David, I know you already hit the submit button but let me say a few words on the R30. I took the plunge a few months ago. After doing my research, I felt confident in my purchase. Once the radio arrived and I fired it up, I was hooked. Now without going to a full blown review, I'm gonna address some of the reasons you bought this receiver. Civil/Mil air: I was using the famous Uniden BC125AT portable to monitor air traffic at local airports and air shows. The R30 shines brightly in this area and adds new twists that the 125 cannot. First of all you have the Automatic Noise Limiter feature which quiets things down a bit. Second, dual receive. You can have military air on one VFO /Channel and civil air on the other. Dual volume settings: Again, you can adjust the volume separately for either vfo or for both vfos together as one. Dual record: Once you insert a micro sd card and set it up, you can record BOTH vfos simultaneously or you can go into single vfo mode and record that way too. I sue it a lot to record air traffic whenever I visit a new airport or go to an airshow. It records only when sound is heard so no having to stop and start the recordings unless you want to. At an airshow, you can set it and forget it. The audio on AM is great, no issues there. Now, with regards to Police/fire/EMS listening, there are no issues at all to worry about. Audio is loud n clear for a portable. Here too the dual receive comes in handy. You can have analog on one vfo and p25 digital on the other for example. As far as SW/MW goes, like everything else, it will vary depending on location and antenna used. Lots of different ways to listen to your programed channels with different types of scan possibilities.
There are only 2 things that disappoint me. 1. The display light. It is perfect for indoor use. Outdoors on a sunny day? forget it. 2. The AA battery case. If you are like me, you use a carry case when you take radios of this caliber outdoors. I purchased the leather carry case. It CANNOT be used with the AA battery case. You can squeeze it in if you try but it puts too much pressure on the leather and you risk stretching or ripping it. My advice is to get a second lithium battery pack or carry a wall charger/cigarette lighter power plug. On that note, you will also love something I discovered. I purchased a 9 foot charging cable from Best Buy for my Play Station 4 wireless controllers. I happen to notice that it has the same micro USB plug that is on the R30. Guess what? not only did it fit the R30 but it worked for charging AND programming. This comes in handy in the car and if you're not near a wall plug. The RS-R30I APP: Almost everything you can do on the radio keypad, you can do on the app via blue tooth. Works perfectly. Finally, if you travel as you say you do, you will love the Bluetooth feature. I loved driving down the road listening to all the action through the car stereo. Yes sir! nice feature that works well. That pretty much sums up my experience with it so far. I hope my words have helped you get a better understanding of this fine receiver you're about to receive. LOL
Manny