"AbbN" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Interesting question and interesting answer.

Well, it's certainly changed since I got back into it in 1999 during
an
extremely serious back operation. I was going to be stuck in the
hospital
for over 2 weeks and RS had a DX-375 on sale for $70 (Canadian $$)
so I
bought it and listened to it in the hospital. Prior to that, it was
1972
when I last listened to shortwave. Needless to say I got hooked and
had a
DX-394B within a couple of months.

If I were to have that same surgery today and were not a SW
listener, I
don't know if I'd get into it with as much enthusiasm as I did in
1999. I
doubt if I'd have a Sat-800, DX-398 and a Grundig 400PE as I do at
the
moment.

In a Sat-800 newsgroup, someone mentioned CB. It had never occurred
to me
that I could listen to CB with my Sat-800 so I decided to listen. I
thought
CB was totally dead, but much to my shock and surprise, it is still
pretty
active around here (Windsor, Ontario, Canada).

So if CB is not dead, perhaps SWL will also survive.....at least for
a
while -

CB isn't dead because some big reasons:

1) Truckers keep using it religiously

2) You don't have to pay per month to use it

3) You don't need a license (although some folks
used to have them, a long time ago)

4) The equipment can be easily found (used
or new)

5) Nothing has really replaced it's niche; sure, you
can use a cell phone or satellite radio or the Net, but
for an old fashioned "party line" type of experience,
nothing has replaced it yet.

--Mike L.