It's portable enough if you don't need to take a power supply.  But, if you 
want something really portable, the Yaesu FT-897 I think is a hand-held.  But, 
the drawback with that rig is you have real marginal performance on the lower 
HF bands.  You simply need a great antenna when only using 5 watts.  The 
second drawback is there isn't any accessibility features in that model as far 
as I  am aware of.

The Icon 703 is a low-powered mobile rig.  It needs a power supply; but does 
have some talking capability like frequency readout; it is not as talkative as 
the Ts-2000 and the 2000 is not as talkative as the 480, though it is close. 
The advantage of the TS-2000 over the TS-480 are all the extra features you 
get, built-in TNC, VHF/UHF coverage, the optional 1.2GHZ module, etc.

As with most things, there are a bunch of trade-offs to consider.
Steve, K8Sp

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sarah Alawami" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 9:08 PM
Subject: Re: Kenwood TS2000


Wo. That to me is not portable . I'm looking for something more handheld and
is accessible to a point. I know nothing out there is 100% accessible so I'm
not holding my breath. If I'm wrong on that last statement then feel free to
correct me.

-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Kevin Minor
Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 4:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Kenwood TS2000

Hi Sarah.

I have a TS-2000, and it is technicly a portable radio.  It has a handle on
the side of it to let you carry it.  It weighs around 18 pounds, if I
remember the specs right.

That's the good news.  Now for me, the realist.  For me this radio isn't
portable.  I'd have to carry not only the radio, but the power supply as
well, which has to be at least 20 amps continuous if you want to operate the
rig at full power.  I'd also have to bring an antenna or two to allow me to
use the radio on HF and VHF/UHF.  I don't know how you'd plan on using the
radio, but if portability is what you're looking for, I'd look at a
different radio.  For me, the 2000 is just what I want.  I'll have to look
for a low band antenna when I go to Dayton.  The apartment antenna that I
purchased just isn't cutting it.

If you have any other questions, let me know.

73
Kevin Minor, N8EGA
[log in to unmask]