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
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9 Sept 2026 – New LRS Projector.
The club’s new Epson projector was in action for the first time for the 2026 Presidential Address and impressed all present with its outstanding brightness and sharpness.
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7 Sept 2026 – Attempt to save Parton Kirk where James Clerk Maxwell is buried.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9v9e080n78o https://donate.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/savepartonkirk/donation-amount Andy GM4LLD (ex-MM0FMF)
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5-6 Sept 2026 GM3HAM/P operated by Brian GM4DIJ in RSGB 2m Trophy.
Brian GM4DIJ single-handedly operated GM3HAM/P for the LRS from his favourite site at IO74MU near Stranraer in Dumfries & Galloway. Tx/Rx = IC9700+SSPA. Power 1000W. Ant 17 ele Tonna @5magl, 89m ASL QSOs 145. Points 54591. ODX HB9TTY JN46BX 1265 km. Position 6th overall in Claimed Scores. Most of my contacts were on Saturday, but much better conditions on Sunday. It was very windy on Sunday and I had noise from nearby wind turbines. The rain stayed away. The antenna was looking a bit scary towards the end, so I packed-in a little bit early. I got…
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5 Sept 2026 – Beetlejuice by Bill Dent (GM8RBT)
Click for deta
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26 Aug 2026 – Pub Night at Wee Bennet’s Bar with guest Dave VE3KG.
We had a great turn-out of about a dozen members and one guest at the Pub Night on 26th August 2026 at Wee Bennet’s Bar at Morningside Station. Also one canine – GM4JRT/K9. We were delighted to welcome Canadian guest, Dave Goodwin VE3KG from Smiths Falls, Ontario. As well as his Canadian call, Dave also holds the rather interesting UK call GM3AAA. He sat and passed all three levels of RAE exams and chose the re-issued UK call GM3AAA which was originally issued as the first UK call after WW2.
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
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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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UHF-Microwave Contest – 5th-6th May 2012
The GM3HAM/P UHF-Microwave Contesters 2012 planning strategy in the Gatehouse Conference Centre (aka the Masonic Arms) Last weekend, 5th – 6th May 2012, members of the GM3HAM/P Contest Group of the Lothians Radio Society again took part in the RSGB UHF-Microwave Contest. Our location was on a hilltop above Gatehouse of Fleet in Kirkcudbrightshire where we have operated…
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Wed 9th May 2012 – ZK2V DXpedition by Chris Tran ZL1CT / GM3WOJ
The ZK2V QTH (Photo courtesy GM3WOJ / ZL1CT) At the meeting of the Lothians Radio Society on Wednesday 9th May 2012, well-known Scottish DXer Chris Tran ZL1CT / GM3WOJ described his single-operator DXpedition to the island of Niue (OC-040) in the South Pacific from 21st October to 20th December 2011. Using the callsign ZK2V Chris made 35,686 QSOs from this rare…
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Wed 25th April 2012 – DXCC, LOTW & 7Q7GM Malawi DXpedition by Rob GM3YTS
Rob Ferguson GM3YTS (photo courtesy QRZ.com) At the meeting of the Lothians Radio Society on 25th April 2012 Rob Ferguson GM3YTS, dedicated DXer and well-known as the Chairman of the GMDX Group, talked about the ARRL DX Century Club award (DXCC) and ARRL Logbook of the World (LOTW), the on-line system for QSLing contacts. As a bonus, Rob also described his DXpedition to…
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Wed 11th April 2012 – Radioactivating East Africa in the 1960s / 70s by Andre GM3VLB
Andre’s first QSL card as 5Z5KL in Kenya At the meeting of the Lothians Radio Society on 11th April 2012 Andre Saunders GM3VLB talked about “Radioactivating East Africa in the 1960s/70s”. Andre was accompanied by his wife, Veronica, who acted as projectionist. Report here. Andre says: “The alternative title to my talk might be “From Scottish Crystals to Tanzanian Gemstones”…
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Wed 28th March 2012 – Homebrew Microwave Construction by John Cooke GM8OTI
John GM8OTI and his homebrew 23cm & 13cm transverters and yagis At the meeting of the LRS on 28th March 2012 LRS Past-President Dr. John Cooke GM8OTI talked about “Homebrew Microwave Construction”. John is an avid SOTA operator and has designed and constructed all his lightweight portable equipment, progressively moving up in frequency band, now on 13cm. When first licensed…
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9th March 2012 Aurora Summary by GM4BYF
The double CME eruption of March 7th produced a complicated magnetic situation. Most likely both CMEs “ate” each other (hence weakening the strength of the magnetic field BZ). Only the latter part finally produced some aurora, but not as strong as it might have been. Finally the BZ turned south and around 12:00 UTC the…
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Wed 14th March 2012 – WWII Utility Radios by Colin GM4HWO & Peter GM4DTH
Colin GM4HWO & Peter GM4DTH after their presentation. At a most enjoyable meeting of the LRS on 14th March Colin Wright GM4HWO described the “Utility Radios” that were manufactured by a number of companies as affordable broadcast receivers for the home during World War II. Then Peter Dick GM4DTH showed film footage of broadcasting during the war and played a selection of recordings…
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22nd Feb 2012 – Modifying PC PSUs for Radio Use by Brian Flynn GM8BJF
GM8BJF measuring voltage on a modified PC PSU At the meeting of the Lothians Radio Society on 22nd February LRS member Dr. Brian Flynn GM8BJF described how to modify computer power supply units for use in Amateur Radio. The talk started off with a description of the operation of SMPS – Switch-Mode Power Supplies – and an explanation of the commonly used topologies (circuit…
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Wed 8th Feb 2012 – Aurora Explained by Dr. David Gavine
At the meeting of the Lothians Radio Society on Wednesday February 8th Dr. David Gavine talked on “Aurora Explained” – how it is caused by disturbances on the Sun, what it looks like & how it was “explained” in the past, with plenty of illustrations. Dr Gavine is retired from teaching astro-navigation and meteorology at Leith Nautical College (where Colin Wright…
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(Photo by GM3PSP) A Happy New Year to all our readers! We look forward to welcoming you to the meetings of the Lothians Radio Society in 2012. The LRS has an excellent programme of technical presentations on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at the Braid Hills Hotel – see This Year’s Programme.
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Wed 11th Jan 2012 – Video Evening – ‘The Spies Who Lost the Battle of Britain’
CHL – Chain Home Low radar installation The first meeting of the LRS in 2012 was the Video Evening on Wednesday 11th January. Peter Dick GM4DTH presented The Spies Who Lost the Battle of Britain, the story of British Radar and how the Germans nearly discovered it, a documentary about the Chain-Home radar system. This was followed by RDF…
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Wed 25th Jan 2012 – International Lighthouses Weekend 2011 by Geoff Crowley MM5AHO
Approaching Skerryvore Lighthouse Geoff Crowley MM5AHO described and showed video footage shot by his son Matt MM1EUI of their participation in the International Lighthouses & Lightships Weekend in August 2011. They sailed from Oban to Skerryvore and several other lighthouses. They did some exploration and research into the building of these Stevenson lighthouses. The presentation covered the construction of the Skerryvore and Dubh…