Lloyd,

Go for it.  If you can tinker with one at HRO, feel good about it and  have 
the computer skills to  play around with the commands, it should be a blast. 
Yaesu makes some nice stuff and I think David in the UK  is running a 1000 
of some sort that he  seems to like a lot.   While I own and like Kenwood, I 
don't want to be married to them  for the rest of my life just because 
they are at the head of the class when it comes to voice synths.  There 
should be more than 1 way to skin a cat and I wish you good luck if you go 
this route.

73, Steve KW3A


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lloyd Rasmussen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2007 8:47 PM
Subject: Yaesu FT950


>I have been thinking about the TS480 for the last 3.5 years, since it came
> out.  But now that I'm beginning to consider going to HRO to look at one,
> I'm thinking the unthinkable.  The FT950 looks to be a much more complete
> and flexible rig.  Have any of you had your hands on one of these
> transceivers?  The FT450 is a lower-end model which includes a voice
> synthesizer option.  The 950 appears to be a FT2000 with only one 
> receiver.
>
> I have downloaded and read parts of the manual as well as the computer
> control manual, which is going to be a necessity, at least for setup.  I
> realize that there are very few beeps to confirm operations, and no
> synthesizer is available.  There is an audio unit, but I think it's only 
> for
> message playback/recording.  There is also a keypad available.According to
> the computer control book, the rig can report back all the functions I can
> think of, upon command.  I could probably write a PowerBasic program that
> would send out the commands that dump status information back to a PC. 
> And
> Ham Radio Deluxe should be able to control and interrogate it, although 
> the
> latest build of HRD is a few months old.
>
> I don't want to hear about "Yaesu equipment isn't accessible and they 
> don't
> care about blind hams."  It seems to me that this would be a fun rig to 
> work
> with.  And before you suggest the TS2000, that's becoming an old rig by 
> now.
>
> Am I crazy for wanting to learn some new things and perhaps invent 
> something
> as part of my 52-year hobby?
>
> Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Kensington, Maryland
> Home:  http://lras.home.sprynet.com
> Work:  http://www.loc.gov/nls
>
>
>
>