Having enjoyed the good natured ramblings of my local radio station for the last two years, and with many small-scale broadcasters facing a perilous financial position, I thought it was about time I paid it a visit.
Some readers may remember I am a big fan of Mix 107, based in High Wycombe and broadcasting all over south Bucks. I actually visited its sister station, Mix 96, based in Aylesbury. Well, they do say never meet your heroes.
So what does Mix 96 actually sound like?
Maybe some jingles would help.
Mix 96 boasts a total of just 10 staff, including all its sales and programming team. Its tiny offices - above commercial premises in Aylesbury town centre - reminded me of the local newspaper I used to work at a decade ago. Except the radio station's premises are even smaller. A lot smaller.
Programme director Matt Faulkner is also the morning DJ - he was briefly at London's Heart 106.2 - and answers the phone when he is not programming his computer. Brnng, brnng! It could be a lost cat. It's not - it's a story about John Motson, who is on his way to Bucks for a charity fundraising thing. This could be big news.
Okay, okay, so it might not sound like big news to you. But it's local news, and that's what Mix 96 is all about. It might not be able to compete in terms of budget with the publicly funded giants of national UK radio - BBC Radios 1, 2, or 4 - but when is Russell Brand going to help you find your missing pet?
Mix 96 does, on Faulkner's very own "Pets Reunited" slot. Now I used to take a lot of stick when I was on local rags about "cats up trees" stories - yeah, yeah very funny - but it's what local news is all about. Some of it, anyway.
Here's a little of Matt in action.
And it seems to be working out OK for Mix 96. Not only does it make a profit, but its audiences in its local area compare very favourably with those BBC national stations I just mentioned.
Occasionally even beating them, says Faulkner.
But it's not easy competing with the BBC. Take news. At the last count, the corporation's news department numbered around 3,000. And at Mix 96: two.
The area has its fair share of hard news stories too. The would-be Aylesbury bomber, for instance, and last year a local chap was hit over the head with a spade. His assailant remains at large.
Here's news editor Penny Harper.
There are also lots of local celebrities - trust me, I've seen them in Budgens - and Apprentice winner Lee McQueen came from nearly Princes Risborough.
But that wasn't all it might have been, says Faulkner.
It's easy to see, with Mix 96 playing to its local strengths, why commercial radio shrinks from the prospect of an expanded BBC local offering. Get off their patch!
Mix 96 - part of The Local Radio Company - has some syndicating programming, after 7pm on weekdays, and the entire weekend output apart from a four-hour slot between 10am and 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
And I've got to say the weekend output rather rankles when I tune into its south Bucks sister station. The jingles might be the same and the what's on packages might still be local, but it's just not Mix 107!
Especially on the odd occasion when they end up playing the same song 12 times in a row, and I picture this empty studio with no one in charge or listening to what's going out.
But still, I guess that's part of the charm, and I certainly wouldn't be without it.
Alas I will have to, because I am due to move out of Amersham in a couple of months' time. I'll miss the walks, and the red kites - famously and very successfully reintroduced into the Chilterns - and I'll miss Mix 107.
I'll still be able to listen to it on the web, of course, but it won't be local radio any more. At least, not local to me.
