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 BBC 198kHz Radio 4 long wave service – Mark Hughes GM4ISM. Note that this meeting will be held in the Buckstone Bar, next to the Braid Hills Hotel, if the current maintenance work on the Gathering Bar is not completed.
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.
LOCATION: if the current maintenance work in the Gathering Bar at the rear of the Braid Hills Hotel is not complete, this meeting will be held 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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8 June 2014 – Judith Abseils from Forth Bridge in Memory of OM Brian Wilson MM0WZB-SK
Judith Wilson and her daughter Jackie abseiled from the Forth Bridge on Sunday 8th June 2014 to raise funds for MyelomaUK in memory of her husband, LRS member Dr Brian Wilson MM0WZB, who died of myeloma in February 2013. So far they have raised over £2,000 including several donations from LRS members. It is not too…
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Wed 25 June 2014 – LRS Summer Barbecue
The Lothians Radio Society annual Summer Barbecue was held on Wednesday 25th June 2014 at the QTH of Pete GM4BYF and Kay Bates GM6KAY. The weather was kind to us and the midges were fewer and appeared later in the evening than last year! Among our guests we were very pleased to welcome top Swedish…
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11 June 2014 – Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the Lothians Radio Society was held on Wed 11 June 2014 at the Braid Hills Hotel. Summary: The application for Charitable Status and the new LRS Constitution were approved. The following office bearers were elected: Chairman: Andy Sinclair MM0FMF Hon Secretary: Alan Masson GM3PSP Hon Treasurer: Peter Dick GM4DTH Committee…
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28 May 2014 – 3DA0SS – DX from Swaziland by GM3TAL
3DA0SS – DX from Swaziland was the title of the talk by LRS member Malcolm Hamilton GM3TAL / 3DA0MH on 28th May 2014 at the Braid Hills Hotel. In addition to operating the DXpedition, Malcolm and Sue also visited the Swazi Scouts International Campsite and the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The international group of 6 operators…
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2-4 May 2014 – Microwave Trophy
The Lothians Radio Society again participated in the RSGB Microwave Trophy Contest on 3-4 May 2014 from our usual site in the hills near Gatehouse of Fleet in Kirkcudbrightshire. We were equipped for all bands from 432 MHz to 24 GHz. On the Sunday the weather deteriorated, turning the field into a quagmire (in the…
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14 May 2014 – D/F Hunt
The annual LRS Direction-Finding Contest (D/F Hunt) was held on 14th May starting outside the Braid Hills Hotel on Braid Road at 19:30. Peter Dick GM4DTH was the Fox station, transmitting on 1875kHz. His location was on Corstorphine Hill. The winner was Melvyn Bond GM4HYR at 20:46 and 2nd was Brian Howie GM4DIJ at 20:50.…
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23 April 2014 – Low-Cost Microwaves & WSPR
LRS members and guests had a very interesting evening on 23rd March when there were not one but two talks, from two different Brians: 1. “Low Cost Microwaves” by Brian Flynn GM8BJF Brian described how to get up and running receiving 10GHz signals using consumer electronic devices at low cost ~£20 and without any metalwork…
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9 Apr 2014 – LRS Spring Surplus Equipment Sale
Pete GM4BYF examines some of the hot items available at the surplus sale. The LRS Spring Surplus Equipment Sale was held on 9th April 2014 at St Fillans Church, Buckstone Drive. There was a good assortment of radio and computer gear, oscilloscopes and function generators, plus a raffle for “bottles” of various types (mostly with…
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26 March 2014 – A Dip into the RSGB Archives – Alan Masson GM3PSP
At the meeting of the LRS held on 26th March 2014 LRS Secretary Alan Masson GM3PSP presented “A Dip into the RSGB Archives” consisting of two Powerpoint presentations prepared by Elaine Richards G4LFM of RSGB HQ. These were “A Membership in Service to Their Country” a record of RSGB members’ contributions to WWI & WWII,…
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12 March 2014 – Astronomical Radio Sources – John Cooke GM8OTI
Image courtesy NRAO/AUI At the meeting of the LRS on 12th March 2014 LRS Past-President John Cooke GM8OTI gave a very comprehensive talk about Astronomical Radio Sources. John was an astronomer in his working life (though not a radio astronomer!) and described how the Universe is seen using radio waves. This included an outline of…
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26 Feb 2014 – SOE Radio Operations in WWII – Bob McFarlane
At the meeting of the LRS on 26th February 2014 we had the rare opportunity to hear an actual operator with the Special Operations Executive (SOE) describe his experiences 70 years ago during WWII. André Saunders GM3VLB introduced Bob McFarlane, who outlined the background, training and radios used by the SOE and then described his experiences in…
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12 Feb 2014 – Whither Windows XP? – Andy Sinclair MM0FMF
(Logo courtesy Microsoft Corp.) In light of the imminent loss of support by Microsoft for the Windows XP operating system from May of this year, LRS President Andy Sinclair MM0FMF (who knows a thing or two about computers) gave a timely talk “Whither Windows XP” at the LRS meeting on 12th February. Andy wrote: “I…