Scottish Charity number SC045038
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LRS Messages of the Day:
LRS July Nets: Weds 8 July, 15 July – 20:00h – 144.350MHz SSB.
LRS Summer Pub Nights: Weds 8 July, 22 July, 29 July – 7:30pm – Wee Bennet’s Bar, Maxwell St, Morningside Stn.
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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LRS Barbecue POSTPONED from Wed 24th June. New date TBA ~ Aug.
Wed 9 Sept 2026 – Presidential Address – Andy Sinclair GM4LLD.
Wed 23rd 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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Sunday 25 Oct 2026 – Galashiels Rally
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Friday 14th August 2026 18:00 to 21:00 Cockenzie & Port Seton Junk Night, Port Seton Community Centre, South Seton Park Port Seton EH32 0BG
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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.
https://gmroundtable.org.uk/
One more speaker to present a microwave-related talk is still needed – contact Colin gm4hwo@gmail.com.Details will be available nearer the date.
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9 May – 30 Sept – Weds & Sats – MOC Exhibition 2026
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Friday 17 July 2026 – MOC Goudie lecture – The Pavek Museum of Electronic Communication, Minneapolis USA.
Our next Goudie Lecture will take place at 7.30 pm on Friday 17 July and is entitled The Pavek Museum of Electronic Communication, Minneapolis USA. It will be presented by the Museum’s Curartor, Dr Luis F. E. Souza, who is visiting Scotland for a conference in Edinburgh. The lecture is taking place on a Friday, as this is the only day available in Dr Souza’s busy schedule. Please see Events – Museum Of Communication for further information.The Pavek Museum has a similar background to the MoC, being started by Joseph Pavek [1908-1989] who was only slightly older than our own founder, Harry Matthews.To attend in person, please email enquiries@mocft.co.uk or REPLY ALL to this e-mail. Zoom access details will be sent to you about 10 days before the Lecture.
Attendance in person costs £5. Those viewing the lectures online are encouraged to make a voluntary donation of £5 in support of MoC activities via our web page at Shop – Museum Of Communication. We are a charitable organisation that relies entirely on donations for financial survival.Please be aware that our lectures are not recorded. There is therefore no catch-up facility.
CONTEST CALENDAR
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20-21 June 2026 – GM3HAM/P operated by Brian GM4DIJ in 50MHz Contest.
I’m out /P from IO74MU for the 50MHz Trophy. Today and tomorrow. 3pm till I get hungry, and 9am to 3pm tomorrow.
Fairly minimalist effort 300W to a 5 ele
Listen for GM3HAM/P . No postcode bonuses, only countries and squares -
3-5 July 2026 – VHF NFD 2026 participation by LRS is CANCELLED. Sadly, the key players in the LRS contest group have decided this event will need to be cancelled. The main reasons are lack of resources and transport at this time. Participation in the Sept 2026 VHF event is being discussed.
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The LRS operates GM3HAM/P from a great site near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries & Galloway.
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
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20-21 June 2026 – GM3HAM/P operated by Brian GM4DIJ in 50MHz Trophy contest from near Stranraer.
Brian operated from his usual location near Stoneykirk, SW of Stranraer. “The weather was good if a little warm. I did the 24Hour section, but split it into two sessions. Saturday 3pm till 7pm. This was set by the falling off of SpE and the need for dinner. Sunday was 8am to 3pm. The band was open via SpE to most of Europe , Italy, France, Spain etc, but I was failing to get replies to CQ and to work what were very loud stations. I think it was a combination of heavy QRM in Europe and my…
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11 June 2026 – US Army’s breakthrough sensor to pinpoint radio signals on battlefield
US Army develops ‘breakthrough’ Rubidium vapour cell quantum sensor to pinpoint radio signals on battlefields. See: https://interestingengineering.com/military/us-develops-breakthrough-sensor-for-battlefield
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RadCom June 2026 – LRS NARSA Rally Photo in RSGB RadCom
The LRS group photo taken at Pete GM4BYF’s table at the NARSA (Blackpool) Rally has been published in RSGB RadCom magazine, June 2026 issue, p.80.
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Sat 27 June 2026 – BBC closed Radio-4 198kHz LW Service at 01:00h BST.
The BBC closed its Radio-4 198kHz Long-Wave service from Droitwich, Burghead and Westerglen at 01:00h BST on Saturday 27th June 2026. It had operated since Sept 1934. The RSGB and the BBC Amateur Radio Group are planning to mark this event on the air. Click for info. Iain GM8LYQ reports: The transmitters are actually still running. They no longer carry BBC R4 programming, but are broadcasting a repeating message concerning the cessation of the R4 longwave service. The very last R4 item broadcast was the time signal (with the final pip truncated!). Peter GM4DTH reports that the 198kHz transmitters…
2. RECENT MEETINGS
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17 June 2026 – LRS AGM 2026
John Taylor GM4JRT (Treasurer), Andy Sinclair GM4LLD (President), Dr. Iain Coates GM1MSS… 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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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)
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13 June 2026 – Dell Monitor for Sale by Andy GM4LLD
Dell U2412M hires 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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26 Apr 2026 – Bencher BY-1 Dual Paddle for Sale by Andy GM4LLD.
