If you listen to 40m,try above 7100,especially around 7115. You`ll hear slower cw in that part of the band. I`ve worked quite a few stations looking for slower speeds in that portion of the band. It`s fun,and I`m glad to see that portion of the band being used. To answer your question about the activity on 7030,yes that sounds like a dx pileup. Though the dx can be anywhere in the cw band,you`ll hear much of it below 7025. Listen around sunset,you`ll hear plenty of European dx in that area.

While the solid state amps are more convenient than tube amps,they have some drawbacks. They are more likely to go into a "fault" condition,resulting in no transmit. Higher than acceptable swr,too much drive,etc. Read the reviews on here about them. They can be good,or they can be "iffy". The AL-80B amp has a great reputation for reliability. It`s a great amp,great tube,quiet fan,accurate wattmeter,covers all bands. Chances are twenty years from now it still will be working. Nothing in its price range can match it. You can get heavier duty more expensive amps for sure,but you won`t find anything in its class that would beat it. Its tube is almost impossible to ruin from being overdriven. Unless you make a really stupid mistake,it keeps working. Maybe your rig puts out a high power "spike" when first keyed. The AL-80B can take that. Try the same thing with the solid state amp. See what happens.

Does the mutifunction led glow green,indicating the rig is in receive mode? If it does,does the s meter show any indication?  Do you have a headphone jack plugged in? If you remove it do you hear anything?

I don`t think you`ll ever find that combination of bands. You might find 2m/220,or 2/220/440,but never with 6m. You might have to settle for a separate 6m ant.

I like my Nye Viking Master key. Very quiet,comfy. I like the way those Bencher straight keys look. Never tried one,maybe someday.

At 120`,you`re a little short for 80m. I would add another 10-15 ft. of wire. That length might be ok for 75m.

If the `870 has a monitor function,I would use that to hear your audio. Of course it will be somewhat different from the actual on air sound,it should still help. I use compression with the eq also. You could start by trying the default setings for those which should be in the manual. If your voice is very baritone you`d probably want higher eq settings to bring out the midrange or treble. A higher voice would be just the opposite,with lower bass type settings.

I wouldn`t use the ht in your car,but other than that I wouldn`t worry. Really almost all ham rigs these days can scan bands,be it ham or public service with an ht. You`re a licensed ham using a rig on the ham bands,nothing illegal with that.

There is nothing illegal about telling someone over the air the brand of radio or equipment you`re using. That is not advertizing. Unless you make a living by selling radio equipment,not just selling a radio or equipment over the air. You show me where in part 97 it is illegal to say what brand of radio you`re using.

The last I heard the `897 offered a TCXO as standard,not optional as on the `857.  Unless you operate mostly digital modes,you may never need the high stability it offers.

Maybe if you could locate the noise yourself with the am receiver,then call public service and meet them there. Hopefully they would do that.

My advice is to get a receiver that has a provision for an external antenna,don`t rely on a built in one. My ht receives the hf bands lousy with the built in ferrite bar antenna. However,if I connect just a few feet of wire to the sma connector it hears really well, Even on the low bands. It doesn`t need to be an 80m dipole,just 5-10 feet of wire.