I have heard from commercial radio people that after 2013-01-01 , parts 90 radio service must change over to narrow band radio, so there will be a lot of older wide band commercial radio will be on market. 

I actually like to see, we have entry level license lower than technician license.   perhaps  limited to 50 watts or so and 30 MHz or higher.  in Japan we had entry level license class, which can be obtain either by passing exam, or attending seminar course.  perhaps , in US we can do something like that.   anyone who  attend all of the classes / courses.   instructor can give hand on demonstration on how to use radio, how to set up antenna, where to connect, soldering connector.  That would be sufficient knowledge to operate radio satisfactory.  Probably even better than passing  exam on paper.  //  VHF Marine radio , which does not require operator's license,  people seems to know how to use it and which CH to talk on, etc.  and they seems to able to set up radio correctly.  so I don't see any difference in HAM radio, despite VHF Marine radio concern safety / lives of people directly. there is not seems to be a much trouble.

I was in exact same situation , also lived in apartment, with indoor antenna, only way I can hear anything or heard by some one was CW.  ( due to insufficient antenna and power level ) , so that was only mode I was able to use.   I started out slow speed like 4-5 WPM, about same speed as Novice License exam.   you might want to participate in such event as straight key SKCC  sprint ( refer to SKCC web site ) , etc.  those who use straight key often send 5 to 10 WPM.  so it is easier to copy, and during spring, it is short QSO, like Name, State, RST, etc. 

as somebody else says also, I recommend using Straight Key.  I made Morse Code practice program in Quick basic long time ago , runs on DOS  it also runs well under DOS windows, if you search my call sign AE6ZW, and go to web site and scroll down , you will find download.  it also contain source code, if you like to modify it.  I used this program to learn Code, it send random code, etc.  also participate in SKCC straight key sprint, etc.  most straight key person send around 5 to 10 WPM.  it is good place to practice learning and practice code skill.

I think those more expensive , narrow spaced ( 2 kHz ) high dynamic range radio do good, if you have large antenna, which bring in strong signal to receiver.   because I use random wire indoor antenna, it seems like it does not make much difference if the radio has high dynamic range or not.   if you are same situation as me, just about any HF radio do the job,  I have been using TEN TEC OMNI-V, which I bought on ( QTH classified web site ) for $600.  despite of being more than 20 years old design it do pretty well.  500 Hz IF filter in 1st IF is must, 500Hz, 250 Hz filter on 2nd IF are also very nice.  I see similar OMNI-V  with those filter for around $800.  however, my OMNI-V being 20 years old, it require adjustment, repair once a while, so ability to repair own radio is way to buy inexpensive radio, and keep maintenance cost low.  before OMNI-V,  I had used FT-757GX(1),  it worked well too. which I got it for around $400.

I have used both manual type  with Coil and 2 Variable capacitor, and automatic type with relays , capacitors , and coils.  I sold my automatic one , replaced with Manual one, I think manual one work better for my usage , which is to tune random wire antenna.

my stealth antenna has more to do with Mode I use ( CW ) , I notice I have too much noise for wider band width SSB, because of indoor antenna.  but, with narrow CW band filter, noise decrease significantly.   I wanted to operate on SSB, but I was forced to use CW, and after I used for a while and getting better copying it.  Now, I mainly operate CW.  CW is best for HAM with limited antenna and power level. I contacted most of US with my indoor antenna.

TECSUN PL-660  , AM synchronous detector choice of USB or LSB,  normal SSB ( USB, LSB ) , wide and narrow AM filters. about $100   I took pictures inside  here   http://ae6zw.no-ip.info/files/TECSUN-PL-660-shortwave-radio-receiver.rar

I used to listen to KUAM 610 kHz Guam when I was living in southern japan of Kyshu island. in 1980's.  also I enjoy listening to Far east Network stations, on shortwaves.

yet, I have not come cross better CW decoder than ears.  when signal fade in QSB, human can guess missing charactors, etc.  many of the computerized CW decoder can not adopt to change in speed, QRM, can not guess missing charactor, etc.

I live 1/4 mile from one of the Harbour Freight in Westminster, CA store.   here, they sell them around $80 on sale, usual price is around $120.   may be I should get one also. thanks for review.

for general do them all, if including many time spending listen to shortwave AM broadcast, I will definitely pick one of  newer IF DSP radio , like FT-450D etc,   may be used FT-950, IC-7000  for between $1000 to $1200  those DSP radio seems to take away noise in AM mode pretty well.  since, AM mode is wide , it does not benefit having narrow 1st IF filter either, which are common in higher end rig.

I wonder if anyone had successful communication with any aboard UFO or any space aliens  ?   
I guess it is not against a law to talk to them, as long as they have HAM license from their government, but since we probably don't have agreement , we probably can not pass third party traffic.
I wonder what would be the best frequency to use  146.520 MHz ( FM ) or 144.200 MHz ( SSB ) ?
any opinion ?

UK exam sort of remind of Japanese HAM exam, I think it is similar to advanced class exam in 1990 in US, when I took it. I like idea of having a schematic and drawing and question is about how it work.  such as questions like , what would happen if Capacitor C1 shorted or Resister R1 opened.  which is good trouble shooting knowledge.

I like to see , new novice license, limits less than 100 wts.  same frequency privilege as tech, which include some CW HF band, and 10 mtr SSB.    perhaps new novice exam can be done on web site.