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.