Hello and welcome

As a newbie, I would suggest that you get hold of something about which
you can easily find information.  The rig you suggest might suit you
fine, but I suspect that not many blind hams have used it in depth.

Without a doubt the rig which is used world wide by blind hams is the
Kenwood TS570 with the well-known and used vs-3 speech chip.

The CNIB ham radio project and the U.K. based radio amateur and blind
club both recommend it.

The manuals are available in digital format and quite a number of folk
on this list use one.

Additionally, it is small and light weight.  A good friend of mine
(G3SXW) does many dx expeditions in remote parts of the world and uses
the rig also.

In my main shack I use about the most complex rig on the market (Yaesu
ft1000mp) which isn't very blind friendly, but first used Roger's 570
when my rig went wrong, and within 15 minutes of having it installed I
was using it - I have no sight and Roger had only roughly shown me the
basic controls.

The end result was that I bought one for mobile and use in my
alternative shack at the seaside.

The only possible point on this is budget.  In the U.K. you can probably
pick one up for about 600 pounds  with a speech chip in it, but no doubt
some of the guys in the U.S. will be able to tell you about the market
over there.

Enjoy this fascinating hobby.

73 de David - G3YXX

I think you wrote  below <[log in to unmask]>,
Nolan J. Darilek <[log in to unmask]> writes
>Hi all. I'm very much a newbie to this hobby--new in the sense that I
>haven't even gotten my license yet, haven't even begun to study up,
>but I've occasionally listened to shortwave/CB radio transmissions and
>am hooked, so I'm thinking of getting started and wanted some info.
>
>First, even though I can't transmit, I'd like to purchase a tranceiver
>to listen in. Yes, I know I can probably get a receiver for less, but
>I'd rather not spend the money for something which will be redundant
>later. Unfortunately, shopping around IRL isn't really an option for
>me, since I don't personally know any hams or have very many stores
>which I can easily reach, so I've been browsing reviews and shopping
>online. It looks as if the Alinco DJ-596T may be what I want. Does
>anyone have any experience with these, or Alinco radios in general?
>Are these a safe bet as far as usability for blind hams is concerned?
>
>Also, I've occasionally seen references to speech synthesizers on this
>list. I'm familiar with them as they apply to computers, but radios?
>Seems as if there may be speech synthesis for radios based on a few
>things I've read, but I've been confused before and may be again. :)
>Anyone care to clarify any of that?
>
>TIA.

David W Wood
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