Yup; Thats about right. 

* I have one and love it, but its NOT an SDR radio.
* Yes, there's a lot of 3rd party software, but none of them will change the performance; they just vary in terms of convenience feartures and usability.
* The 320 !!BADLY!! needs to be updated to accomodate a higher speed USB connection

*You're* Fred Flinstone ?!?!?!
You have a great show.  I heard a (I think) repeat awhile back soliciting reports and I almost did, hoping for a qsl & a mentioned bumper sticker (does the station really have any??), but being a repeat (from Im not quite sure when), I didnt.   Makes me want to make darn sure I catch this weeks show!

OK.  What would you do with that $1200?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevrolet-Bel-Air-150-210-1957-chevrolet-four-door-/251069968011?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3a74efae8b

One of the big disadvantages of serial vs. USB is that with serial, you always have to get to the back of the machine which may be problematic depending on your layout.

Which serial cable?  Null modem or regular serial?   
USB never has that problem.

Serial is dying.  USB may not be here forever, but it it'll be here a long time, yet.
The newer usb-serial converters work fine.

Ah.   Single, eh?

http://www.panduit.com/Products/ProductOverviews/WiringDuct/index.htm

Use separate raceways for power+RF vs low level signals.

I'll second the motion re:WBCQ on the weekends, if you can avoid the eternally creepy "Brother Stare".

Your daughter is as cute as can be!

http://www.olimex.com/ in Bulgaria.

Ive used them and they were perfect, and very reasonable.

Depending on the accuracy of the simulation, Im not sure there's any trivial way to do it.  The brightness curve would need to be non-linear; Im not sure sinusoidal would quite do it either, but it would be close, and a good place to start.   This is a job for a PIC (or any other suitable cheap, programmable micro) driving a LED with PWM.
And long as you'll have extra outpout pins, I would consider a multi LED approach so that as the "beacon" is pointed away from the observer, it also becomes more diffuse as well as dimmer.

"Silk screening the front panel is no doubt the ULTIMATE way to go.... "

Nope.  Engrave and fill is the ultimate way to go.
One way to go (from 1 of my favorite websites):   http://hackaday.com/2011/02/17/etching-panel-faces-on-the-cheap/

Who's Lexus??  You mean recipients???  I'll bet $$ that you have no idea what your talking about.  Out here in reality, there's >12% unemployment and a LOT of skilled, hard working people are hurting.

Asside from Mr Downy, the response (and lack of it) on this topic is embarrasing.

What about the relays of NASA TV xmissions (audio) over repeaters during missions?  I know of atleast one (in Minneapolis) that does that.