You might check around and see about getting a Yaesu VR-500. I got mine on
eBay for under $200 (135?). I've seen them under 200 other places. It is
SMALL. Fits in the palm of your hand. Has the weather channels already
programmed in. Covers 100 Khz to 1,300 Mhz with some gaps (US version). Runs
on two AA batteries. Has AM/WFM/NFM/USB/LSB and NAM can be added witha few
keystrokes. 1,000 programmable channels, and a BandScope. But don't use the
supplied antenna. Get a good UHF/VHF antenna and the Radio Shack collapsible
antenna for SW. Just my two centavo's.....Eric