[R-390] First radio thread

[Jim Haynes]

I was just thinking that the richness of the SWL experience has probably
declined steadily since about 1960.  Many homes in the 1940s and 50s
had broadcast receivers that included shortwave bands.  The SWL could
hear SW BC stations, and hams using AM phone, and sometimes police radio,
and sometimes boats and airplanes.  Then everything but broadcast started
going to SSB so the old BC receivers couldn't copy that stuff anymore.
And even receivers with BFOs needed special technique to copy SSB, and
they tended to drift so badly that it was a frustrating experience.
So SW AM broadcasting was about the only thing one could hear.  And
we know that has been on a downtrend for the last 20 years or so.
Some would-be SWL enthusiasts perhaps turned to VHF/UHF scanning for
their entertainment.  Others may have turned to broadcast band DX-ing,
but that is less fun than it used to be; there's just not much that
anybody would care to listen to anymore.