I have been looking at the Heathkit hw-101, the atlas 210x, and various
alinco
mobiles. My main concern is cost. I only have 250-300 to spend on this
unit.
I am obviously not particular about type. Is it cheaper to get a mobile
and
use it as a transceiver or just get an old base station and use that? I
am
really quite interested in the old analog dial types. Any suggestions?
CW is
a must.

G. Doughty
KI4BBL

An older Kenwood might be good to look at also. If you do not have an
antenna tuner then do not get one with all solid state output. The rigs
that have 6146 tubes in the output will be able to tune a small range of
antenna mismatches.
The Yeasu units that have 6146 tubes and not the sweep tubes in the finals
are good also if you have to get an older rig.
If you have a 12 volt power supply make sure it is good for atleast 20 amps
and more like 25 for the solid stare rigs.