As a teenager in the 1960's with very little pocket money
(could only afford one OC71 per year :-( )
I'd dream of the receivers advertised in the like of
Practical Wireless, but now it seems that the dream
rigs are available at ridiculous knock-down prices.

eg, at the GQRP rally run by the Yeovil Club down in
Sherborne, Dorset, yesterday, I picked up a working
Trio JR500S for £30, intending to loan it to a recently-licensed
former colleague who is trying to survive with one of the
consumerist SW receivers.

_HOWEVER_ the original Rolls-Royce of amateur receivers,
the Eddystone EA12 did set me back £250 last year, not
including the £50 petrol cost of going to pick it up! (And just had a fellow
ham round who marvelled at the CW reception through the
single-crystal filter, much narrower than the 300Hz filters
fitted as options to modern rigs!