Thanks for all the info! Unfortunately, it's likely that I'll be stealth recording. As for my budget, I'll set it at $500 Canadian, which works out to around $380. I'm kind of thinking that isn't much in the world of taping.
it can be done for as little as what you've mentioned, i think...
search ebay for md recorders, as shrromin mentioned you only need line in...yes many md recorder have mic in but the pre-amp is less than desirable. or put up an iso in the yard sale here on the board.
purchase a set of mini-mics from sound professionals, core-sound, giant squid, or microphone madness...you can get pairs for cheap, but don't go for the cheapest....take advice from people here who have used certain brands, and spend a couple extra bucks on getting the battery box as well, which will bring the mics to a line-level, so you bypass the pre-amp stage in the md.
yes you're going to be compressing audio with the atrac compression native to minidisc. yes many people shun it. i personally record at 24-bit which is better resolution that DAT. but i say minidisc is fine....many people cannot hear the difference especially when they have subpar stereo playback systems, and it won't matter. at least you have a listenable, enjoyable, copy of the show. hell i have quite a few incredible shows i recorded on md. it's perfectly viable. just not preferred if there are other sources like DAT.
you may also look into the jb3...it's the size of a discman and can record uncompressed WAV files. however i would recommend having an analog-to-digital (A/D) convertor to input audio into this. you're talking about spending another few hundred here...depending on your needs.
fwiw (for what it's worth) i like the way you asked your questions. most newbies here it seems just pop in and say hey i need help and that's it...you explained exactly what you wanted to do, how you wanted to do it, and jumped right in to the correct forum and asked away. +T