Hi Paul,
I find people are generally curious when they see radio equipment set up and like to know what you are doing. I generally tell them it is Amateur (ham) radio as most people have heard of that it is the easiest way to quickly get back to what you are doing rather than talking about MW dxing of which they will probably not understand. 
Of course having the public come up to you often is a real interruption to your hobby so my advice is to stay clear of public parks and find quieter remote bush areas etc away so you don't have these interactions.