Bencher BY-1 dual paddle key. Chrome mechanics on black base. Used and slightly worn but in very good condition otherwise. Pictures available on request. Price £125 or offer. Andy Sinclair GM4LLD (formerly MM0FMF
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10 Mar 2026 – For Sale: Sigma 2010 Skip Master 25-30MHz am/fm/ssb, fibreglass home base antenna
John GM4JRT has for sale this aerial a Sigma 2010 skip master 25-30MHz am/fm/ssb , fibreglass home base antenna , works well without an ATU on 10 m and 11m band I have the aerial at my QTH , photo attached – collection from QTH GM4HWO @ Liberton Sigma 2010 skip master 25-30MHhz am/fm/ssb , fibreglass home base antenna, power handling 1000 watts, length 5.48 m/ 18 feet, Gain 9.9 dB, impedance 50 ohms, frequency 25-30MHz (with tuning), construction fibreglass, swr 1:1.3, Mounting bracket pole, the sigma euro-comm ½ wave skip master 2010 is a high performance base station antenna.…
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29 Jan 2026 – Items for Sale by Norman MM0BMG (Reduced Prices).
Norman has reduced the prices of many of the items on his list: GM1CNH Equipment Sale Updated: 29 January 2026 Item Description Price Alinco HF Mobile Whip Antenna 2.7 m mobile whip; antenna mounting bracket and spring; adjustable vehicle mounting bracket; heavy duty; boxed. NEW – £150 Anritsu MT8820A Radio Communication Analyser 30 MHz to 2.7 GHz, spectrum analyser, 2G/3G mobile phone tester, output power, modulation, RF signal generation, £300 Badger Boards HF Antenna wideband folded dipole antenna with balun N(f) connector; heavy duty centre spacer; termination resistor; 1.5 MHz to 30 MHz; supplied with 2 x 50 ft antenna…
Lothians Radio Society activities – latest reports
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20 March 2015 – Solar Eclipse
Photos by Brian GM4DIJ of the near-total solar eclipse. See also: RSGB Eclipse Experiment yields data.
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25 March 2015 – Vector Network Analyzer – Brian Flynn GM8BJF
LRS member Brian Flynn GM8BJF talked about The Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) at the meeting of the LRS on Wed 25th March 2015. The club is now the proud owner of a 6GHz HP-8753C VNA thanks to the generosity of Norrie GM1CNH. Brian GM8BJF is the custodian and “minder” of the instrument. His talk covered the…
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Lecture – James Clerk Maxwell – Thursday 19 March 2015
Click for FULL-SIZE flier Although this lecture is free, seats must be reserved in advance by contacting Tom at: stevenson.roslin@talk21.com or 0131-440-3425
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11 March 2015 – Antenna Modelling – Brian Howie GM4DIJ
Brian Howie GM4DIJ talked about and demonstrated Antenna Modelling Software at the LRS meeting on 11th March 2015. Brian writes: “The design and building of antennas at one time required vast testing ranges with expensive equipment. Analysing and optimising antennas once took many hours of painstaking measurements, hand calculation (if you understood the maths) and…
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25 Feb 2015 – The Cloud – Andy Sinclair MM0FMF
The subject of the LRS meeting on 25th February was that mysterious place where we are told we shall be archiving all our digital “stuff” in the future. LRS President Andy Sinclair MM0FMF talked about The Cloud, what it is, why it’s used and whether it will rain all over your data. Not a simple…
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11 Feb 2015 – Using a VDA on a Scottish Beach – Malcolm Hamilton GM3TAL
Malcolm Hamilton GM3TAL talked about “Using a Vertical Dipole Array on a Scottish Beach” at the LRS meeting on Feb 11th. The vertical dipole array (VDA) has become the de facto antenna of choice for many DXpeditions to remote oceanic islands. The reasons why these antennas work well were discussed along with a brief review…
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28 Jan 2015 – Maritime Mobile off the West Coast – Geoff Crowley MM5AHO
Our good friend Geoff Crowley MM5AHO braved snowy roads on January 28th to talk about his Maritime Mobile adventures off the west coast of Scotland in 2014. Geoff, along with Mike Eccles, GM3PPE, and Matt Crowley MM1EUI, actually activated Little Cumbrae Lighthouse after having tried for 2 years in a row. Geoff and Matt then…
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21 Jan 2015 – LRS Video Night at ECVS
Aspidistra (from The Secret Wireless War) The first LRS meeting of 2015 was the annual Video Night, arranged and presented by Peter Dick GM4DTH. It was held on 21st January at the Edinburgh Cine & Video Society. 1. The main feature was:- The Secret Wireless War – Black Propaganda (Grindlewald Productions, 2002). 2. A9…
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New Video Section on Website – contributions invited
One of the exciting videos now available! A new section has been added to the LRS Archive area of this website providing links to YouTube videos of Lothians Radio Society activities and other Amateur Radio topics. We already have quite a number in both categories and will be adding more – there are lots of…
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10th Dec 2014 – LRS Christmas Curry – Himalaya Restaurant
Colin GM4HWO, Mike MM0MLB, Peter GM4DTH, Alan GM3PSP Sixteen LRS members and friends attended the LRS Christmas Curry on Wednesday 10th December 2014 at the Himalaya Tandoori Restaurant. Full photo report. Mike GM8KCS, Peter GM4DTH, Andre GM3VLB, Pete GM4BYF, Veronica XYL-VLB.
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26th Nov 2014 – From Dipoles to Hexbeams in African Locations – Nick Henwood G3RWF
At the LRS meeting on 26th November 2014 Nick Henwood G3RWF talked about “From Dipoles to Hexbeams in African Locations”. He started African DX-ing by getting the call sign 9L1NH in 1963 while on VSO in Sierra Leone. In the last nine years he has been on the air from Africa on 23 occasions. He…
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Visit by Eddie DU1EV – Past President of Philippines ARA – 6th Nov 2014
Thanks to communications from George GM4COK / DU1GM in the Philippines, we entertained Eddie Valdez DU1EV, Past-President of the Philippines Amateur Radio Association and his XYL Karen DW1SMK to an informal dinner in the Toby Carvery in Corstorphine on Nov 6th. Several members of the LRS and Lothians RAYNET were present. Eddie told us about…