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. >