Re: Indeed.
"I sometimes wonder what would happen if a couple kids tried this kind of thing today ... sadly, however, at that age they aren't taught enough of the basics to even contemplate the concept, much less attempt to implement it. Sad, that ... we've lost something as a society."
While I agree with you on the education (or lack thereof) bit, I do wonder just how much disruption that sort of fairly high powered spark gap transmitter might cause nowadays with so many people and devices relying on access to the airwaves. At the least, it might screw up everyone's home WiFi for a few blocks, maybe mobile phone signals, set off burglar alarms, screw up peoples satnavs, trigger WiFi enable heart pacemakers, OMG it's the apocalypse! Again!!