Well - this is me, OZ6BU, and a little about my attitudes.

I am a licenced radio amateur since 1968, answering call sign OZ6BU and call name Bondo; ( my middle name.)

Back then you had to know how to run CW, which I did, and had the privilege to enjoy several hundreds QSOs on that score - with only 10 watt from a EL84 to a Zeep-aerial..

These days you hardly have to know telegraphy, in order to achieve licence for HF-bands - you don't have to telegraph faster than 25 letters pr. minute and that should be possible to learn with a minimum of effort. At the same we B-licence holders got an A-licence on a plate.

Furthermore, as a radio amateur you couldn't buy much equipment - so a lot from these days were DIY. Nowadays anything can be bought, ready to use and people of today have a higher standard of living, so it's affordable to buy for most - I suppose that an contributory reason why there is anything build anymore.

On top of that, the technic that can be bought today is very competent - which makes it quite impossible to compete with as an DIY amateur. Therefore you basically only sees smaller inventions by the hands of amatuers now.

So what's left..?? Right.! The aerial is still an everlasting source to experiments.