Hi April,

The answer to your question depends greatly on how new of a radio you want
and can afford to purchase.  In newer radios you could purchase something
like the Kenwood TM-V7A or TM-G707 which are both dual band units for which
you can purchase a speech synthesizer which makes it very easy to program
them.  However, these are both in the $250 to $350 range new plus $60 or so
for the synthesizer.  They are both mobiles which could be used with a power
supply at your base station.  In newer handhelds probably the most
accessible, from what I read on here, is the Kenwood TH-F6A for which you
will pay upwards of $300 or more including a few accessories.  Newer mobiles
such as the Kenwood TM-261A and Yaesu FT-1500 which are two meters only
don't have speech synthesizers available.

If you want to go fairly reasonable in terms of cost, you could look at
older radios.  Of particular interest are some of the Radio shack models.
They made a handheld, the HTX-202 which is very accessible but somewhat
bigger and heavier than the newer models.  These can be had for $50 to $75
if you can find a good deal on one.  Of there two meter mobiles the HTX-212
and HTX-242 were both quite accessible if you remembered a few settings and
again, these can be purchased now for $125 or so depending on condition.
Stay away from the HTX-252 which is their latest radio in this class.

I'll let others make recommendations to you but hope these help a little.
Take care, very 73 and good luck.
Kevin, K7RX

Kevin Nathan, Independent Living Coordinator
Dept. of Services for the Blind
3411 S. Alaska
Seattle, Wa 98118
Voice:  (206) 721-6450
Cell:  (206) 604-4767
Toll Free:  (800) 552-7103
Fax:  (206) 721-6403
Email:  [log in to unmask]