Hi Barry,

I have been using D-Star since July of last year. At first, I thought, the
ID-51 would me the best choice. Yes, it tells you the frequency, the mode
that you are in and reads out callsigns, but it doesn't have a numeric
keypad for sending DTMF commands. On D-Star, you can actually use DTMF
commands to connect to and disconnect from repeaters and many other things I
haven't even found out about myself. So, after talking to other blind D-Star
users, I decided to get the IC-92D.

To get started, I had a sighted ham program the Munich D-Star repeater and
most of the local FM repeaters into the radio. The IC-92D can also be
programmed using the RT-Systems software and a programming cable. I have
installed the programming software and the drivers for the interface, but
cannot get Windows to recognize the device. Well, that's a subject of ist
own to be discussed in another message thread.

73,

Christoph, DF9WM