Scottish Charity number SC045038
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LRS Messages of the Day:
Sun 25 Oct 2026 – Galashiels Rally – photos by Colin GM4HWO – see Radio News Items. Wed 28 Oct 2026 – LRS at BHH – Blood Bikes Scotland – Phil Dodsworth & John Taylor Wed 11 Nov 2026 – 7:30PM – 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
There are no posts in category “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
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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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11 April 2015 – LRS Members Win RSGB Awards
Chris Grierson GM4YLN & John Gould G3WKL. At the GMDX Convention at Bannockburn on 11th April 2015, RSGB President Dr. John Gould G3WKL presented trophies to two LRS members and one close friend of the LRS. Congratulations to them all. Chris Grierson GM4YLN received the RSGB Jack Wylie Trophy as the outstanding Scottish station…
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27 May 2015 – D/F Hunt with fox Peter Dick GM4DTH
L-R: GM8KCS, GM4HYR, GM3TAL, GM4DTH, GM8OTI, GM3PSP, GM4WZG. The annual LRS Direction-Finding Contest (D/F Hunt) was held on 27th May 2015 with a new start point on Braid Hills Road, next to the entrance to the Braids Golf Course to avoid the high level of noise experienced last year outside the Braid Hills Hotel. Peter…
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12 May 2015 – Brian Flynn GM8BJF Article in RadCom.plus Opening Issue
Congratulations to LRS member Brian Flynn whose article “A Versatile PLL PC Board Design – for Applications from HF to Microwaves” is published in the opening issue of the new RSGB publication RadCom.plus. This is available online only, and only to RSGB members. (There’s a moral there somewhere)! Brian’s circuit provides accurate, stable frequency sources in…
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8 May 2015 – 10GHz GM8FFX/B Beacon Built & Installed by Brian Flynn GM8BJF
The GM8FFX/B hardware. LRS member Brian Flynn GM8BJF has built and installed a second personal beacon on 10GHz in less than a year. The first was GM3WOJ/B on 10368.400MHz at the QTH of Chris Tran GM3WOJ at Lamington near Invergordon at IO77ws, installed in June 2014 and described in an earlier article. This beacon is almost…
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2/3 May 2015 – GM3HAM/P in Microwave Trophy at Gatehouse of Fleet
Brian GM8BJF and Alan GM0USI A “compact” team of Brian GM8BJF (operator of GM3HAM/P) and Alan GM3PSP (chief cook / genny operator / photographer) were joined by Alan Dimmick GM0USI (operator) from Glasgow at our site near Gatehouse of Fleet for the Microwave Trophy on 2nd May 2015. Seven QSOs were made on 10GHz on…
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13 May 2015 – Film Soundtrack Technologies – Alan Masson GM3PSP
Photo by Melvyn GM4HYR. At the meeting of the LRS on 13th May 2015, Alan Masson GM3PSP traced the history of film sound tracks from the first sound-on-disc systems such as Vitaphone, used for The Jazz Singer in 1927, through analog sound-on-film systems including dye-only tracks, to the digital systems used latterly on film release prints. …
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22 April 2015 – DXpeditions to Tonga & Micronesia – Chris Tran GM3WOJ
Keith Kerr GM4YXI/GM5X & Chris Tran GM3WOJ/GM2V in Chuuk, Micronesia, April 2015 (It’s tough, but somebody’s got to do it)! Well-known Scottish DXer Chris Tran GM3WOJ talked about his DXpeditions to Tonga in 2014 and Micronesia in 2015 (just back!) at the meeting of the LRS on 22nd April 2015. In April 2014, Chris Tran GM3WOJ/GM2V travelled…
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8 April 2015 – Spring 2015 Surplus Equipment Sale
The Spring 2015 Surplus Equipment Sale was held on 8th April at St Fillan’s Church. The sale items included this HF loop antenna brought by Ian GM3VEI, Dunbar. Photo report.
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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…