Scottish Charity number SC045038
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LRS Messages of the Day:
22 Oct 2026 – HP Computer Monitor for sale by Colin GM4HWO – see Items for Sale. Sun 25 Oct 2026 – Galashiels Rally – 11:15am – Volunteer Hall, Galashiels. 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/
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Sun 25 Oct 2026 – Galashiels Rally
11:15 am – Volunteer Hall, Galashiels.
See: Galashiels and District Amateur Radio Society (GDARS) GM4YEQ
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
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
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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10 Apr 2011 – Cockenzie Quaich Presented to LRS at Norbreck Rally
At least ten members of the Lothians Radio Society attended the Norbreck Rally in Blackpool on 10 April 2011. Thanks to persistent lobbying by Colin GM4HWO and Brian GM4DIJ the RSGB agreed that the Cockenzie Quaich would be presented to the LRS at this event for our success in winning Top Scottish Club in the…
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Summits On The Air – UHF Fun Day – 27 March 2011
On Sunday 27 March Summits On The Air (SOTA) enthusiasts organised an informal “UHF fun day” with the aim of getting activators on summits with 70cm and up stations. LRS members Andy MM0FMF (the GM Region Manager for SOTA), and John GM8OTI were up the summits Hart Fell (SOTA reference GM/SS-037), north of Moffat, and…
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Report – GM8OTI on 50 MHz UKAC
LRS Chairman John GM8OTI had a go at the RSGB 50 MHz UK Activity Contest on Tuesday evening, 22nd March. He says that his home QTH is not good (in south Edinburgh, RF noise all around, and the Pentland Hills to the south) but he got his 3-element homebrew yagi up at 12m on a…
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13 Apr 2011 – LRS Spring Junk Sale
The Lothians Spring Junk Sale was held on Wednesday, April 13th at St Fillans Church Hall. L-R: Norrie GM1CNH auctions as Colin GM4HWO, Jack GM1CQC and Andy MM0FMF watch. Many visitors from other clubs joined LRS members to pick up bargains, including a strong contingent from the Livingston club. A selection of photographs can be viewed…
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23 Mar 2011 – Operating VP8AQA from Antarctica
At the LRS meeting on 23rd March 2010 Dave Burke GM6SZJ talked about “Operating VP8AQA from Faraday Base, Antarctica” and showed many slides of his three years there. Dave was electrician / boatman at Faraday Base from 1981 till 1984 with the British Antarctic Survey. He also doubled up as relief radio operator (presumably when not working the DX…
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Japan Earthquake – Emergency HF Frequencies to Avoid
Lothians RAYNET has advised us of the following: HF frequencies are now known to be in use by Japanese amateurs as part of their emergency response: 7043 kHz SSB: controlled by JR3QHQ the Osaka branch manager of JARL He is gathering incident information on radio and forwarding this information onto the internet.7075 kHz SSB: Operated…
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Congratulations to Vic GM3OWU.
Congratulations to LRS member Vic Stewart GM3OWU who received his licence exactly 50 years ago and has remained active on the air ever since. Vic was presented with a birthday cake and bubbly libations at a recent meeting of the RAYNET Lothians Group of which he was the Controller for many years.
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Foundation Level Licence Examination at Livingston on 12th April 2011
The Livingston & District Amateur Radio Society LaDARS will be holding a foundation level licence examination at the Crofthead Farm Community Education Centre, Livingston on Tuesday 12th April 2011 at 7:30 pm. Candidates must register by TODAY, 29th March at the very latest. The examination fee is £38 (£36 for LaDARS members). For more information, go to: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/ms0liv/…
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9 Mar 2011 – Beginner’s Guide to 23cm & 70cm – Ray James GM4CXM
Ray James GM4CXM from Bearsden presented a very interesting and comprehensive talk, “A Beginner’s Guide to DXing & Contesting on 23cm & 70cm” on 9th March. Ray’s talk provided an overview of radio equipment, feeders, antennas and the use of modern web-based attributes in order to maximize your results. Propagation modes including aircraft reflection, meteor scatter…
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23 Feb 2011 – Circuit & System Technologies, by Dr Roger Hill, MBE
At the LRS meeting on 23rd February we welcomed back Dr Roger Hill MBE who talked about “Circuit & System Technologies”. Roger has also made a number of very interesting presentations on cutting-edge technologies in previous years. Dr Roger Hill, MBE A full report with photographs is posted in Meeting Reports.
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Items For Sale
Tonna VHF Antennas For Sale. All have been in storage for the last 10 years and are complete. 6m 5 ele Yagi2m 9 ele Yagi2m 13 ele Yagi I worked a lot of DX on them in a previous life but I have no room for them any more. Sensible offers please. Andy MM0FMF lrs_secretary@moosedata.com…
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9 Feb 2011 – RSGB National Amateur Radio Centre by Angus Annan MM1CCR
At the LRS meeting on Wednesday 9th February we were privileged to have a presentation from RSGB Past-President Angus Annan MM1CCR on the new RSGB National Amateur Radio Centre which is currently under construction and fitting-out at Bletchley Park and scheduled to open on 18 April 2011. A full report is posted in the Meeting Reports section. Angus Annan…