"Dave" wrote in message
...
SWBC is a tiny part of what is on HF. Ute monitoring is an entirely
different beast. Most hams are happy to confirm reception and their
addresses are readily available.

I am into the hobby because of the hardware, and I really don't care much
what the message being transmitted is, I just enjoy intercepting it. I
get excited by innovation, like mechanical filters, SSB, synchronous AM
detection, and now DSP/SDR.

You are part of a very small (and shrinking) group. Just like "computer
hobbyists" who are "into the hardware" are a shrinking group. 30 years
ago, all computer users were "computer hobbyists". I was a "computer
hobbyist", I had a TRS-80 in 1978. People looked at it and asked "what can
you do with that"?

The vast majority of computer buyers these days aren't "computer hobbyists".
They don't care what motherboard and chipset the box has. They don't care
what brand of hard drive, ram or video card is installed. They just want
to take it home, plug it in and get on the internet. The computer is just
another appliance.

Times change. Today's kids don't get excited by receiving a crappy analog
signal on some big radio with 17 knobs. Forget about a signal that they
don't even care what the message is! Any "signal" they receive needs to
be digital, be crystal clear and be easy to receive. No one wants to fuss
with antennas, or worry about propagation issues. Those are so 20th
century!

The reason the "SW radio hobby" is dead is because both the content and the
delivery medium are both woefully outdated. Today it is all about
"podcasting", MP3s and satellite "radio". The days of getting a thrill
from "intercepting a signal" are long gone.