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John Macdonald GM4XZN described his career in the Post Office Engineering Department in the Scottish Highlands at the LRS meeting on 22 February 2017 at the Braid Hills Hotel. He used many slides and anecdotes to provide very enjoyable evening for LRS members. The following is a selection of his slides to illustrate his working environment (on sunny days)! John has a fine collection of DX QSL cards in his shack in Currie, Midlothian. He has also been an active member of Lothians RAYNET. This talk was an update on one that John gave on 10 November 2010. Click for report.

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Our good friend Prof Tom Stevenson, Chairman of the Museum of Communication in Burntisland, presented "James Clerk Maxwell" with musical interludes at the LRS meeting on 8th February 2017 at the Braid Hills Hotel.

Tom expressed his thanks to  Andy and Flora Munro for their contributions to the music CD which was played at many places during the presentation. Andy was responsible for setting JCM's poems to music and for the musical arrangements. 

The titles of the poems include the one that is sung to the 'Air of Lorelei', 'Valentine to a Telegraph Clerk', and 'I've heard the Rushing'.  

The song James Clerk Maxwell is available on this site: CLICK.

All of Maxwell's poems are available at: https://www.poemhunter.com/james-clerk-maxwell/poems/

The CD is available from the Orkney Science Festival website at:
 

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The meeting of the LRS on 25th January 2017 was a talk on "How Theo Williamson's Amplifier Changed the Sound of Music" which was given by Prof Joe McGeough (above), a former Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, and who knew Williamson in his later years..

The Williamson amplifier refers to a type of valve audio amplifier whose circuit design used the same principles as a design published in Wireless World in 1947 by Theo Williamson (1923-92) of Edinburgh. He proposed the standard which became generally accepted as the target figure for high-quality audio power amplifiers - for less than 0.1% total harmonic distortion at full rated power output.

Theo Williamson photo courtesy The Scotsman.  See link to article at bottom of report.

The amplifier was one of many achievements by Williamson who failed to gain a degree at Edinburgh University by his inability to pass his Maths-1 exam after four attempts!  Joe's talk was a fascinating biography of Theo Williamson and his many achievements, leading to the award of a Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1968.

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The annual LRS Video Evening was presented by Peter Dick GM4DTH on 11th January 2017 at the Edinburgh Video Society, and was enjoyed by all present.

Before the main feature, The Dish, Pete GM4BYF: gave a very useful description of the radio communications used for the Lunar Landing including the role of the Parkes Dish in New South Wales, Australia.

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LRS Secy Mike MM0MLB, Kay GM6KAY & OM Pete GM4BYF, Marwyn XYL-GM8OTI & Prez. Andy MM0FMF,

The LRS Annual Christmas Curry was held as usual at the Himalaya Tandoori Restaurant in Bruntsfield Place on 14th December 2016. 15 attended this merry event. Photos by GM3PSP & GM4DTH.

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At the meeting of the LRS on 23rd November 2016 Malcolm Hamilton GM3TAL talked about 'Valves, Tubes and Bottles', and invited members to tell of their own favourite valves. 

The development of the thermionic valve drove the advance of radio and electronics in the last century. Despite the stunning achievements of silicon device technology, valves are still the preferred solution for some challenging applications in amateur and professional radio systems, especially in transmitters. 

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Charlie Duncan of Lothians RAYNET and Stan Frey described the FEEDNET emergency communications system which is installed in the Firth of Forth area. Also present was LRS member Bernie McIntosh who was a leading technical contributor to this project.

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James Gentles GM4WZP made a very welcome return to the LRS on 26th October to present Aerial Photography. In James's last talk, on 23 January 2013, he described Kite Aerial Photography (click for report). Technology has advanced greatly in just 3 years, with drones now available to provide much greater flexibility and capability. This report consists of shots of the many cameras he has used and some of the beautiful photographs he has taken that would be virtually impossible by any other means.

See also James's website Gentles Limited.

  1. 19 Oct 2016 - Autumn Surplus Equipment Sale
  2. 28 Sep 2016 - Hawkcraig Anti-Submarine Research Station in WWI - Diana Maxwell
  3. 22 March 2017 - RADAR - Jim Forbes