scotland website: <https://bloodbikesscotland.
org/>28 Oct 2026 –
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. GMRT-2026 is now FULLY-BOOKED – all 50 places sold. WAITING LIST – Contact Colin GM4HWO. https://gmroundtable.org.uk/
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
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25 Oct 2026 – Galashiels Rally
LRS members visited the Gala Rally, enjoying the Storm Boelo winds on the way down. LRS attendees included Jack GM1CQC, Iain GM1MSS, Pete GM4BYF, Colin GM4EAU, Colin GM4HWO and Brian GM8BJF. Among the people present was our good friend Chris Tran GM3WOJ from Tain. Photos by Colin GM4HWO: Entrance to the rally in the Volunteer Hall, Galashiels. The rally hall. The rally hall. Captain Birdseye. Bring & Buy Stall. Pete GM4BYF’s table. Chris GM3WOJ (all the way from Tain). Jack GM1CQC. LRS Secretary Iain GM1MSS & Colin GM4EAU. Brian…
2. RECENT MEETINGS
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28 Oct 2026 – Blood Bikers Scotland by Phil Dodsworth
Blood Bikers Scotland (BBS) is a fully volunteer-run and donation-funded charity that… 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
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13 June 2026 Dell Monitor for sale by Andy GM4LLD.
Dell U2412M hi-res 1920 x 1200 LCD monitor Adjustable stand DisplayPort, DVI & VGA inputs 1920 x 1200 WUXGA resolution 4 port USB2 hub. Mains lead Very good condition, no screen blemishes. £35 Andy GM4LLD.
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28 June 2026 – Corsair CV450 modern PC PSU – for sale by Andy GM4LLD
Corsair CV450 modern PC PSU. Comes from my son’s PC as he has just updated with some new GPU that needs a bigger PSU. No box but clean and working. £20 Andy GM4LLD (ex-MM0FMF)
Lothians Radio Society activities – latest reports
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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…
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8 Feb 2017 – James Clerk Maxwell – Prof. Tom Stevenson, MoC
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…