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Malcolm Hamilton GM3TAL talked about "Using a Vertical Dipole Array on a Scottish Beach"

at the LRS meeting on Feb 11th.

The vertical dipole array (VDA) has become the de facto antenna of choice for many DXpeditions to remote oceanic islands. The reasons why these antennas work well were discussed along with a brief review of the way that 2 element arrays operate.

Malcolm wanted to discover whether the VDA would work in other locations and to understand at first-hand what is needed in practice for successful operation. He described the practical construction and use of VDA antennas with Nick Henwood G3RWF (shortly after his talk to the LRS on Nov 26th) on the shores of Loch Fyne during the CQWW contest in November 2014. Malcolm reported on the outcome and offered hints for others who might be tempted to use this interesting antenna.

In January 2022, Malcolm gave Part 2 of this talk, describing another expedition to Loch Fyne with Nick Henwood G3RWF for the CQWW Contest in 2021. Click for report.

The following is a selection of Malcolm's slides, with his kind permission.

 

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In prep - psp.

The subject of the LRS meeting on 25th February was that mysterious place where we are told we shall be archiving all our digital "stuff" in the future. LRS President Andy Sinclair MM0FMF talked about The Cloud, what it is, why it's used and whether it will rain all over your data. Not a simple subject!

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Brian Howie GM4DIJ talked about and demonstrated Antenna Modelling Software at the LRS meeting on 11th March 2015. Brian has always been particularly interested in VHF / UHF radio and has designed and built most of his antennas, including a number which have been used at VHF NFD with the LRS.

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 modifications with no real guarantee of success.

The advent of powerful home computers and cheap or even free software means that all this is in the past and radio amateurs can now confidently design  and build their own antennas as well as the professionals do.

Modern software allows you to determine the pattern, feed point impedance and even the SWR of your antenna system before committing to cutting metal or hoisting wires, avoiding expensive or time consuming mistakes". 

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LRS member Brian Flynn GM8BJF talked about The Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) at the meeting of the LRS on Wednesday 25th March 2015. 

The club is now the proud owner of a 6GHz VNA thanks to the generosity of Norrie GM1CNH. The instrument is an HP8753C with the 6GHz option.

Brian GM8BJF is the custodian of the instrument and serves as its "minder". 

 

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The LRS Spring 2015 Surplus Equipment Sale was held as usual at St Fillans Church on 8th April. 

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In prep - PSP

The LRS welcomed Chris Tran, GM3WOJ / GM2V to the meeting on 22 April 2015. As well as being the keeper of the GM3WOJ 10GHz beacon, Chris is an intrepid HF DXer and traveller.

In April 2014, Chris travelled to Tonga with Keith Kerr GM4YXI/GM5X to activate A35V and A35X respectively. They made 30000 QSOs in a 2-week period.

In April 2015, Chris and Keith travelled to Chuuk in Micronesia to activate V6Z, making 22600 QSOs in 10 days. They encountered extreme weather in the form of Typhoon Maysak which destroyed some of their antennas, followed by a Tsunami warning. 

Thanks to Chris for the use of his slides in this report and to Malcolm GM3TAL for photos and notes - psp.

See also: www.v6z2015.com for a day-to-day report on the 2015 Micronesia DXpedition.

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At the meeting of the LRS on 13th May 2015 Alan Masson GM3PSP traced the history of motion picture 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.

A chemistry graduate, Alan spent his entire career with Kodak Motion Picture Division, working in the UK, Europe and the USA (Rochester NY and Hollywood CA). His background in Amateur Radio was very useful in a number of projects involving film sound tracks.  

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LOTHIANS RADIO SOCIETY – ANNUAL DIRECTION-FINDING COMPETITION

 

Information for 2015 D/F Hunt – NOTE CHANGE OF START POINT

 

The LRS D/F Hunt will take place on Wednesday 27th May 2015. Start time is 7.30pm sharp. This year the start point has been changed to try to avoid the high noise level experienced last year near the Braid Hills Hotel. Members wishing to take part are advised to be on Braid Hills Road at the sign for Braids Golf Course (junction with Braid Hills Ave / Braid Hills Approach / Braid Mount (NT-246698) no later than 7.20pm, although this is not essential - some entrants choose to start from elsewhere. There is always room for those not equipped with receivers to join up with members who are so-equipped. The "Fox" will be located somewhere within the City boundary and participants should be equipped with a map and the necessary equipment to draw out bearings. The Fox will transmit using the callsign GM3HAM/P for 5 minutes-on / 5 minutes-off periods starting promptly at 7.30 pm. The frequency will be 1.875 MHz with an amplitude modulated tone being broadcast plus voice identification at the start and end of each period of transmitting. Operation will cease at about 9.30pm and an informal gathering will occur at a pub close to the Fox's location which will be announced at that time. 

 

Participants are advised to be equipped with a mobile phone. A coordinator will be available at the start to provide the mobile number of the fox station (Peter GM4DTH) and to register the participants’ mobile numbers so that in the event of them not locating the Fox, they can request clues regarding the location of the Fox station (or the pub)! Each clue provided will incur a penalty of 20 minutes. Test signals similar to those of the Fox on 1.875 MHz can be provided if requested well  in advance - contact Peter GM4DTH to arrange.

  1. 27 May 2015 - D/F Hunt with fox Peter Dick GM4DTH.
  2. 8/22 July & 12/25 August 2015 - Summer Pub Nights