This article, we hope, will have serious consequences. Not negative, mind you, because apart from enabling beginners to experience the thrill of picking up radio traffic in a generally neglected band, the arrival of this inexpensive 4-m receiver should help to get the IARU section of the 4-m band released to radio amateurs in countries all over the world in due course. known as ’70 MHz’, and the IARU-approved band plan shown in Figure 1 is on the wall in many a radio shack up and down the country. So far, only a few other countries including Ireland, Denmark and — quite recently — Croatia have followed suit by releasing the frequency range between 70.000 and 70.5000 MHz for use by licensed radio amateurs. Unfortunately, in many other countries the relevant frequency range is in use by government or military services which need to have a few arms twisted (pun intended) before they move out.