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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" - the 'Scottish Crystals' were the lumps of galena which allowed an 11-year old lad on the shores of Loch Lomond to detect the then Scottish Home Service 18 miles away, and eventually to become an active radio ham in Kenya, which had then just recently gained independence from its colonial masters. With my first licence - 5Z4KL - I became instantly 'rare DX', but when not looking for a "new one", there were unlimited opportunities to operate /P and /M. To understand the reference to 'Tanzanian Gemstones', you'll just have to come to the talk! Veronica and I look forward to meeting up with old friends again on the 11th...Vy 73 de André, GM3VLB."
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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 in 1978 John wanted to get into microwaves. After returning to the hobby a few years ago he's finally got there. John wants to convince others that building microwave equipment is nowhere near as difficult as some people like to make it sound! Report in Meeting Reports.
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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 of BBC radio programmes of that era. Report with photographs in Meeting Reports, including some nice stills from the film material.
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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 first mid-latitude signals appeared. But the real opening started around 13:00 UTC when signals became strong within a few minutes. Around 16:30 signals dropped and faded away.
On Saturday March 10th another Flare and CME occurred from region 11429, so keep your eyes and ears open for another Aurora on Saturday evening or Sunday. And yet another one due March 12th at 1803 UT (+/- 7 hr).
12:57 GM4VVX IO74TA 40
14:24 G0PQO IO92UA 40
14:28 ON7EH JO20FU 50
14:32 GW4WND IO82FM 50
14:34 PA4EME JO20WX 60
14:37 DL6YEH JO32VA 60
14:38 ON4PS JO20KQ 60
14:40 G4RRA IO80BS 60
14:42 DL6YBF JO31OX 60
14:43 G0CUZ IO82WM 60
14:51 OR0A JO20KW 60
14:53 F5SE/P JN19XH 60
14:55 G4IDR IO93BP 60
15:16 F6DKW JN18CS 60
15:19 G3WZT IO90UX 60
15:32 G4ZTR JO01KW 60
15:46 EI4DQ IO51WU 40
15:51 G3LVP IO81VK 60
15:56 F6DWG/P JN19A 60
16:03 G4DEZ JO03AE 40
16:20 G7RAU IO90IR 40
QTF's are influenced by local hill - best direction is often 60 degrees
Tried with GM4CXM on 432MHZ but nothing heard.
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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 configurations). Finally he advised on how to choose "good" ones for conversion. Short report in Meeting Reports. Full Powerpoint presentation on Brian's Website.
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