After more than 90 years, BBC Radio 4 went silent on its longwave frequency of 198 kHz on the 27th of June. Although listeners in the UK and parts of Europe are surely missing such broadcasts as the test match specials and the shipping forecasts, amateur radio operators' fondness goes deeper than that, as we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH, in this week's final story.

JEREMY: You can still hear BBC Radio 4 programs on FM radio, DAB digital platforms, where the sounds are clearer and do not suffer from any of longwave's notorious noise. To amateur radio operators, however, the scratchy sound emanating around the Droitwich transmitting station's signal was part of the long wave station's charm.

Preparing for the loss, hams at the Radio Society of Great Britain and the BBC Amateur Radio Group activated special event stations during the week leading up to the final shutdown.

Appearing on BBC One's morning TV show, BBC Breakfast, the RSGB's Nick Totterdell, G4FAL, told the programme hosts that it was the older technology's ability to function reliably that appealed to so many radio amateurs. Nick said that many hams would, for example, use the longwave transmissions' precise frequency as a frequency reference when they were building test equipment.

To hams, BBC Radio 4 was less about progress in the modern world than endurance through the decades. The only thing that endures - for now - on 198 kHz is silence.