On Wed, 09 Sep 2015 11:31:09 -0700, Steve wrote:

Are there any real people still here? Should we have a roll call? So
many of the old guard gone. I'm not sure what keeps bringing me back
here unless it's the odd hope of reading about someone's latest DX
catch, homebrewing exploit or DXpedition adventure.

I admit, my SWL activity has decreased since I went berzerk over ham
radio, but recently I've started building regenerative receivers,
Manhattan style, on copper clad circuit boards, and you can build a damn
good receiver that way. I still have some excellent shortwave rigs (AOR
7030+, Lowe HF-150, etc.), but they aren't seeing much use these days.
There are only so many hours in the day (24, I'm told, though that
figure sounds exaggerated to me).

I'm thinking a good direct conversion receiver might be a good project
for the future.

So what's up out there?

I lurk in here occasionally to see if anyone still active. My AR7030+
also rarely sees any action now. HF broadcasting has declined steeply in
the last few years. That said; enjoyed hearing plenty of South American
HF locals (mainly Brazilian) this summer here in Scotland.

Obtained a Tecsun PL-660 recently, out of curiosity, and so far very
impressed by the performance you get for such a modest price.

AM DXing seems to be alive and well these days, even though broadcasting
has declined somewhat in Europe (but still fairly busy). Planning to re-
build my tuneable loop in preparation for coming winter conditions; for
trans-Atlantic DX. I used to run an amplifier from it and fed the output
back through a ferrite bar mounted in the centre. This applied positive
feedback and produced an astoundingly selective tuning peak.

Also bought a Sony ICF-EX5MK2; an unusual AM-DX portable from the
domestic Japanese market which is totally analogue yet has a type of sync
detection which (usually) works a treat.