"Funky Trilobyte" wrote in message
om...
I can't quite say I'm a newbie, as I haven't actaully purchased the
radio yet. After much research, the general consensus seems to be the
Sony 7600g if I can find one (versus the GR, which has an annoying
mute). I'm still looking for the best price, so I haven't ordered
just yet (sites with good deals are welcome).

I have a few questions which I couldn't readily locate (or can't
determine the best search terms) on Deja/Google:

* I live in rual central Utah and will soon be moving to *very* rural
southwest Utah. Any hints or tips for SWLing/DXing in Utah or the
mountain west?

Enjoy it. That's a great location.


* Can SW radios be used to pick up atmospheric "noise" (the whistles,
pops, & clicks I've read about during auroras, magnetic storms and
such)?

Yes.

* I once read on slashdot.org an article (can't find it now) about
broadcasts that just pop up in a location and broadcast strange random
(or encrypted?) patterns for a while, then just vanish. I forget what
they're called, but remember that it was implied that they were
transmitted by the government for unknown purposes. I think the
context may have been about the HAM culture, but I'm not sure. Can I
pick up those?

Numbers stations. Hear them frequently.

* If I enjoy this enough, I'd like to get a car unit. I was going to
replace my car's factory '93 tape deck with an in-dash CD/MP3 player.
Any SW car models that can do CDs and MP3, too?

None available in this country to my knowledge though several people on hear
have ordered them from elsewhere. I'm sure someone that knows more about it
will get in here and give you the details.

Thanks for any and all help.

Good the have you around. You can learn a lot here but step carefully, there
are piles of crap interspersed with the worthwhile conversations.