Hi John,
   Thanks for your message -- you're correct that I don't have HF
privolages at the moment, but I figure being able to listen to HF and CW
is the best way to get good CW practicing and see how much I wan to get
into HF.
   Do you recall how much the voice chip runs for the 706, and whether
they still make them or if I would have to find someone wh owanted to sel
one?

Thanks,
Ivan.


Today, at 12:58pm, John Miller wrote:

> Honestly, I've looked at the yaesu 8900, a friend showed me his,  I
> wouldn't want it as my only radio, leaves way too much to be desired in the
> accessibility area though I guess it is manageable if you had to.  The 706
> is a good radio but you really would want to have the voice board in it
> mainly so you know what frequency you're on though once in a while mode
> helps. I can tell what mode I'm on by the sound as I'm sure a lot of people
> who get on the air a lot can, also on the 706, it might help to have the
> voice board so you can tell what band you are on,  some times it's tough to
> tell, sounds like you don't really have anything for HF maybe not
> privileges there I don't know I'm just guessing so until you get the
> experience enough to tell what band you are on by sound, band noise and
> all, I would definitely get the voice board for that radio if you did get
> it. Actually, any radio it's available for, I would anyway. it comes in
> very handy.
>
> At 10:17 AM 5/12/03 -0600, you wrote:
> >Hi all,
> >    I'm thinking about my next ham purchase and wanted to pose a few
> >questions to this list regarding rig accessability.  I'm still in search
> >of "the rig that does it all" for me, and a good factor for consideration
> >is the accessability of that rig.
> >
> >    Initially I was looking at the Yaesu 8900r (available by the way, for
> >$389 in most places).  Does anyone have experience with this radio?  It
> >appears to be tunable by only a dial (no keypad), although you appear to
> >be able to reach a preprogrammed frequency with the "hoem frequency" key.
> >I'd also be curious to hear (generally speaking) how accessable people
> >feel Yaesu mobile rigs are.  I'm pondering a mobile rig just because I can
> >use it as a base with a power supply, but take it in the car when desired
> >(i.e. camping trips).
> >
> >    I'm also looking into an all mode, all band rig like the Icom 706 - I
> >might be able to get hooked on HF if I have the opertunity to listen to
> >some, and I'd probably spend the 700-800 dollars anyhow by the time I buy
> >2-3 more separate radios and eventially get into HF.  From what I have
> >read in list archives (I've unsubscribed from this list for a while) the
> >706 seems to be pretty accessable, is this true even without the voice
> >chip?
> >
> >Thanks as always for the practical experiences and feedback (you guys know
> >who you are),
> >Ivan Fetch.
>