The RSGB has been asked to announce that this year’s Elvaston Castle rally has been cancelled. Originally planned for 8 June, the organisers say that there are various issues to blame, including insurance problems, a view held by G3RFX in his reading of the GB2RS News. It has also been suggested that falling attendances are to blame. For this simple ham, a simple pleasure has been lost. Have your say as another radio era ends…
I feel the same pain as many others. The joy of playing with radios and listening to shortwave is slowly being strangled by lack of interest and the internet. Yes it’s just a hobby for me, but it was a great adventure. During the 50’s I could listen to Moscow Mailbag and Radio Swan. I did my listening in the middle of the winter at 9000′ in a Colorado mining camp, it was the only other source of entertainment I had. I hung a aerial between my house and my neighbors and used a little Phillips shortwave receiver to roam the bands. I am retired now but the simple pleasure I got from my hobby was something I am glad I was able to experience. Maybe we are at the end of an era or maybe beginning a new one!?
We will miss it….