considering that speech output is good for people who can see and are driving, and that these are mobile radios, it seems instant that icon chooses to screw us  like most manufacturers     no wonder the little cheap cinese radios fly ff the shelves now 
On Dec 19, 2012, at 12:43 PM, Ray T. Mahorney <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> no they do not nor does Icomm sell speech boards for those radios they are both DSTAR radios and as
> such there is no accessibility on the digital side.  Has your county adopted DSTAR?
> 
> 
> Ray T. Mahorney
> WA4WGA
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tom Behler
> Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 00:15
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: In a state of disbelief here
> 
> Hi, all
> 
> Recently, in my region of west-central lower Michigan, the power that be 
> obtained an equipment grant to purchase all new equipment for our county 
> EOC's.  Sounds great, right???
> 
> Well, for one thing, none of us as EC's were consulted on the rig and other 
> equipment choices, so we ended up with rigs with which none of us were 
> familiar.
> 
> But, here's the real kicker:
> 
> Two of the rigs are the Icom IC2820 VHF/UHF dual-band radio, and the Icom 
> IC2200 2-meter radio.  Upon checking in the AES catalog, and calling AES for 
> confirmation, it seems that these radios do not have a voice synthesizer 
> chip option.  If this is true, of course, the rigs will be of limited use to 
> me as EC in the Emergency Operations Center, unless I have sighted 
> assistance with me at all times.
> 
> Can someone verify for me that these rigs actually do not have a voice chip 
> option??
> 
> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