The West of Scotland Amateur Radio Society — WELCOME
The news headlines:
GB2RS News Script – HERE .
NEWS
We start with news of an unusual on-the-air tribute. Dave Cossar, GM3WIL became a Silent Key on 4 April following an unexpected heart attack. The present lockdown rules prevent most people from attending memorial gatherings so, to coincide with Dave’s cremation, 30 local amateurs went on the air to pay their last respects and say a few personal words. Dave was a DXCC Honor Roll member, had held a number of distance records for microwave transmissions, was active in ARDF and, along with Roy, GM4VKI, was the face of the G-QRP club at rallies in Scotland and northern England.
CLUB NEWS
Glenrothes and District Radio Club has open nets on Monday to Saturday at 10am on 3.790MHz. Tuesday and Thursday see Morse classes from 7.20pm on 145.425MHz. Contact Tam on 0775 352 6498.
On Monday Edinburgh and District Amateur Radio club has its net. Contact Norman, GM1CNH, on 0774 094 6192.
Lothians Radio Society will be holding a net on 144.350MHz SSB at 8pm on Wednesday. All are welcome to join in. For further information please contact Andy by email to secretary@lothiansradiosociety.com.
West of Scotland Amateur Radio Society has a net on Wednesday from 8pm on 433.425MHz from 8pm. On Friday there’s a net on 145.425MHz from 8pm—details at wosars.club.
On Thursday Wigtownshire Amateur Radio Club meet on GB3DG at 7.30pm—see gm4riv.org for other details—Clive, GM4FZH, info@GM4RIV.org.
Dundee Amateur Radio Club commences SOS Radio Week operations on Friday. Next Sunday there’s a net on GB3AG from 7pm. Contact Martin, 2M0KAU, on 0776 370 8933.
EDIT 25/04/20 – A full table of Club Nets can be found – HERE .
Ronan O’Rahilly, the Irish founder of the notorious Radio Caroline that popularised pop music on British radio, has died aged 79.
His death was announced by the radio station that is still broadcasting, who said: “In a pastime populated by unusual people, Ronan was more unusual than all of them combined.” He had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013.
O’Rahilly first became known as a player in the burgeoning “swinging London” scene of the 1960s, managing Alexis Korner (the blues-rocker who nurtured the career of the Rolling Stones) and Georgie Fame. Fame eventually had three UK No 1 singles, but O’Rahilly initially struggled to get his musicians noticed by BBC stations and the then-popular Radio Luxembourg, and so founded his own station, Radio Caroline, in 1964.
He circumvented licensing laws by acquiring a former Danish passenger ferry, anchoring it in the North Sea off Felixstowe, and broadcasting from there. With a much less diverse radio industry than today and the BBC only playing two hours of pop music a week, Radio Caroline quickly amassed a listenership of millions for its daytime pop-focused output.
Many DJs would become household names and enjoy successful post-Caroline careers, including Tony Blackburn, Johnnie Walker, Dave Lee Travis and Simon Dee. Walker paid tribute, calling him an “amazing man … who made the impossible possible and changed radio for ever”.
In 1967, an act of parliament outlawed offshore radio stations on the grounds that they were not paying royalties to artists, and that their broadcasts could interfere with emergency channels. A number of Radio Caroline’s DJs moved to the newly created Radio 1, which had been influenced by the success of the former and another offshore station, Radio London. Radio Caroline then moved to Dutch waters, and continued broadcasting at sea until 1991.
O’Rahilly used Radio Caroline to promote his own philosophy of “loving awareness”, which espoused peace and love over hate, and even set up a band, Loving Awareness, to further the cause.
He also continued his management career, including representing James Bond actor George Lazenby. Lazenby paid tribute to O’Rahilly on Instagram, saying “rest well, Ronan”.
Lazenby shared “bittersweet” reminiscences about how O’Rahilly convinced him not to take a contract for multiple Bond movies, with the franchise passing to Roger Moore. “He was very influential on me giving up the role of James Bond back in 1969,” Lazenby wrote. “Ronan convinced me Bond was all over … I’d be in danger of becoming part of the Establishment. Something he rebelled against. Easy Rider was supposed to be the way forward and I could do three or four of those type of movies for every Bond. I wanted to be a free spirit, make love, not war. Ronan wouldn’t let me sign the Bond contract – kept sending it back … Who knows what would have happened had Ronan not got a hold of my brain? But I don’t regret a day of my life.”
O’Rahilly also produced Lazenby’s film Universal Soldier, as well as the Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull film The Girl on a Motorcycle. The Radio Caroline story became the basis for the 2009 Richard Curtis film The Boat That Rocked, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Original Article – THE GUARDIAN 21st April 2020
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