Hi David,
Cost may be your motivating item in getting started. Many of us have
started with equipment that according to today's standards weren't
accessible. They were what was available to us and we worked around it.
Here are a few of my thoughts on the current state of things.
Getting started with a rig that had at least speech available for frequency
readout is very helpful. There are several mainline radios that speech may
be added to. I know more about kenwood and icon than anything else but both
do have speech addons for many of their radios. One radio I have seen on
the used market lately is the TS450 from Kenwood. Stores are selling it on
the reconditioned market for around $400 and then you would need to add
another $100 or so for speech. The Kenwood TS440 and TS140 are slightly
older rigs that have speech chips available too. Now that I think about it
even more, I remember some on this list talking about buying a radio that
doesn't have speech chips available and using the external keypad for
frequency access and the like.
Of course you can go higher too if it is an option for you with radios like
the Icom IC718 or Kenwood TS480/SAT. I just saw a reconditioned TS480/SAT
at a dealer for $768. The speech unit for that one I thik is around $79 or
$89 as I recall.
73,
Bob WA0KZB
----- Original Message -----
From: "David thurmond" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 7:36 AM
Subject: Recommendations for Beginner HF Rig
All,
I expect that this topic has been discussed over and over, so my
apologies in advance. I am looking to buy my first HF rig, but I have
no idea what the best way to access the equipment is, and what
features on a particular model would be best.
I have seen that speech processing is available on some higher-end
models, but is this really the way to go? Is it just as good to
purchase a lower-end model that works with Ham Radio Deluxe, or will
any software available to control the rig through the PC work with a
screen reader? I hate the thought that I am dependent on my PC to
access my rig, but if that makes operating more enjoyable, then that's
what I'll do!
Lots of rigs seem to offer very basic speech capabilities, such as
parroting back frequency selection, but I think I want something much
more comprehensive than that. So, what are experienced folks in the
real world using to make their equipment accessible for a blind user,
and how?
Many thanks!
David Thurmond, KK4ADV
|
