As a fellow anorak, I hear what you say, David, but I wonder whether that applies to the public at large. I doubt it.

As a kid, I was introduced to the magic of radio by my Polish parents, in particular my dad. He would regularly listen to European broadcasts, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, BBC Polish service, among many others. I took in those broadcasts and many many more, Radio Nederland, Australian Broadcasting Commission, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, etc etc. For me there was this wonderful magic of hearing something from thousands of miles away, despite the atmospheric conditions. To be honest, even with today's internet, SWLing gives me the buzz that simply ain't there with the net.

However, if we look at the general public, I doubt it. I recall at school being one of only two kids who was seduced by SWLing, my other pals simply weren't interested. That was 40 years back and I suspect it's even worse now with the spoon-fed society we have these days.

Most folks aren't interested in the medium, merely the content – I think that's always been the case and, in case anyone thinks I'm some technophobe, I applaud the range of information made accessible through the net. In its own way, it's a minor miracle, though not one subject to the vagueries of ionospheric layers and the like.

I bought a communications receiver about 2 and a half years ago and still enjoy scanning through the wavebands, although

1. the time I spend on it is FAR less than on the net
2. I am disappointed by the relative lack of content interesting to me, compared to all those years ago.

Time moves on, I guess. SWL was always a minority appeal and unfortunately that minority has shrunk further over the years.

A