Recently there's been some discussion/questions raised, on some of the on
line forums  re the John Hansen W2FS Milenium Q S Y E R, VS the Stone
Mountain QSYER, (both being direct frequency entry aids designed to enhance
and in fact ease  operation of several ham rigs, making them Much More blind
_And in fact more Sighted friendly.)
First, cudoes to the Pioneers! (Thanks to all who come through with helpful
items!
The Stone Mountain units were a real break through, and many folks who
bought them still use them successfully.  But, unfortunately, for today's
generation of users, the Stone Mountain QSYER hasn't been in production for
several years, as the company, so I'm told, has gone  out of business.
     Meanwhile, The John Hansen, w2FS,  Milenium QSYER, a 16key keypad __IS
AVAILABLE!

(From John Hansen, W2FS,
Email, [log in to unmask]
P Mail,
John Hansen
49 Maple Avenue
Fredonia, NY  14063.)

     Designed to work with the Icom IC703-703+-706/All flavors, series of
radios and probably others,  as well as the Yaesu FT817 ft897 series of
radios and probably others.
In Brief, With the Icoms, among other things, you can, from the qsyer
itself,  program or call up memories and or enter vfo freqs on the fly, by
touch, without looking at the radio's display.
When used in conjunction with the Icom UT102 voice synth chip, a talking
freq and mode read out is available through the radio's speaker, ___Making
For Extremely Mobile Friendly Operation!
In Icom Radio Configuration, a 9volt battery is used to power the qsyer, and
the qsyer to Icom rig patch cord is a simple shielded cord with male plugs
on each end the same size as on most stereo earbud sets.
     If a person has both an Icom and Yaesu radio which work with this unit,
simple qsyer keypad strokes, outlined in the documentation, allow for quick
easy change over between the different types of radios.

     And for the Yaesu radios, Direct frequency entry, as well as band and
mode switching, can be done from the keypad itself, and with the newly upgra
ded chip, morse frequency and mode read out are heard through the little
piezo in the qsyer box, and a mono earbud type headphone jack can be
included for "stealth operation.
The Yaesu to QSYER cord is shielded, with  stereo earbud type male plug on
one end, and round computer cat cable plug on the other end, designed to fit
into the plug well closest to the coax antenna receptical on the rear of the
817.
On the Yaesu radios, the qsyer draws its' power from the radio itself, and
needs no 9volt battery, but from recent discussions, it's probably wise to
unplug the cat cable end,from the 817 and likely, the 897 as well when the
radio's turned off, to avoid undue internal battery draw down in the rig
itself.
Unfortunately because of some softwaare issues in the Yaesu radios, there
are some things in reference to memories you can not do with the qsyer on
the Yaesus, but you can get morse read out of frequency and mode being
received with simple keystrokes regardless of vfo or memory settings.
Within the past year, the complete unit was  available, built, in an
enclosure, and sent with Icom and Yaesu Cables and necessary docs, for
around $96shipped in the US, with dx shipping and insurance likely
available.
     Over the past couple of years, I've found the attitude, build, and turn
around time of the manufacturer to be exceptional!  And I'm ___Not connected
in any way with the company.
As a lifetime blind longtime ham, I've successfully and enthusiastically
used two of the Hansen models, one with both an Icom IC706mkii with Icom
UT102, and a Yaesu FT817, the second with another Yaesu FT817 and ft817ND.
*(Although I've very recently  sold the second QSYER and the 817ND in favor
of a much simpler FT70 Portable Manpack, for radios they'll interface with,
the John Hansen Milenium QSYER's a "Real Boone," and you can take it from
this Daniel, that's a proven fact!
Hopefully Helpfully, Danny Dyer, Wb4idu